Primo Capital
Primo Capital is a Milan-based venture capital and private equity platform, formerly Primo Ventures, that backs early-stage technology across digital, space, climate, and healthcare. Its water investments come through Primo Space, Europe's first space-economy fund, which backs satellite-data startups tackling water. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals, rated Committed by (don't) Waste Water.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Primo Capital is the Milan investment platform that most of Italy's tech ecosystem still knows as Primo Ventures. In November 2024 it took the name Primo Capital and added a private equity arm, and it now runs four specialist funds, in digital, the space economy, climate, and healthcare, with more than 500 million euros in committed capital. It is a generalist deep-tech investor, not a water fund, which is exactly what makes its water story an odd one.
Primo Capital's water exposure does not come from a climate desk. It comes from orbit. Its space-economy arm, Primo Space, was continental Europe's first venture fund dedicated to the space economy, anchored by the European Investment Fund, and its whole thesis is 'downstream': take the data that satellites collect and point it at problems on the ground. Water turns out to be one of those problems.
That lens explains both of Primo Capital's water bets. Irreo reads Copernicus satellite imagery to run precision irrigation without a single field sensor, telling a grower when and how much to water. Eoliann pushes the same Earth-observation data through artificial intelligence to forecast floods and climate risk for banks and insurers. Both treat water as a data problem first, the capital-light, IP-heavy kind of company a space fund is built to scale.
Primo Capital's water footprint is small and deliberate, 2 companies across 3 deals, rated Committed by (don't) Waste Water. But it sits at a genuinely interesting edge: the point where the space economy starts to pay for itself by making water visible from 700 kilometres up. With a second space-economy fund on its stated roadmap, it is an edge worth watching.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Primo Capital invest in?
- Primo Capital backs early-stage technology companies through four specialist funds: Primo Digital (software), Primo Space (the space economy), Primo Climate (climate tech), and Primo Health (healthcare). The Milan platform, formerly Primo Ventures, manages more than 500 million euros in committed capital and invests mainly at pre-seed and seed.
- Does Primo Capital invest in water?
- Yes, selectively, and through its space fund. Primo Capital has backed 2 water companies across 3 deals via Primo Space: Irreo, a satellite-driven precision irrigation platform, and Eoliann, which uses satellite data and artificial intelligence to forecast floods and water-related climate risk. (don't) Waste Water rates Primo Capital's water commitment Committed.
- Who runs Primo Capital?
- Primo Capital is chaired by Gianluca Dettori, who built the platform as Primo Ventures. Its space-economy fund, Primo Space, the source of both water investments, is run by general partners Matteo Cascinari, Raffaele Mauro, and Giorgio Minola. Separate partners lead the digital, climate, and healthcare funds.
- Where is Primo Capital based?
- Primo Capital is headquartered in Milan, Italy, on Viale Luigi Majno, and invests across Italy and Europe. It operates as Primo Capital SGR S.p.A., the regulated manager that was renamed from Primo Ventures in November 2024 when the firm expanded from venture capital into private equity.
- Is this Primo Capital the same as Primo Capital in Dubai or Primo Brands water?
- No. This Primo Capital is the Milan technology investor formerly called Primo Ventures. It is unrelated to Primo Capital Real Estate, a Dubai property agency that shares the name, and to Primo Brands, the North American bottled-water company. Only the Italian Primo Capital appears in the (don't) Waste Water investor directory.