Italy’s Largest Vertical SaaS Round: Smartness Raises €47M to Scale AI Operations
May 4, 2026 - 2:33 pm
Trentino-based Smartness, a tech travel startup, has secured €47 million Series B, including primary and secondary equity and debt, marking the largest round for an Italian vertical SaaS company.
Smartness offers business-to-business (B2B) Software as a Service (SaaS), providing solutions to streamline operations for hospitality businesses. Their software supports automation in various industry workflows, such as:
- Customer service
- Bureaucracy and day-to-day operations
- Online and offline marketing
- Management and accounting.
The funding round was led by United Ventures and CDP Venture Capital, with Partech, a previous investor, contributing €13 million from the 2023 Series A. This latest investment brings Smartness’s total funding to over €60 million.
According to CEO and co-founder Luca Rodella, Smartness has already achieved €10 million in revenue and is poised for growth, aiming to reach €100 million and eventually become a €1 billion category leader.
Founded in 2020, the company began as a dynamic pricing software provider but later expanded to include CRM, property management systems, and operational AI solutions, catering to over 5,000 customers across 41 countries. They report a significant 10% organic monthly growth, excluding acquisition contributions, and have experienced more than six times (6x) growth.
The hospitality tech landscape in Europe has seen notable funding activity, with startups raising €343 million to support the adoption of specialized software and AI technologies. Notable examples include:
- Mews, an Amsterdam-based platform, raised €255 million in Series D for further AI, automation, and agent-driven workflow investments across hotel operations.
- Nesto, a German startup, secured €11 million to scale its AI workforce management platform for restaurant groups.
- Happyhotel received €6.5 million in Series A funding for developing AI agents for hotel revenue management.
Smartness has also pursued several M&A deals and aims to build the world’s first Agentic System for hotels and vacation rentals. With this funding round, they plan to strengthen their competitive advantage in the hospitality industry by capitalizing on the current demand for AI-powered operational solutions.
Story by Allison Steffens Herrera, Communication and media student and intern at The Next Web, contributing to research-backed content and media campaigns.