Milan’s Panakès Partners has raised 8.5 million euros from Lombardia Venture STEP, the venture capital fund of funds promoted by the Lombardy Region in order to invest in companies that are active in life sciences, MedTech and BioTech sectors.
Lombardia Venture STEP, financed by European funds from the PR FESR Lombardy 2021-2027 and managed by Finlombarda, promotes access to venture capital for innovative companies in Lombardy, particularly startups and scaleups.
“We are delighted to launch Panakès Fund – Fondo Parallelo Lombardia together with the Lombardy Region and Finlombarda: a further step in our commitment to supporting the most promising startups and scaleups in MedTech and BioTech, helping to build an increasingly solid innovation ecosystem in the Lombardy area,” says Diana Saraceni, Founder and Managing Partner of Panakès Partners.
The announcement follows other regional venture capital initiatives in Italy supported by European funding.
In September 2026, Milan- and Rome-based Eureka! Venture launched a €20 million DeepTech fund backed by a €16 million commitment from Lazio Innova, while NVM Ventures announced a €23.6 million first close for its Lazio investment vehicle in October, including €18.83 million from the same regional investor.
Together, these two public commitments total €34.83 million. Within Lombardy, the Lombardia Venture initiative has previously participated in startup financings through parallel investment vehicles, including Milan-based ISAAC’s €14 million round in March 2026 and Bergamo-based Resilco’s €5 million Series A in 2025.
“We consider it strategic to participate in initiatives like Lombardia Venture STEP, which foster effective collaboration between public and private capital: the contribution of the Lombardy Region allows us to expand our investment capacity in MedTech and BioTech, supporting the growth of innovative companies in the Lombard territory,” adds Lorenzo Giordano, CFO of Panakès Partners.
Panakès Partners is a venture capital firm based in Milan, founded in 2015 by Fabrizio Landi, Alessio Beverina, and Diana Saraceni. The firm currently manages assets of approximately 300 million euros and focuses on the most ambitious companies and teams developing revolutionary technologies and products in the life sciences field.
Its goal is to foster the development of digital technologies, DeepTech, and biotechnologies, as well as renewable, clean, and resource-efficient technologies.
In line with the provisions of Action 1.6.2 of the PR FESR Lombardy 21-27, the dedicated vehicle Panakès Fund – Fondo Parallelo Lombardia will co-invest, alongside the main funds Panakès Fund and Purple Fund.
