For most start-ups, the real obstacle is cash: long timelines from investment to return, limited runway, costs that materialise before revenue. Public funding is not a silver bullet — but used well, it can shift the odds.
Start-ups don't die in pitch decks. They die in the moments they run out of money before the next round.
The Italian statistics are well known and unforgiving: most new ventures do not survive their first five years. Not because the ideas are missing, but because between the idea and the point of viability there is a deep valley where the initial capital runs out. That is where everything is decided.
The founder puts in personal savings, secures a small first round, but it isn't enough to reach break-even. The rule of thumb: you need at least double what you think you do.
Between "we've built the product" and "we have our first paying customer" typically lie 12-24 months. Cash has to cover them in full.
Hiring engineers, developers or commercial leads costs more than expected, and has to happen before revenue, not after. It is one of the most frequent breaking points.
When the initial model isn't working, recognising it early and changing course requires cash in the bank. Without it, the pivot becomes a shutdown.
Public funding is a lever, not a rescue.
Italy's public instruments for start-ups are designed precisely to cover this gap — the months between incorporation and first revenues. Zero-rate, non-repayable grants, guarantees. They never replace the market, but they extend the runway enough to reach the point where the market decides. This is the territory we work in.
Consider a tech start-up with four founders, €200,000 in annual costs (salaries, infrastructure, marketing) and zero revenue in the first 12 months.
Without public funding, €200,000 of equity per year is needed to keep going. In practical terms: either you raise a seed round larger than what the Italian market typically offers at that stage, or you slow down drastically.
With the right instruments — for example ON Nuove Imprese a Tasso Zero, combined where possible with Smart&Start for an innovative start-up based in Sardinia — a substantial part of that €200,000 is covered by zero-rate financing, with a 30% non-repayable grant component in Southern Italy. The equity requirement drops below half. The runway extends. The probability of reaching the first paying customer rises.
This isn't magic. It is using well the instruments the State makes available precisely because it wants start-ups not to die in the valley.
A start-up cannot wait six months for submission. We work to deadlines like "the call opens in four weeks, we need to be ready". This requires both method and availability.
We build a business plan that withstands grant assessment but is also genuinely useful internally — not a document written once and forgotten. We update it as the project evolves.
The solution is often not a single large grant, but a combination of instruments — subsidised credit, grants, tax credits, guarantees — that together cover the funding need. Stackability is a specialism of ours.
We think about where you will need funds in 18 months, not just today. We build a phased plan of access to public measures, synchronised with the growth plan.
Zero-rate financing up to 90% of expenditure, for under-35s and women. Broad sector coverage, well beyond tech innovation.
For innovative start-ups registered in the special section. Zero-rate up to 80% (90% if entirely women-led or under 36), 30% grant in Southern Italy.
Subsidised loans and grants for new ventures in the Southern regions. Open to non-innovative start-ups as well.
Dedicated lines within the PR FESR programmes and regional calls (Sardegna Ricerche, Lombardy, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, and others).
Fiscal mechanisms that reduce the net cost of research, development, innovation and patenting activities. Stackable with most grants.
Access to bank financing without having to provide personal guarantees. An often decisive instrument in the first months of life.
We are not investors. We do not provide capital and do not take equity. We remain advisors from the first phase to the last.
We are not an incubator. We do not offer coworking space, business model mentoring or introductions to investors. We know the ecosystem, but our craft is public funding.
We don't write the idea for you. Market validation of the project remains yours. What we provide is the financial framework to reach that validation with more breathing room.
We don't promise miracles. If the idea has no market, no grant will save it. We will tell you this before starting the engagement, not after.