How is Tech Europe Foundation Powering the Continent’s Tech?
Andrea is the founder of technology and financial services conglomerate ION Group, and is Italy’s second-richest person with an estimated net worth of about US$25bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.ION, which is sometimes known as the ‘Italian Bloomberg’, offers financial technology and data and has acquired major firms including Dealogic, Fidessa, and Acuris.Andrea has expanded his interests into real estate and infrastructure, notably making a €2bn (US$2.3bn) investment in Greece's Ellinikon development project to create a technology and innovation centre.He continues to invest in the digitisation of Italian finance, backing Azimut's spin-off of a new digital bank.Tech Europe Foundation has already funded 85 scientists and 60 ventures. Specific focuses include 3D printing, semiconductor research and photonics/optics. TEF is looking to harness a high density of start-up and tech skills in Milan to improve Italy’s competitiveness and establish the city as a premier European innovation centre.However, Italy lags behind most European Union countries (including Estonia, Croatia and Spain) in venture capital spending as a share of gross domestic product, according to the European Commission’s Innovation Scoreboard 2025.That said, there are many examples of Italy’s top businesses driving fintech and insurtech innovation including Intesa Sanpaolo, Generali and Eni.Italy does have some way to go in catching up with European leaders in terms of fintech companies, and it is rated fourth behind Germany, the UK and France, with 393 fintech companies according to the latest data. This is equal to one fintech for every 150,636 citizens.Within Italy, Milan does lead the way, with three of the biggest Italian fintechs located there.
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