The growth of Italian fintech startups has provided one of the most interesting financial stories of recent times. So far, 2025 has been another memorable year for innovation and investments in the fintech field here. While artificial intelligence and crypto assets have grabbed a lot of the headlines, there have been plenty of other areas where Italian companies have taken the lead.
Find out how the Italian fintech startup scene is booming thanks to fresh ideas and technology, while putting a particular focus on the role of regulation and corporate governance. PSD2 and open banking are among the areas helping technology companies progress and attract investors as part of their development.
Why Italy’s fintech scene is booming
With its strategic location for a Fintech startup, Italy has become a leading centre for innovation. The support given to high-tech start-ups here is one of the reasons why it’s enjoying a boom period. Italian government incentives and EU funding have allowed new companies here to foster collaboration in areas like machine learning, crypto assets, and e-commerce.
The Smart&Start Italia program is an example of the support offered by the Italian government to start-up companies. It provides interest-free loans as well as non-repayable grants to help companies looking to get started with business plans up to €1.5 million. The idea behind this scheme – which is managed by Invitalia – is to encourage digital entrepreneurs to bring their business ideas to Italy.
This is tied to the increased adoption of digital banking, with digital payments and mobile banking among the fastest areas of growth. This has led to the need for more digital innovations, with a particular focus on payment method changes that make life easier for traditional companies and individuals.
Growing investment from venture capital and private equity firms has helped boost this digital transformation further. Areas such as digital banking and digital payment services have attracted institutional investors and Italian angels to invest in one funding round after another in the Italian market.
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The list of top Italian fintech startups to watch
The new generation of Italian fintech startups has entered the financial world with innovation and great ideas. By looking at the broad mixture of business ideas that have succeeded, we can see how this market has grown to cover many areas. This list of some of the main companies operating in the fintech industry lets you see why Italy has become a fintech hub.
Scalapay – Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
Based in Milan, this company has had a significant impact on the personal financial services industry since its launch in 2019. After starting in Italy, it expanded across Europe as its BNPL model found great success. A successful $497 million Series B round carried out in 2022 helped this online platform grow.
Scalapay is one of the digital solutions to watch in 2025 because of the increased growth of the e-commerce industry. By offering a ‘buy now, pay later’ approach, it enables customers and small businesses to work together more smoothly.
Opyn – B2B Payment Solutions
Another leading Milan-based fintech company, Opyn, began operating in 2012. Their solution provides B2B payment services. By harnessing digital technologies, this company helps other companies boost their sales and meet regulatory compliance.
This digital platform has grown significantly thanks to two successful funding rounds in 2020 and 2021, which brought in venture capital and other investments totaling $10.9 million.
modefinance – AI-powered credit risk management
Based in Trieste, this technology firm has made an impressive impact on the Italian fintech ecosystem. Their AI platform was launched in 2009, utilizing artificial intelligence to manage credit risks. The most important funding round was in 2021, with a 59% majority stake in ModeFinance bought by TeamSystem that year.
With AI continuing to make waves and credit risks also big news, this firm promises to play a big role in the digital transformation of the financial services industry.
Satispay – digital payments app
Milan is the next Italian city to look at in this study of the Italian fintech ecosystem. Satispay was founded there in 2013. This company allows users to make simple digital payments, including everyday utilities. With more people looking to make their use of financial institutions simpler, this is one of the Italian fintech companies that should continue to thrive.
It’s now expanded its financial services to countries like France and Luxembourg. Satispay has had eight funding rounds to date, bringing in investments of more than $500 million. The last funding round was a Series E campaign that captured over $64 million in fresh investments in 2024.
Casavo – digital real estate platform
Casavo was founded in Milan in 2017. Designed as a digital approach to the real estate market, it has since entered other Italian regions as well as France. A data-driven model uses artificial intelligence to make the house-buying process simpler and safer for customers buying or selling.
The most recent of 11 funding rounds saw Casavo raise €20 million as part of the extended Series D round in 2024. This followed on from a massive €400 million Series D round that helped its expansion in 2022.
