As we know, 2020 was one of the most challenging years in our planet’s recent history, certainly from a health and socioeconomic perspective. The greatest economic damage was not caused by the lockdown or isolation per se, but by the uncertainty that has permeated and that continues to affect our choices as entrepreneurs and professionals. This state of perpetual insecurity about the future has truly spared no sector.

As it is often said, from crisis comes opportunity, and at this moment in time the best opportunities can only come from startups; small and flexible organisations that can change the paradigms of the world around us, revolutionise entire lifestyles and make us move towards a better and fairer future. Having had the privilege to support many of them in their growth has been a particular source of pride and satisfaction for us at BizPlace.

The results of our 2020 have been positive, both in terms of economic and professional growth, but also in terms of goals achieved for our companies and important new partnerships launched. Here are some numbers that summarise our year, starting from the widest part of the ‘funnel’:

• we have received and analysed applications from over 800 innovative startups and SMEs;
• of these, we selected and followed just over 70 (9%);
• 6 million euros were raised by companies in our portfolio in 2020;
• our turnover increased by 20% compared to 2019;
• our team has grown, we have in fact hired three new recruits: two financial analysts aged 22 and 23 and an investment manager with experience in M&A;
• 10 companies have chosen our new Investor Reporting service during the year, which is growing in terms of requests, especially from those who successfully concluded an Equity Crowdfunding campaign.
• 3 companies have given us a mandate to support them in planning and structuring their M&A transactions which are expected to be concluded at the beginning of 2021.

We are also very pleased that this year, and for the fourth year in a row, our performance has continued to improve and our numbers have continued to grow. But what leaves us even happier is the satisfaction of the startups that we support, the loyalty shown to us by the entrepreneurs with whom we interact and the added value that we feel we bring to the sector.

Our goals for 2021? To increase our Investor Reporting mandates for innovative startups and SMEs that need to keep their investors updated, to obtain even more M&A mandates and to continue working to bring new capital to the Venture Capital world for the development of innovation in our country, which we need now more than ever.

Federico Palmieri