Italian publishing house Zanichelli Editore launches €60 million EdTech push to “unlock human potential”

Zanichelli Editore, a Bologna-based publishing house with a 166-year legacy, has announced the launch of ZNEXT, a €60 million initiative aimed at fueling the growth of EdTech businesses with investments of up to €150k in initial pre-Seed per company.

ZNEXT will function both as a venture builder and as an M&A vehicle, Co-founding startups and acquiring majority stakes in small but high-potential businesses. The initiative will back projects in EdTech, the Future of Work, Lifelong Learning, and Wellbeing technology.

ZNEXT is led by Elena Lavezzi, formerly of Uber and Revolut, who brings her experience of scaling disruptive platforms into this new venture. “Diversification is key, and the core Zanichelli business has continuously innovated, harnessing the potential of evolving markets for over 150 years. ZNEXT, alongside the existing VC fund Zanichelli Venture, represents the next branch in the company’s evolutionary tree. Having directly observed the impact of industry-defining change at Uber and Revolut, I am now excited to channel that same energy and ambition into unlocking the boundless potential within individuals through world-class technology.”

Founded in 1859 by Modena bookseller Nicola Zanichelli, Zanichelli Editore has played a central role in shaping Italian cultural and scientific discourse, publishing seminal works by authors such as Carducci and Pascoli, and early Italian translations of landmark texts by Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.

Over the decades, Zanichelli has been an innovator in legal publishing, education, and digital innovation, producing foundational texts in grammar, science, and literature, and widely used dictionaries. Today, it remains a leading publisher in the Italian education sector, known for its commitment to quality, digital transformation, and the advancement of knowledge.

The new venture signals a significant strategic shift for Zanichelli. Through a dual strategy of venture building and acquisitions, ZNEXT aims to support visionary entrepreneurs and established companies across Italy and beyond.

“Zanichelli Editore has an incredible history, including being the first to translate Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’ into Italian in 1864. Darwin understood that humans are constantly changing, and it is neither the strongest nor the most intelligent that survive, but those most responsive to changing environments,” added Lavezzi.

Through its venture builder, ZNEXT will invest up to €150k in initial pre-Seed funding per company and provide operational support, domain expertise and access to a broader network. The process for selecting ventures will be data-driven, focusing on technical validity and market opportunity.

The M&A arm, meanwhile, will take majority stakes in businesses aligned with ZNEXT’s investment themes and collaborate with existing teams to deploy or enhance technology to drive growth.

ZNEXT also plans to work with ‘intrapreneurs’ from Zanichelli Editore, offering a platform for innovation from within the century-old company. The initiative underscores Zanichelli’s commitment to education while embracing a broader vision of lifelong learning and adaptive skills development.

“The accelerating pace of technological change, globalisation, and evolving societal needs underscore the critical importance of human adaptability,” added Ferrante Enriques, shareholder in Zanichelli Editore and ZNEXT, who spearheaded ZNEXT’s creation. “Whilst we are, and will always continue to be, vocal advocates for traditional education, there is no doubt that the world is changing and innovative technology is unlocking human potential. We are committed to investing in this evolution, enabling citizens across the world to adapt the way they live, work and learn.”

The post Italian publishing house Zanichelli Editore launches €60 million EdTech push to “unlock human potential” appeared first on EU-Startups.