Italy’s leading acceleration program for scaleups on their path to Series A
The jump to Series A is often called the hardest gap in startup fundraising. It's the moment when a startup has to prove its worth to investors with the bar raised, moving beyond a promising story to demonstrating a winning formula.
It's easy for great founders with great companies to get stuck in the middle, stuck behind common barriers like their network, experience, or knowledge about investor expectations at a later stage.
A-Road is built to help great founders make this leap, the first program of its kind in Italy and a vital bridge in a maturing venture capital ecosystem.
An initiative by
How it works
Every year, the A-Road selection committee reviews a pool of hundreds of applicants, choosing up to 6 scaleups for each new batch. For the following months, selected startups take part in a range of activities that are specifically designed to speedrun their growth journey, touching vital areas where scaleups need pre-Series A support.
Top CEOs and Mentors
A-Road mentorship is a rare chance to transfer the expertise of highly experienced executives to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Mentorship is always 1-to-1 and mentors are carefully matched with each scaleup, usually based on the company's market and growth needs.
Program Partners
The road to Series A rewards companies that show up ready on every front, with clean fundamentals and a strong strategy across the board. A-Road has partnered with the strongest players in each core business function to offer our scaleups professional services and workshops built around the real needs of growing companies. These are concrete benefits, horizontal across sectors and specifically designed to help scaleups reach their goals.
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Our scaleups
Each year we select one batch of companies, with up to six startups participating in a batch. The program focuses on scaleups that have already proven commercial validation and revenue traction (relevant to their business sector) and are almost Series A ready.
A-Road scaleups span all types of business models and sectors. We leverage our network of industry experts to ensure that the selection process and program activities are supported by a deep understanding of each business.
Building and scaling a company is tough work. When scaleups join A-Road, they're surrounded by people who understand this experience and can support them through it. These relationships can far outlast the official batch program. Connections with mentors, program partners, fellow alumni, and others in the network often continue for years to come.
We support this community with events designed to bring people together, often with a thematic focus on topics that are highly relevant for scaleups and entrepreneurs at any stage. These events are open-invite to A-Road Alumni companies and typically involve handpicked guests from the VC and entrepreneurial scene.
Pressroom
Read the latest A-Road press releases here.