DeepTech companies rarely fail because the science is uninteresting. They often struggle in the expensive stretch between proving that a technology works and proving that industry can actually use it. Eureka! Venture’s new €20 million fund is designed to enter precisely at that point.
The Italian investment firm has launched Eureka! Fund II – Deep Tech Lazio, targeting companies from proof-of-concept and pre-Seed through Seed and other early development stages. Lazio Innova is committing €16 million as anchor investor, while the vehicle is structured to attract additional private capital into a segment Eureka! says remains underrepresented in Italian investment portfolios.
What makes the fund more interesting than its size is how it tries to change the risk equation. Eureka! CEO Stefano Peroncini said it includes an asymmetric allocation of profits and losses intended to reduce the entry barrier for private investors. In effect, the fund is not only financing DeepTech startups; it is also trying to make DeepTech itself easier for private capital to finance.
The investment mandate is deliberately broad but technically demanding. Eureka! will look for proprietary intellectual property, scientific know-how and hardware or software with high technological barriers, particularly in AI and Physical AI, robotics, quantum technologies, advanced materials, climate and energy, circular economy, advanced manufacturing, mobility, infrastructure, security and defence, and longevity. The fund will scout nationally but focus investments on companies that already have, or plan to establish, an active presence in Lazio.
The vehicle also extends Eureka!’s earlier technology-transfer strategy. Founded in 2019, the firm describes itself as an independent Italian asset manager focused on DeepTech and science-based investing, with experience connecting research, intellectual property and commercial development.
The bigger test for Eureka! Fund II is therefore not how many startups it backs. It is whether more Italian science can cross the difficult line from laboratory validation to industrial company.
