Innovation Trip by IAG – New York & Boston
After visiting Israel, Silicon Valley, and Berlin, this year we flew across the ocean with a delegation of 25 members from Italian Angels for Growth (IAG) to dive deep into two of the most influential venture capital ecosystems: New York and Boston.
But this article isn’t meant to be just another trip report.
I want to share three key takeaways:
Why we organize Innovation Trips
What the East Coast taught us
What we can start doing today to grow our own ecosystem
Why Go Abroad?
The answer is simple: because things work differently there and they work better.
In Italy, we often fall into the (bad) habit of trying to reinvent the wheel. We attempt to play the role of VCs without a structured understanding of truly high-performing fund management models.
But how do the top international funds actually select startups? How fast do they make decisions? What KPIs guide their investments? How do they build a portfolio capable of returning the fund? And most importantly why are they the ones investing in the best companies, while we let them slip away right under our noses?
This isn’t about feeling inadequate. It’s about learning, benchmarking, and accelerating.
The U.S. is ahead, and not catching up isn’t a failure, but ignoring those already playing at the top level is a missed opportunity.
Many Italian funds passed on companies like UnoBravo or Scalapay, now backed by major international players like Insight Partners and Tiger Global. Why did they invest? When did they decide to act? And why didn’t we, even though we share a country with these founders?
Understanding how global funds think is not just curiosity, it’s a duty for anyone who truly wants to lead in venture.
What Did We Learn?
These trips are designed to study those who are better than us.
Copying, for once, is an act of intelligence.
Venture capital boils down to four stages: scouting, selecting, closing, supporting.
Most funds compete on stage 3 closing. But to get there and “win” a deal amid 1,500 U.S. funds, you need to develop superpowers in the other stages.
We saw how every successful fund has developed its own “secret sauce,” especially when it comes to supporting startups. All of them without exception have built internal platforms to help their portfolio companies grow: dedicated teams, specialists, and a global network of contacts. That’s what makes the difference post-investment.
Another major factor: speed.
In Italy, raising a fund can take 18–24 months. The 12 first-time GPs we met in the U.S. did it in just 3/4 months. And when it comes to investing, they close in less than 10 days.
Speed isn’t chaos, it’s competitiveness.
And the mindset? Even more striking.
In the U.S., LPs allocate up to 10% of their assets to venture capital. GPs won’t invest unless they believe a startup can return the entire fund.
That’s the scale they operate on and it’s not just about numbers, it’s a mindset shift.
What Can We Do Now?
The good news: things are moving in Italy too. Our ecosystem is evolving. New funds both Italian and international are emerging. We can't afford to stay still.
A shift is needed.
At IAG, we’ve already begun bringing our closing times under 30 days. With Eden Ventures, we’ve even gone below 14.
We can’t ask founders to move fast if we slow them down with months of due diligence especially for rounds of just €3 million.
If we want to be taken seriously, we need to be fast.
We’re also building a data-driven platform that leverages our 500 members’ networks to generate over 50,000 second-degree connections.
The goal? Introduce founders to the right people to help them scale faster. Not just capital, but real opportunities.
This trip was much more than a journey.
It was a chance to look in the mirror with the humility to learn, but also the ambition to lead.
Thanks to the funds and GPs who hosted us, to Luca Rancilio and his team (Stefania Rossetti and Erica Russo) for the organizational support, and to all the IAG members who joined this amazing trip.
Between dinners and strolls, we did what we do best at IAG: activate our collective intelligence.
See you at the next destination!
(We're open to suggestions 😉)
The players:
Insight Partners: Roshni Dugar and Fabrizio Serafini
FirstMark Capital: Rick Heitzmann
Armando Biondi
Italian Innovators Initiative: Simone Tarantino
Umberto Lobina
645 Ventures: Vardan Gattani,
Manhattan Venture Partners: Bradley Fishman, Karl Bornefalk, Eric Brachfeld, Jared Carmel,
Blisce: Michael Chertkov, Sam Giber, Alexandre MARS, Naomi Fujiki
Left Lane Capital: Vinny Pujji, Matthew Miller, Esther Gonzalez and Elizabeth Donovan
Interplay: Mark Peter Davis, Mike Rogers, Will Richardson
Gaingels: Brian Lucksinger, Jennifer Jeronimo.
Omega Funds: Sean Cumiskey, Francesco Draetta, Brent Jiang, Claudio Nessi, Otello Stampacchia
Cambdrige Innovation Center: Suman Lal
TBD Angels: Ben Littauer
Rubedo Life Science: Ali Siam
Chiesi Group - David Lough
Underscore VC: Richard Dulude, Chris Gardner, Lily Lyman
Boston Children's Hospital: Roberto Chiarle, Simone Piane, Ulysses W. Sallum, Ph.D., Julia Burke
ALKemist Bio
Laurel Touby and the 12 emerging managers: Viewpoint, Drew Aldrich, Scrub Capital, Christina Farr, Geek Ventures, Ihar Mahaniok, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, Maxim Owen, Hannah Grey VC, Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, humbition, Slava Rubin, Bullish, Michael Duda, Sharran Deora, BioRock Ventures, Mary Wheeler
Our members:
Gianluigi Guida, Paola Bonomo, Matteo Bay, Riccardo Lucio Agostini, Giovanni Strocchi, Sara Burigo, Massimiliano Perletti, Carlo Mazzarella, Claudio Boni, Paolo Angelucci, Antonio Davoli, Simone Zinanni, Cosimo F. Biliotti, Giuseppe Visentini, Christian Marchesi, Luca La Mesa, Letizia Mansutti, Carlo Tassi, Giulio Ambrosi, Sergio Togni, Lucinda Furci, Giuseppe Mantero.