Doing VC in Italy with Lucrezia Lucotti (Episode 39)
In this episode, I sit down with Lucrezia Lucotti, partner at 360 Capital.
Guests
Show notes
In this episode, I sit down with Lucrezia Lucotti, partner at 360 Capital.
Lucrezia Lucotti is Partner at 360 Capital, where she focuses on Italian and Southern European dealflow across B2B and B2C software, deeptech and climate tech ventures. She oversees investments and portfolio management across the firm’s 360 Deeptech, Climate Tech and Series A funds, following a progression from Analyst to Investment Director before being appointed Partner in January 2024.
Over the past five years at 360 Capital, Lucrezia has built a strong track record in sourcing, executing and managing early and growth stage investments. Prior to venture capital, she worked at Roland Berger as a Business Analyst on due diligences and industrial plans across financial services, pharma and industrial machinery, and gained experience at Gartner and Accenture in consulting roles spanning TMT and financial services, including the design of a new internet banking experience for SMEs
A Bocconi graduate with a double degree from WU Vienna, Lucrezia combines analytical rigor with a deep interest in innovation and entrepreneurship, and has also served as Ambassador for Female Founders, supporting the next generation of European entrepreneurs.
In this episode
Lucrezia Lucotti describes going from Roland Berger to 360 Capital's only Milan analyst in 2020 and becoming a partner in 2024. She explains why she is optimistic about Italy's startup ecosystem, how Italy compares with France's much faster and more competitive market, and why too few exits and inflated valuations remain problems. She shares favourite deals and argues Europe needs government investment and demand to build champions in defence, energy and critical materials.
Chapters
Key facts
Lucrezia studied at Bocconi with a double degree at WU Vienna and started her career at Roland Berger.
She joined 360 Capital in 2020 as the only analyst in its Milan office and became a partner in 2024.
She launched 360 Digitalee, focused on the next generation of Italian entrepreneurs.
France has about 140 VC funds against about ten in Italy; good French deals get three to ten term sheets within one to two weeks.
In France a good follow-on round comes within 18–24 months at a 3x uplift; in Italy she is happy with 2x.
360 Capital backed Circular Materials, which recovers critical raw materials from industrial wastewater.
Lucrezia led SkillView's 5.5 million seed round in 2024; its founder was 25 and had never attended university.
360 Capital sold military-mapping AI company Preligens to Safran in 2024, with only Thales, Safran and Leonardo as possible buyers.
360 Capital invests in long-duration energy storage, including Energy Dome and Sinergy Flow.
Italy's founder and talent quality has improved sharply, helped by CDP's fund-of-funds programmes that brought in international VCs such as Partech and Eurazeo.
Italy still has too few exits, and inflated valuations push founders towards secondaries rather than building exit value.
Europe's defence tech needs consolidation, and governments should fund national champions and create demand for strategic technologies.
Questions and answers
Why is Lucrezia optimistic about Italy?
More capital, better founders and talent, and entrepreneurs who now want to build in Italy rather than relocate.
Why are there few secondaries in Italy?
Rounds rarely have enough demand to add secondary on top of the primary capital companies need.
What sets French founders apart?
They are highly prepared and polished, which makes it harder to judge real ability and can justify very high early valuations.