image: Genoa Instruments flagship product is PRISM – Photon-Resolved Image Scanning Microscope. This optical microscope uniquely integrates spatial and temporal super-resolution for structural and functional imaging of living samples with unprecedented detail. PRISM’s plug-and-play design ensures seamless integration with existing microscopy systems, significantly reducing costs and complexity
Credit: Genoa Instruments/Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Rome/Genoa (Italy), February 5, 2025 – Genoa Instruments, the deep-tech startup in super-resolution optical microscopy and a spin-off from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology), has successfully closed a €1 million investment round led by Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA through Deep Blue Ventures (DBV)*, the Deep Tech Venture Capital fund established to support startups, spin-offs, and innovation initiatives in aerospace, healthcare, and sustainability, with a focus on Key Enabling Technologies.
The €1 million funding was completed thanks to an €800,000 investment by DBV, supplemented by €200,000 from a network of Italian local entrepreneurs and investors.
The entry of Deep Blue Ventures further strengthens the company’s growth strategy, aiming to expand its market presence and bring its technology to the world’s leading research centers, establishing itself as a significant international player.
Founded by a team of researchers from IIT with over 20 years of experience in imaging technologies, Genoa Instruments has revolutionized optical microscopy with its flagship product, PRISM – Photon-Resolved Image Scanning Microscope. This groundbreaking optical microscope uniquely integrates spatial and temporal super-resolution for structural and functional imaging of living samples with unprecedented detail. PRISM’s plug-and-play design ensures seamless integration with existing microscopy systems, significantly reducing costs and complexity. Genoa Instruments aims to democratize access to super-resolution microscopy, enabling research groups and healthcare operators of all sizes and budgets to access tools that drive revolutionary scientific discoveries.
The funding will allow the startup to acquire new resources in the sales area to expand its existing customer pipeline, accelerate the development of new PRISM product versions, and finalize the creation of patents to consolidate its competitive advantage in the advanced optical microscopy market in clinical, pharmacological, and preventive medicine fields.
Today, the startup is based at “H4E,” the Hub for Entrepreneurship, a technology incubator of the Italian Institute of Technology, an environment dedicated to technology transfer and the creation of innovative businesses, where research and entrepreneurship converge to generate cutting-edge solutions.
“We are thrilled to support Genoa Instruments in its growth journey. Its cutting-edge technology in super-resolution microscopy represents a radical change in the field of biomedical and healthcare research, as well as a source of pride for Italy, which is finally reclaiming a technological excellence recognized since the time of Galileo Galilei, one of the inventors of microscopy. Although Italy was the birthplace of Galilean scientific discoveries, over time, our country lost the ability to create its own unique product in this field. With Genoa Instruments, we have the opportunity to return to the forefront of the European industrial scene in a strategic sector for scientific research and the global pharmaceutical industry,” said Emilia Garito, Chairman and Co-Founder of Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA.
“Additionally, Genoa Instruments has already proven to be a recognized player with major international collaborators, including Nikon, Leica, and Zeiss. Its vision perfectly aligns with our mission to identify and support micro-enterprises with the potential to create competitive innovation in deep-tech sectors of strategic importance for strengthening the Italian technology industry and its production chain,” concluded Emilia Garito, Chairman and Co-Founder of Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA.
“With the support of Deep Ocean Capital and the new investors, we are ready to attract key talent, enhance our R&D capabilities, and accelerate the launch of our products, making our solutions accessible to a broader range of researchers and professionals worldwide. We are excited about the opportunities ahead and determined to transform the super-resolution imaging market,” said Simonluca Piazza, CEO and Founder of Genoa Instruments.
“The imaging technology developed by Genoa Instruments is revolutionary, as demonstrated by the growing attention to our imaging techniques at major international industry conferences. By democratizing access to super-resolution microscopy, we enable researchers at every level and budget to equip themselves with the best imaging technology available, thus fostering potentially groundbreaking scientific discoveries,” stated Marco Castello, CTO and Founder of Genoa Instruments.
“Startups born within the Italian Institute of Technology represent a bridge between advanced research and industry, transforming frontier ideas into tangible solutions for the future. Genoa Instruments is an example of how innovation developed in our laboratories can evolve into a company with a global impact. This operation marks a crucial step in accelerating the dissemination of technology developed by the startup and strengthening Italy's position in the advanced microscopy sector,” said Giorgio Metta, Scientific Director of the Italian Institute of Technology.
For Deep Blue Ventures, Genoa Instruments represents the seventh investment in its first 18 months of activity. The fund, established to support startups, spin-offs, and more broadly, innovation initiatives in aerospace, healthcare, and sustainability sectors, plans to close six additional deals by the end of 2025. Deep Blue Ventures debuted in May 2023. Among the investors: European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank Group, and by CDP Venture Capital SGR through its Technology Transfer Fund as Corner Investor, alongside private investors such as ReItaly21, Blue Ocean Finance, Gaiae International Srl, MCF Holding Srl. Among DBV’s partners are major industrial players in aerospace and defense such as Leonardo, the European Space Agency (ESA), I3P (the incubator of innovative enterprises at Politecnico di Torino), the Italian National Research Council (CNR), and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).