360 Capital raises €85m fund as Italy’s climate tech scene surges after slow start

360 Capital has raised €85m for Poli360 2, its latest climate and deep tech early-stage fund. The firm is targeting €100m for the final close.

LPs include the European Investment Fund (EIF), CDP Venture Capital, pension funds, and Italian and international family offices.

Corporate backers include brake systems manufacturer Brembo, Airbus-owned defense contractor MBDA, and steel company Lucchini RS, the company announced on LinkedIn.

The Article 8 fund focuses on early-stage startups emerging from Italian universities and research centres, with a small allocation for the broader European market.

“We aim to help bridge the gap between scientific research and industry,” said Alessandro Zaccaria, partner at 360 Capital.

Poli360 2 has two focus areas: industrial automation, such as robotics and physical AI, and sustainability, including new materials, energy transition, and circular economy.

"We work side by side with universities, research centres and visionary founders to support startups developing cutting-edge technologies," said Zaccaria.

360 Capital, founded in 1997, manages €700m across multiple funds from offices in Paris and Milan. The fund has a particular focus on investing in Italy’s emerging clean tech ecosystem.

Italy’s climate tech ecosystem surges after slow start

While investment in clean technologies has slowed across much of Europe, Italian startups have raised $203m in 2025 – the second-best funding year on record, according to Dealroom data.

"Italy came relatively late to the cleantech investment wave and follows its own dynamics," Federico Cuppoloni, director at startup organisation Cleantech for Italy, told Impact Loop in a previous conversation. "While global cleantech funding peaked in 2022, Italy reached its peak a year later.”

As the EU’s second-largest manufacturing economy, Italy faces mounting pressure to decarbonise while remaining competitive amid high energy costs and volatile supply chains.

When it comes to startups, the biggest hurdle now, says Cuppoloni, is scale.

"The real challenge is to secure an industrial future for these ventures," he says. "While this is a challenge shared globally, it is particularly acute in Italy, where late-stage capital remains scarce."

360 Capital has participated in several of Italian climate tech’s largest funding rounds including Energy Dome’s €55m Series B in 2023 and, more recently, a €4m seed investment in Circular Materials, which has developed a system that recovers critical metals from industrial wastewater.