Ulisse closes €1.09M seed round for IoT asset tracking
What's the deal? UlisseDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Milan-based startup that tracks vehicles and assets in real time, has closed a seed round of $1,088,050 (€1,088,050). The round was backed by Acceleratore Argo — a programme within CDP Venture CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s national accelerator network focused on tourism and hospitality — and the Centro Nazionale per la Mobilità Sostenibile (MOST), along with more than 30 angel investors coordinated by Stefano Ceci of Stesodado Mentor Capital.
Notable angels include Gabriele Benedetto, chairman of Futura SGR and former chief executive officer of Telepass; Luca Palermo, chief executive officer of FederlegnoArredo Eventi and former chief executive officer of Fiera MilanoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; Maurizio Tursini, chief executive officer of FIC and former chief technology officer of Gruppo Cimbali; and Teresa Trivisonno, former vice president of NTT Data Italia.
Why now? The funding marks the completion of Ulisse's R&D phase in IoT. It has secured a European patent for a proprietary low-power 2.4GHz mesh network technology designed for precision tracking in complex industrial and logistics environments.
Originally built to digitise berth management in Italian marinas, Ulisse has expanded into railways, automated warehousing, advanced logistics, and smart parking. It recently won an IoMobility Awards 2026 prize for an innovative approach to managing reserved parking spaces.
The startup combines hardware devices and software platforms to locate assets in real time, offering geofencing and flow analysis. Its adaptive mesh architecture self-balances to maintain reliability in high-density settings, both indoors and outdoors, while cutting energy use and installation time.
What could go wrong? Asset tracking is a crowded market with established players and competing technologies like ultra-wideband and Bluetooth Low Energy. Scaling from niche marina roots into heavy industry and logistics means Ulisse will face larger, better-funded competitors. Converting a European patent into lasting commercial advantage is never guaranteed.
The signal: CDP Venture Capital, the investment fund behind the Argo accelerator that backed this round, has become one of Italy's most active institutional seed investors, channelling public capital into deep-tech verticals from mobility to logistics. Ulisse's pivot from marina digitisation into railways and warehousing mirrors a broader European pattern in which niche IoT startups use sector-specific beachheads to break into larger industrial markets — though at just over $1 million, the company will likely need a significantly larger follow-on round to compete at scale.
Read more: milanofinanza.it
