Cerved research

Algorithms and the cloud drive the emergence of new start-ups

Artificial Intelligence platforms and Apps the most frequent choices. In 2025, a total of over 18,000 units will be registered, with Lombardy and Milan at the top

by Luca Orlando

30 April 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

You can start with AiHuman, which works in technology applied to personnel recruitment. Or from Ospedale Digitale, for remote patient monitoring. Names chosen at random from among the companies entered in the start-up register in this first part of 2026 and representative of a trend that is gradually gaining strength.

The IT and software services area is in fact the one in which most of Italy's innovative start-ups are concentrated, a category that by far outnumbers all other sectors, coming close to 7,000 units, six out of ten of the total surveyed.

The analysis carried out by Cerved on the number of innovative realities shows a very strong and growing concentration in the digital area, while the second most represented category, that gravitating in the area of research and development, is worth just 13% of the total.

A now stable group, that of start-ups, taking into account inflows but also outflows from the business register dedicated to this type, in which permanence may only be possible after three or five years. Taking into account the natural exit from the register, as well as the physiological closure of some realities, from the peak of 2021 onwards, the descent of stocks has been limited but constant. At the end of 2025, there were in fact 11,820, almost three thousand fewer than in 2021, which in turn represented a leap of 69% compared to 2017 numbers.

During 2025, the number of new start-ups entered remained at an almost stable level, close to 2,000, down only 2% from the previous year. Even looking at this most recent cluster, software wins hands down, accounting for almost 60% of the total, rising to 70% if IT-related services are also taken into account more generally.

A trend that continues strongly even now: looking at registrations in the first four months of the year, of the 965 companies that entered the register, just under 600 specialise in software production.

In Cerved's study, which uses semantic analysis to cluster the universe, a detailed analysis of the activity carried out by these companies highlights four dominant technological drivers. Driving the sprint are artificial intelligence and data analysis applications as well as cloud platforms: together, these two types alone account for 60 per cent of the total. To these are added, at an appropriate distance, however, IOT and advanced manufacturing-new materials.

In geographical terms, the consolidated trends are confirmed, with the North catalysing 58% of the new initiatives in 2025 and Lombardy leading the ranking. In terms of stock, there are more than 3,500 in this region, more than Lazio, Campania and Emilia-Romagna together, i.e. the regions following in the ranking. But even looking at 2025 alone, the result does not change, with 580 new entries in Lombardy, almost 30% of the total.

Lombardy's supremacy is determined by Milan, with 2618 start-ups, with Lombardy being the only region in Italia to place three provinces in the top ten: in addition to the metropolis, there are also Brescia and Bergamo.

Looking at Milan alone, the numbers are particularly impressive, with more than one start-up being born every day in 2025, Saturdays and Sundays included.

Looking at start-ups in terms of gender proportions, Cerved's analysis of historical data shows how, over the last ten years, the presence of women in innovative realities in Italia has been growing slowly but steadily, while remaining structurally in the minority. The share of women in governance and management (female CEOs) is in fact in the region of 17-19%, with a peak of 19% in 2023. Innovative founding teams in which there is at least one woman (at least one female manager in the workforce) show higher percentages - in the range of 23-26% - with the peak again realised in 2023. In 2024 and 2025 there is a slight return from these peaks, but not such as to reverse the underlying trajectory, which remains positive.

Luca Orlandoinviato-caporedattore
- @lucaorlando66
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Inglese
Argomenti: Imprese, meccanica, innovazione, export, macchinari, Industria 4.0, robot
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