Everli – digital grocery shopping and fulfilment
This company connects customers with grocery businesses to make shopping and delivery easy. It was founded by Enrico Pandian in 2014, starting life in Verona, but with the aim of changing the e-grocery business across Europe. The model has now successfully entered other European countries like Poland, France, and the Czech Republic since then.
A long financial funding and investment history began in 2015, when the company was still known as Supermercato24. After receiving seed investment, the business carried out a variety of other funding rounds for new investments as it continued to grow. The most recent came in March 2022, when Series C funding worth €22 million was received from investors.
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Criteria for choosing the top Italian startups
When searching for the major fintech companies in Italy, several key factors helped us determine which to include. We’ve taken the following areas into account when deciding which companies to include on our list.
Innovation in technology or business model
From open banking solutions to artificial intelligence and machine learning, Italy is home to numerous types of innovation. The top start ups in the country create financial innovation by using this technology to make life easier for users.
Many of these companies also have an innovative business model designed to support their growth. They don’t simply rely on the growth and support models that have worked in the past.
Growth potential and scalability
The top fintech companies in the finance industry have enormous growth potential. As the world moves toward digital innovation and technology like embedded finance and artificial intelligence, fintech companies are ideally placed to benefit.
The best fintech companies in Italy are highly scalable, too. We’ve seen in those previous examples how some have the corporate governance and scalability in place to expand to other countries smoothly.
The technologies used by the best fintech companies can be easily implemented in other parts of the world, sometimes with the assistance of a local partner to help them enter new markets. This global expansion typically requires fresh investors and investments to make sure that the business is ready to take this next step.
Impact on financial inclusion or market disruption
These start-up business ideas help bring innovative, data-driven financial services to new markets. It has benefits such as increasing financial inclusion and financial literacy while disrupting traditional markets. With access to a suitable bank account not guaranteed everywhere, innovative financial services like those mentioned have proved vital in helping people manage their daily financial activities or look for new investments.
Trends shaping the Italian fintech market in 2025
Several key trends are evident when examining the latest wave of Italian fintech companies. These areas show us how technology is being used to help customers and investors face up to the future. The following are some of the trends we can expect to see a lot more of.
Rise of embedded finance
This technology sees financial services added to non-financial apps or websites. It frees customers from having to always pay through their bank, giving a more user-friendly platform and a more complete experience.
Growth of open banking services
Financial services have been revolutionised thanks to the open innovation approach. This area sees customers give access to the finance products with their bank to other companies. It means that financial transactions and assessments can be carried out very easily using the latest technology while meeting regulatory compliance standards.
AI-driven personalization in financial products
Artificial intelligence has become one of the key factors in the development of new technology. In the case of finance, one of the most interesting uses is with the personalization of financial data and services. Artificial intelligence is used by many start up companies to provide a simple, personalized approach to personal finance.
Expansion into underserved SME sectors
High-tech companies operating as start-ups in Italy have the support and business models to enter new areas as well. Those companies with a proven track record of attracting investors and customers can look at fresh areas of development. They can support other businesses and use investments to meet the challenges faced in diverse areas.
How Genome supports the fintech ecosystem
As an innovative fintech company, Genome is among the companies changing the financial scene across Europe. Multi-currency accounts help companies with financial commitments in different countries, offering accounts in USD, GBP, EUR, PLN, CHF, JPY, CAD, CZK, HUF, SEK, AUD, and DKK. Businesses can use these currencies for SWIFT payments or benefit from SEPA Instant Transfers.
Meanwhile, the upcoming merchant account services will let businesses receive payments effortlessly from customers across Europe. With open banking integration, financial transactions are carried out more easily by customers.
As a potential partner for fintech startup companies, Genome is committed to providing advanced financial services to iGaming companies, offering batch transfers, seamless API integrations, and instant C2B payment notifications.
If you want more information or to discuss ideas as a possible partner, you can meet Genome at the SiGMA Europe conference in Rome this November.
