Inside the initiative

'Scomodo' launches equity crowdfunding: good start in the first week

Scomodo, a Roman editorial and cultural project, has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Mamacrowd, quickly exceeding its collection targets thanks to heavyweight investors. Objective: to expand to other Italian cities by 2030, with a model based on multifunctional spaces and a strong social footprint

by Angelica Migliorisi

20 May 2025

5' min read

Key points

Campaign numbers: initial boom, but from a few subjects
What is equity crowdfunding?
From movement to society
Where the funds will go

5' min read

Scomodo, the editorial and cultural project born in 2016 by a group of Roman teenagers, on 15 May launched a equity crowdfunding campaign on the Mamacrowd platform, with the stated goal of raising up to €1 million. In less than 48 hours, it surpassed the minimum threshold of EUR 250,000, reaching almost EUR 400,000 raised as of 17 May.

Over the years, Scomodo has based its work on being the answer to the social crisis of its generation. It wants to fight (and has fought) loneliness and fragmentation through meeting places, culture and active participation. According to the project, 73% of GenZ feel lonely and 87% believe that experiences of isolation have devastating impacts on mental well-being. In response to this crisis, it has invested in multifunctional spaces: study rooms, coworking, recording studios, psychological counters, clubbing, talk and workshops, returning areas otherwise destined for abandonment to its areas of operation, such as its newsroom in Rome's Esquilino district.

The locations in Rome (from 2020) and Milan (from 2023 on a temporary basis, from 2024 on a permanent basis), according to Scomodo, accommodate over 100,000 people per year. Now the aim is to replicate the model in 15 other Italian cities by 2030: Venice, Naples, Turin, Catania, Genoa, but also medium-sized centres such as Empoli and Bari, which are already operational. In 2025 it also purchased a new 1,400 square metre property on the Naviglio della Martesana in Milan. The transaction is worth EUR 1.2 million, made possible by a EUR 650,000 loan from Banca Etica, the project's main partner. The crowdfunding aims to complete this development plan. According to Edoardo Bucci, one of the movement's founders, on social media, "the five-year plan also includes Palermo and Bologna, with about one opening per year".

Campaign numbers: initial boom, with few subjects

The campaign impressed with its speed: over 330,000 euro raised on the first day, then stabilised above 380,000 on the second. At 17 May 2025, there are over 70 investors. Of these, one foundation (Charlemagne, as confirmed to us by the founder and chairman of the board Tommaso Salaroli)has contributed 200,000 euro - over half of the total raised. Another party invested EUR 77,000, another EUR 33,000. At least five investors placed sums between EUR 5,000 and EUR 25,000. To have the right to vote in the shareholders' meeting, the minimum sum to be invested is precisely 5,000 euros. The 'small' investors, those between 100 and 500 euro, are less than half of the total and would have the right to speak (but not vote) at the meeting.

In practice, the operation looks very much like a seed round (the first major investment that a start up receives to finance the initial start-up and development of the project, before the company generates profits or is fully operational) between like-minded realities, supported by a few strong investors and a small number of small financiers. The minimum denomination to invest is 100 euros, but the actual threshold to have weight in the investment, looking at the actual distribution and information file provided by Scomodo, is much higher.

What is equity crowdfunding

Equity crowdfunding is a form of collective financing in which ordinary people (retail investors) can invest money in exchange for shares in a start-up or company.In practice, you become a partner in the company you are financing even with a small investment. A start-up (e.g. Somewhat) launches a campaign on an online platform (e.g. Mamacrowd, Crowdfundme, Seedrs, etc.), sets a minimum collection target (e.g. 250,000€) and a maximum (e.g. 1 million). Anyone can invest (usually from 100€ upwards) and acquire a share in the company. If the start-up grows and is successful, the value of the shares can increase. Investors can earn money in the event of: exit (the company is acquired); dividends (if distributed); sale of shares (if any).

In the case of Scomodo, all three scenarios have been assumed between now and 2028: a partial takeover (a maximum of 15%); profit-sharing (with an expected profit of 1.5 million per year); and a stock market listing (of 49%), the latter with a seven-year time horizon.

From movement to society

Scomodo has over the years built an imaginary cultural movement and today it is a structured company. The Scomodo S.r.l. - which manages the collection on Mamacrowd through a vehicle (SPV) called'Scomodo Avanti Tutta S.r.l.' - has a post-money valuation of EUR 6.2 million for 2026, if the one million investment is reached. The transaction involves the sale of approximately 16% of the shares in exchange for the above-mentioned one million.

Governance, as stated by Scomodo on its social channels, will remain centralised: 86% of the shares (72% after the equity crowdfunding) remain in the hands of Scomodo ETS, the association representing the founding 'community', to 'protect the independence and social vocation of the project'. Another 14% is in the hands of relatives, friends and partners (by 2022, after equity crowdfunding the percentage will drop to 12), while the founders have no nominal shares.

The sum reached with this operation, which may represent a maximum of 16% of Scomodo ETS, would ideally be distributed in two halves: 8%, equal to EUR 500,000 in the case of reaching the planned million, would be in the hands of foundations and social enterprises; the remaining 8% (another EUR 500,000 in the best case scenario) in those of small investors. This would be the slice reserved for those what Scomodo calls 'like you, like us'. The breakdown is an ideal prediction of society, which is subject to change depending on the type of donors the equity crowdfunding will have. It is in fact possible that small investors may have more or less shares, in percentage, depending on how the operation develops. As of today, the percentage is 79.63 versus 20.37 in favour of large backers (equal to about EUR 310,000 versus about 79,000).

The campaign of Scomodo - reads the dedicated page of Mamacrowd - is conducted through a capital increase involving both Scomodo SRL (the 'Target' company) and a newly established vehicle, Scomodo Avanti Tutta SRL (the 'Vehicle' or 'SPV' company). It is raised either by direct subscription to the capital increase of the Target company or by indirect subscription through participation in the capital increase of the SPV, whose sole purpose is to invest the capital raised in the Target company. Investors exceeding the threshold of €5,000.00 will become shareholders of the Target company; those below will acquire newly issued shares of the SPV, becoming indirect shareholders of the Target company. At the end of the collection, the SPV will invest the total capital raised in the Target company.

Where the funds will go

According to the business plan, the funds raised will be allocated in the following way: 70% for new openings (real estate purchases, renovations, architectural design); 15% for the growth of local communities and communication; 15% for hiring and training under-35 staff (community managers, production managers, administration). In the best case scenario, the percentage breakdown changes to 60%-20% respectively.

Scomodo has always moved in a cultural area close to left-wing movements. This campaign formalises the step forward in their ambitions, already initiated in 2022:from militant organisation to cultural enterprise with capitalistic economic instruments (equity, company valuation, SPV, preferential liquidation for investors). The message is: 'We do not rely on hedge funds, but we want a community that invests'. The structure of the operation, however, not by the direct will of the company, to date has carved a distance from classic 'bottom-up' or mutualist crowdfunding. The community invests selectively and to a minority degree in the company, and if this trend of equity crowdfunding continues, it will be able to participate indirectly in governance.