Twelve Italian aerospace SMEs, five days in Silicon Valley and an objective that goes beyond finding new customers. Intesa Sanpaolo and INNOVIT brought a group of companies from Italy’s aerospace supply chain to the U.S. to connect directly with investors, industrial partners and the American tech ecosystem.
Why it matters: The Aug. 31-Sept. 4 mission shows how support for Italy’s aerospace industry is expanding beyond financing to international growth, with the U.S. offering access to capital, partnerships and new industrial opportunities.
- Intesa Sanpaolo has provided more than €1 billion in financing to over 500 SMEs in the aerospace sector.
- In July, the bank signed a partnership with the European Investment Bank and the European Space Agency aimed at mobilizing €300 million in new financing for SME investments.
- The bank has joined the ESA Investor Network.
- The Silicon Valley mission is the third organized with INNOVIT in three years, but the first dedicated entirely to aerospace.
Zoom in: The 12 companies. The delegation reflects the breadth of Italy’s aerospace supply chain. It includes ALI from Naples, APR and Bisiach & Carrù from Turin, Bercella from Parma, Bright Solutions from Pavia, Cospal Composites from Bergamo, Curti from Ravenna, Dino Paoli from Reggio Emilia, Leas from Padua, Netgroup from Naples, Novation Tech from Treviso and SAB Aerospace from Benevento.
- Their expertise ranges from precision mechanics and composite materials to robotics and cybersecurity, as well as lasers for space exploration and systems for satellites and launch vehicles.
- Over five days, the companies combined training with meetings involving U.S. space industry players, investors and potential partners.
The context: The program was hosted by INNOVIT, the Italian innovation hub in San Francisco promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Italian Embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco, and implemented by the Italian Trade Agency.
- The partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo is now in its third year. In 2024, it brought 12 Up2Stars startups to the U.S.; in 2025, another 12 SMEs selected through the Imprese Vincenti program followed.
Follow the money. The California mission is part of a broader financial push into the aerospace supply chain. Intesa Sanpaolo has financed more than 500 SMEs in the sector for a total of over €1 billion.
- In July, its partnership with the EIB and ESA added another channel, designed to activate €300 million in new financing for SME investments through European resources and guarantee instruments.
- The bank’s internationalization effort extends well beyond aerospace. Since 2020, Intesa Sanpaolo has allocated €12 billion in financing to SME export and international expansion projects.
Silicon Valley as a gateway. In San Francisco, the bank also presented Connecting Markets, a digital platform developed with Matchplat that allows its corporate clients to search for industrial and commercial partners, suppliers, potential acquisition targets and companies with which to develop new collaborations.
- The platform covers more than 560 million companies across over 2,000 sectors and more than 170 countries.
Between the lines: The mission puts Italian SMEs face to face not only with commercial opportunities in the U.S. market, but also with the choices that can come with international growth — from industrial partnerships and access to capital to corporate transactions.
- Stefano Barrese, head of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Banca dei Territori division, said companies should receive support before they reach the point of considering new investors or other transactions, so that they can approach those decisions from a stronger and better-prepared position.
- In this approach, internationalization does not necessarily mean selling the company. It means expanding the range of options available to the entrepreneur.
What we’re watching: The real test for the 12 SMEs comes after the mission. Five days in Silicon Valley gave them a chance to test the potential for technologies and expertise developed across Italy’s industrial districts.
- The next step is to see which contacts turn into customers, investments or partnerships — and which relationships can ultimately turn a five-day mission into a more permanent industrial presence in the U.S.
