Massimo Vanzi

Non-Executive Director

Senior Advisor - CDP Venture Capital SGR

Massimo Vanzi is a highly experienced manager and entrepreneur with over 45 years of experience in the semiconductor, electronics, EDA, software and ICT industries.

After earning his Dr Eng. degree in electronics in 1976 from the University of Genoa (Italy) and his Master of Science degree in Microelectronics and Computer Science from Stanford University, Massimo worked with Signetics, Innovative Silicon Technology and STMicroelectronics. In 1993 Massimo founded Accent. Initially as a Joint Venture between STMicroelectronics and Cadence Inc. As Accent CEO, Massimo transformed a small startup of five engineers into the leader IC design and Fabless ASIC Company in Europe and one of the top 5 in the world.

In 2010 Massimo exits Accent and started working as an advisor to deeptech SME’s and startups.

Since then, he became a shareholder and co-founder of more than 14 technology startups in Sophia Antipolis, Lousanne, Milano, Bologna, Padova, Udine, Genova, Cosenza and Torino; he is a co-founder of Genova High Tech SpA, senior advisor/mentor of many high-tech startups and SME’s; senior member and for six years member of the Screening Committee of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), the primary Italian business angel network. Voluntary mentor for innovative startup accelerators and R&D centers like Impact Hub, Luiss Enlabs, Wylab, IIT, and more. He participates as a jury member to many startup contests and as an invited lecturer to several university courses on the startup entrepreneurial model. He has been an advisor to Genoa University, EPFL, Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, and Bologna University on Technology Transfer. He has been a member of the Scientific Committee of ISICT in Genoa and of the Scientific Committee of the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnologies (CSEM) of Neuchatel. Invited teacher at ACACES 2019, International Summer School on Advanced Computer Architecture and Compilation for High-Performance and Embedded Systems on the topic of “Funding and Developing DEEP TECH Startups”. Contract professor to the “Innovation Management” course of MIBE (Master in International Business and Entrepreneurship) and to the Master in “Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at Pavia University in the years 2014-2020. Recently invited independent member of the Board of Directors of ELES Semiconductors, Euronext Growth Milan traded company, consultant of Filse, the financial arm of Liguria region, to support the local startup community, and contract advisor of CDP Venture, the leading state institution aiming to make Venture Capital a strategic pillar to Italy’s economic growth and innovation.

Massimo is a fine art photographer (www.massimovanzi.it), a member of the Rotary Club Genova Golfo Paradiso and a former member of the Management Board of the Stanford Alumni Club of Italy.