Thirteen of the best Italian startups to follow in 2026thirteen companies to keep an eye on that could change our daily lives. This is our list for next year. Of course, the premises are good: all the companies we have selected operate in growing fields and offer highly innovative ideas. Many have already stocked up on capital. But doing business is a risk, and doing it the startup way – try, grow quickly, fail, and then try again – is not for everyone.
What is certain is that the context has changed a lot in recent years. The latest report from StartupItalia speaks of an increase in funding operations in the last twelve months (204, + 14% compared to 2024) compared to less capital invested in new companies (1,108 billion euros, -21%). In short, the Italian market is moving but not acceleratingand large operations account for around 40% of the overall collection: what we can define as a concentration phase.
We are very far (almost half) from the 2.3 billion euros invested in Italy in 2022, when Covid accelerated the digital transition. It was the year that, towards the end, saw the explosion of ChatGpt.
But, and this is a fact, we are also quite far from the 97 million euros raised in 2015. It was only ten years ago. And funding has increased by a factor of ten in the space of fifteen years. It’s worth remembering. At the time there was almost nothing on the Peninsula for startups: a law desired by the Monti government, and little else.
Today, on the contrary, those who innovate can count on the media, a large community, courses (university and otherwise), and meeting opportunities. And, perhaps above all, on models to inspire. Each with their own success story, which includes – and it is an aspect that is deservedly told without too much hesitation by the entrepreneurs themselves – the inevitable failures. Obtained in Italy, not thousands of kilometers away, where the distance in terms of language, culture and bureaucracy often makes comparisons impossible.
One might think that perhaps the hangover has already passed in the Bel Paese, and the long-awaited correction in the digital world, on the peninsula, has somehow already taken place.
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