The 10 Best Italian Startups to Work for (4 in Finance)

Which emerging companies should you keep an eye on if you are looking for work? LinkedIn answers this question with its latest annual ranking of the best Italian startups. These are 10 entities that have continued to face the challenges of the present, never ceasing to innovate and attract new talent and, at times, funding, in a year marked by persistent inflation, layoffs, and credit tightening. This demonstrates how phases of uncertainty can also bring new opportunities.

To compile the ranking, four factors were examined: workforce growth, interest from job seekers, user interactions with these companies and their employees, and their ability to attract talent from companies included in the LinkedIn top companies ranking. Unlike the previous edition of the survey, eligibility requirements were modified, lowering the threshold for the year of foundation to five years in order to extend the analysis to a greater number of companies in the early stages of growth. One striking aspect when scrolling through the ranking is the predominance of startups operating in the financial sector, which occupy four of the top ten positions. The sectors of mental well-being services and AI-based and machine learning-based services for businesses, on the other hand, doubled their presence in the ranking compared to the previous year. But the real novelty, in terms of sectors, takes the first position.

This is Chora Media, a company specializing in storytelling through a combination of different formats, starting with podcasts. Founded in 2020 by Guido Brera, Mario Gianani, Roberto Zanco, and Mario Calabresi (director), last year it acquired Will Media in a 5.2 million euro deal, creating the first Italian hub for native digital information in audio and video. In second place is Unobravo, an online psychology startup based in Casalnuovo di Napoli; it entered the market in the year of the pandemic outbreak and now has 120 employees in Italy. Closing the top three is Banca AideXa, a fintech founded by Roberto Nicastro and Federico Sforza (two former UniCredit bankers) with the goal of expediting access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals in Italy.

Moving forward, in fourth place is Starting Finance, an Italian community of young enthusiasts of economics and finance. Through its app, the masterclasses it organizes, and the multi-platform content it produces, are aimed at “bringing new generations closer to the economic and financial world.” Founded in 2018, the most represented qualifications are those of editor, project manager, and investment analyst. Serenis, in fifth place, is a technological startup that offers psychotherapy, coaching, and psychological support sessions via video call, using data and digital tools to improve the effectiveness of therapies. Then there’s Vedrai, which provides artificial intelligence solutions to support companies’ decision-making processes; last year, it also acquired Indigo.ai, a company specializing in virtual assistant design.

In seventh place in the LinkedIn ranking is Smartpricing, a company founded in 2020 that provides hospitality businesses with software to calculate the most profitable real-time prices and automatically publish them on all sales channels. Returning to the financial sector, in eighth place is Scalapay, a fintech unicorn in the “buy now, pay later” service, which allows customers to make purchases online and in stores, receive the products, and stagger payments in multiple interest-free installments. Up2You, in ninth place, is a greentech startup that provides digital tools to companies to measure, reduce, and offset emissions, as well as engage employees in sustainability-related activities. Closing the ranking is Fiscozen, a tech company that offers Italian freelance professionals a platform for online management of self-employed tax matters, from invoicing to retirement, and individual tax consulting.