XNEXT among the first companies financed by equity crowdfunding raises 5 million from VC Neva First fund

Xnext, an innovative Italian SME leader in multi-energy X-ray inspection systems for real-time quality control in industrial processes, has finalized the entry into its capital of the Neva First fund managed by Neva Sgr – the Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s venture capital, through a $6 million (€5 million) capital increase.

In 2016, the company, then an innovative startup, had launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on the Equinvest platform (later merged in 2018 with the current Backtowork24) that had raised $559,000 (€462,000) from 32 investors. Incidentally, the campaign was the first successful one for the then-fledgling platform.

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The fund’s investment is functional to Xnext’s commercial and industrial development

It will also contribute to feeding the constant process of research and development of the proprietary and patented technology XSpectra, which Xnext has recently launched on the food-tech market finding a strong interest not only in Italy.

“I am very pleased with the successful conclusion of this operation that is not only financial, but also strategic for the industrial and commercial development of Xnext,” says Bruno Garavelli, CEO and Co-founder of Xnext. “We found in the Neva First fund a rare attention and approach to the world of Italian venture capital. Neva immediately understood the strong potential of Xnext and its investment is a turning point, because it will give Xnext an important financial support and allow it to access the Intesa Sanpaolo Group network.”

Xnext has developed XSpectra, a technology born in 2011 from an idea of the company’s founders, the result of 9 years of research and development and 10 million euro investment. XSpectra is today the most innovative and advanced real time inspection system in the world, able to detect product non-conformities, such as low-density foreign bodies not otherwise detectable. The solidity of the project, the high technological potential and the important commercial traction developed by Xnext since its launch were the decisive mix that convinced Neva First to invest in the innovative Italian SME.

The operation also involves the transformation of Xnext into a joint-stock company, another significant and ambitious step in Xnext’s growth plan, as stated by Bruno Garavelli: “The operation comes at the time of the market launch of XSpectra, which already boasts excellent installations in industrial plants for end-of-line quality control in the foodtech sector in Italy and France. The interest that our systems are finding all over the world has led us to plan a very ambitious growth path, of which the transformation into a joint-stock company is a clear indicator of the final objective, i.e. the listing on the stock market”.

When was Xnet founded and what was the objective

Xnext was founded in 2014 in Milan by Bruno Garavelli and Pietro Pozzi with the ambition to revolutionize the world of real-time quality control systems through innovative and patented XSpectra technology. Its approach to innovation has allowed it to simultaneously innovate on three technological levels, photonics, nuclear microelectronics, and artificial intelligence, and to present itself on the market as a manufacturer of integrated inspection systems and machines that it designs entirely in-house.

Xnext currently counts on a team of 32 highly qualified people, mainly engineers and physicists, and counts 10 PHD as well as collaborations with the most prestigious Italian universities and research centers: Politecnico di Milano, Università Bicocca, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, and CNR with the IMEM and STIMA institutes.

Winner of numerous national and international prizes and awards, including the European Grant of 2.3 million euros obtained in 2019 under the Horizon2020 program, Xnext since last year has been present on the market with the first inspection machines, installed on several production lines of tortellini, cheeses, hazelnut-based spreadable creams and cookies of leading companies in Italy and France. In the coming months the delivery of new machines to important new multi-line customers with European and extra-European production plants is planned.

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(Featured image by martaposemuckel via Pixabay)

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