Milan, December 10 – AssoNEXT, the association representing leading Italian listed SMEs, held its annual AssoNEXT Awards 2025 ceremony yesterday evening at Palazzo Mezzanotte. The event celebrated the dynamism and innovative vision of companies listed on Euronext Growth Milan (EGM), along with the crucial role of investors in supporting Italy’s entrepreneurial fabric and contributing to the development of the real economy.
Euronext Growth Milan: A Growing Market
The Euronext Growth Milan market, currently valued at 11 billion euros in capitalization, has seen 300 new admissions since 2009, raising approximately 2.5 billion euros. The number of companies listed on EGM has tripled in the last ten years. In 2024 alone, these SMEs collectively generated 11.9 billion euros in revenues, 1.3 billion euros in EBITDA, and employed 37,000 people, an increase of over 3,000 from the previous year.
The AssoNEXT Awards: Recognizing Excellence
Now in its fourth edition, the ceremony brought together over 200 guests, including entrepreneurs, professionals, and academics. The event recognized EGM companies that excelled in the categories of Best IPO, Best Performance, and Best M&A. Additionally, special recognition was given to institutional investors most active in the EGM market, acknowledging their commitment to positively influencing the governance, strategies, and performance of listed SMEs.
AssoNEXT Emphasizes Collective Effort for Growth
During the evening, AssoNEXT underscored the importance of continuing the collaborative work undertaken in recent months, highlighting that sustained and concrete growth for Italian listed SMEs can only be achieved through joint effort.
Vincenzo Polidoro, President of AssoNEXT, stated, “2025 clearly showed the challenging phase we are going through: increasing delistings compared to IPOs, reduced liquidity, and greater disaffection in accessing the market. But precisely for this reason, the message we want to convey today is even clearer: only by joining forces, sharing values and vision, can we relaunch the development, competitiveness, and value creation capacity of Italian listed SMEs. The AssoNEXT Awards remind us, every year, how crucial it is to act systematically: support already listed companies, certainly, but also guide those looking to the capital market as a lever for growth, showing how listing can transform into a virtuous path of innovation, transparency, and industrial strengthening. In the last ten years, EGM has established itself as a strategic infrastructure for Italian entrepreneurship. And it is on this trajectory that we want to continue to invest, strengthen the system, and build the future of a more modern, liquid, and competitive market. Because these companies are not a niche; they are a pillar of the country’s economy.”
Emilia Orsini, General Secretary of AssoNEXT, added, “The sense of community and group that we, with AssoNEXT, are committed to promoting continues to represent an important factor for small and medium-sized listed companies, who find in the Association a ‘common home’ to share experiences and perspectives. The large participation in the AssoNEXT Awards confirms this every year: we are proud to celebrate the most emblematic EGM case studies, this year also together with investors who firmly believe in the strategic importance of SMEs and the value of this growth project.”
Award Recipients 2025
- Best IPO: Otofarma – Active in the construction and production of hearing aids, listed on EGM since August 2025. Otofarma was recognized for its highly innovative business model in a sector exposed to structural megatrends, achieving over 20% annual growth rates in the last five years and a robust IPO fundraising supported by domestic and international anchor investors, with demand double the overall offering.
- Best Performance: Redelfi – A player in the green energy sector specializing in the development of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), on EGM since 2022. Redelfi excelled due to its stock performance since the beginning of the year (as of November 24, 2025, weighted by average daily trading volumes) and traded volumes, which were bolstered by the entry of primary institutional investors supporting its new industrial plan focused on strong growth.
- Best M&A: I.CO.P. – A historic construction company, on EGM since 2024. I.CO.P. received this award for its two operations during the year, Atlantic Geoconstruction and Palingeo, which strengthened the company’s presence in geotechnical and geognostic fields and were crucial for the group’s international expansion.
Special Institutional Investor Award: Algebris, Arca fondi, and First Capital were honored for their activism not only in investing in EGM companies but also for their concrete commitment to the evolution of listed SMEs. This category also considered the market value of their holdings (updated based on individual stock values at market close on November 24, 2025).
Source: https://risparmio.tiscali.it/finanza/articoli/assonext-premia-eccellenze-2025-euronext-growth-milan/
