The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Gabriele Campi, Edoardo Negroni, Gian Paolo Rizzardi, co-founders, Aurora-TT

Gabriele Campi, Edoardo Negroni and Gian Paolo Rizzardi are co-founders of Aurora-TT, a technology transfer firm set up in May 2017 to enhance the commercialisation potential of institutions in Italy.

The team has a wealth of experience in venture capital, tech transfer and startup creation. Rizzardi is a former general manager at biotech fim MoIMed, Negroni is a former pharma executive and Campi’s previous role was in technology transfer at the European Institute of Oncology.

The main focus of Aurora-TT’s first €50m ($58m) fund – launched in November last year – is on the biotech sector. Its aim is to invest in pre-seed and seed projects to “bridge the gap between basic research and industrial drug development with industrial discipline”.

Aurora-TT has targeted institutional investors such as the EU-backed European Investment Fund to contribute to the fund, and it has already received support from 22 universities and research institutes in Italy.