milan

thanks to our mansikka on flickr

We left you with AperiTWeat 2.0 yet to take place, and, well, it did. We had over 120 people enjoying the drinks, the chatter and the Italian food that the guys at Al Volo kept bringing out until the final Pasta surprised everyone! We were very happy not only because of the numbers, but especially because of the qualit of the people attending, a truly lovely bunch indeed! Main attraction of the night was probably the Gumtree Goo (which I'd really like to show you in pictures but trust me, it's better if I don't...), and there's a Lasagna preparation contest still pending...

We also played our part in the organisation of High Street Art & Food, a warm-up event for the new Blur'd series of events taking place in Kensington and organised by Blur Marketing. The atmosphere was lovely at Cafe' Phillies (just off Kensington High Street) and prosecco, champagne and food were enjoyed by the guests.

We also had to spend a few days in Trieste, Milan and Verona, where we were very lucky with the weather (we had 37 degrees in Verona...) and found two very nice little restaurants, especially in Milan, where we once again realised how nice Italian food really is in Italy, we just need it every now and then I think.

We have also been invited to a premiere of "Up", the new Disney Pixar movie, at the Disney Studios in Hammersmith, which we're so excited about you have no idea...

Breaking News: Massimiliano Magrini, Google Italy's country manager just resigned from the company.
Magrini, who helped the start up of Google in Italy in 2002 after working with Altavista, announced he will start a venture capital fund and a startup incubator.

"I will develop in Italy what venture capitalists are already doing in Usa".

Joined by 20 other key players in the italian internet tech scene, he aims to bring to Europe a Silicon Valley-like mindset, providing help as well as funding, to very early stage companies.

Venture capital in Europe in not dead.
Innogest, a $120 million fund with offices in Milan, Padova and Torino, just reminded us that VC deals are possible, injecting the huge sum of $8 Million into BeeTV.

“This is the single largest investment our firm has ever made,” said Marco Pinciroli, Innogest CEO. “This fact alone shows how much we believe in beeTV, with the concept, its management, and its business strategy.”

“We already knew we had the most innovative product on the market. Now we have the means to push it to the next level,” commented Rodolfo Hecht, beeTV’s Chairman. “We are proud of being one of the few companies that is able to announce a major VC deal in today’s frozen market.”

The Milan-based startup launched in 2006, and is now working towards its 1.5 release, they already have offices in Tel Aviv and Los Angeles and claim to have partnerships with the most important TV networks worldwide.

They recently pitched their product at DEMO08, you can see the video here:

The aim of BeeTV is to help you choose what you watch more easily, they will replace your usual tv guide with personal recommendation based on your taste and mood. The algorithm team is led by the well-regarded Gavin Potter – the recommendation guru. Their commercial operations are expected to begin in 2010.