The firm’s assets under management rise to approximately €106 million.
MILAN, 12 November 2026 — BlackSheep SGR S.p.A., an Italian venture capital asset management company supervised by the Bank of Italy, announces the first closing of BlackSheep II — Domain-Specific AI at €60 million, against a fundraising target of €100 million. With this result, the firm, which also manages BlackSheep I — MadTech, brings its total assets under management to approximately €106 million.
Renewed Trust from the Investor Base
The first closing of BlackSheep II is equivalent to 1.3 times the final closing of BlackSheep I. The result builds on continuity with the first fund: more than 90% of BlackSheep I investors have made a new commitment to Fund II, joined by new investors.
The BlackSheep II investor base currently includes:
- public institutional investors, including CDP Venture Capital;
- private institutional investors, including Italian professional pension funds (casse di previdenza);
- corporate groups;
- family offices;
- private investors (HNWIs).
“Raising more at first closing than we raised with the whole of Fund I is the clearest sign of the trust we built with our first fund. More than 90% of our investors chose to continue with us. They have been joined by new institutional and private partners who share our vision for vertical artificial intelligence.”
Umberto Bottesini, CEO, BlackSheep SGR
The Investment Thesis
BlackSheep II invests in B2B companies developing vertical and domain-specific artificial intelligence solutions that are already commercially deployed. As its name suggests, the fund focuses on the application layer of AI, verticalised by industry; it may invest in infrastructure where this enables domain-specific applications.
The fund’s scope covers six data-intensive verticals of the real economy: MadTech, the focus of the first fund, is joined by Commerce & Retail, Identity & Privacy, Finance, Cybersecurity and Media & Telco. In these sectors, competitive advantage comes from combining proprietary data, domain expertise and integration into enterprise customers’ processes.
The fund targets a portfolio of 20 companies, from Seed to Series B, in which it acts as lead investor. The average investment per company is approximately €4 million, with more than half of the capital reserved for follow-on investments. The scope is European, with roughly half of the investments expected in Italy. Investment activity begins in December 2026; the final closing is expected by December 2027.
An Italian Manager with a European Scope
“We thank the investors who have chosen to place their trust in an Italian venture capital manager with a European scope. They are entrusting us with supporting innovative companies in a field that is strategic for the future of our country and our continent.”
Sandro Moretti Cane, Co-founder, BlackSheep SGR
“The competitiveness and productivity of our industrial base depend on the adoption of vertical AI: it is a responsibility we take with the utmost seriousness.”
Marco Caradonna, President, BlackSheep SGR
About BlackSheep SGR
BlackSheep SGR S.p.A. is a Milan-based asset management company specialising in venture capital and supervised by the Bank of Italy. It was founded by Umberto Bottesini, Marco Caradonna and Sandro Moretti Cane. The firm manages BlackSheep I — MadTech, which has completed three exits: Scibids (acquired by DoubleVerify in 2023), Roibox (acquired by JAKALA in 2024) and Inflead (acquired by the Team.blue group in 2025). As of 30 June 2026, the fund reports a TVPI of 1.65x and a DPI of 0.21x (internal calculations by the firm; past performance is not indicative of future results). The firm also manages BlackSheep II — Domain-Specific AI, dedicated to vertical artificial intelligence in Europe.
Press contact
Marcello Giordani — marcello.giordani@blacksheep.ventures — +39 333 969 8498