ROME: Angel investor Gianni Matera has already invested €900,000 in six Irish-start-ups and plans to bring this figure to €4m by 2020. This includes €830,000 that he has already invested in four high-potential Irish start-ups – Brim Brothers, Glofox, MotorSpecs and Caragon – as well as a further €70,000 into two nascent start-ups – MyServiceHistory and Reflex Gaming – in just over a year.
Matera expects to invest in three more start-ups by the end of 2016. Matera moved to Ireland in 2013, where he expects to grow his seed investment value by 300pc in five years. Key to this will be careful investment in Irish technology companies looking to break into the US market, where exits are more likely. Matera founded Growing Capital to enable his investment in Irish start-ups.
In 2007, Matera also founded Digitouch, which he grew to become Italy’s largest independent digital advertising company, before exiting in a stock market flotation worth €44m. In 2011, he founded Digitalchemy, which helps telecoms and media companies develop and market products for their customers. Matera started his career as a business consultant with Accenture, before becoming a director and country manager in Italian telco Buongiorno.
