Our Investment in Pack
Pack is building an AI-native people development platform designed to transform how companies understand, coach and grow their teams.
We are thrilled to announce our first Italian investment, Pack. Pack is building an AI-native people development platform designed to transform how companies understand, coach and grow their teams. Acadian Ventures co-led this $6.7M Series A round with Rialto Ventures.
We believe AI can change the way people work, grow and develop inside organizations. While much of the current HR technology landscape is historically centered on payroll or administrative workflows, we believe the next decade will be defined by how AI enhances coaching, skills development, and behavioural insight, especially in Southern Europe where this category is a blank canvas.
🧨 The Problem
Italy, Spain, and France have long relied on established local HR systems built for administration, not talent. Global HCM suites, such as SAP and Workday, have struggled to penetrate these markets because of complex labour regulations, localized nuances, and the need for strong, on-the-ground sales. As a result, modern companies are left with outdated tools for one of the most important parts of work: understanding how people actually perform and grow. Pack is building directly into this gap. They’re creating an AI-native people development platform that aligns HR and the business, that brings structure to manager-employee conversations, and positions the employee at the centre of a richer, more continuous feedback loop.
🔥 Pack’s Solution
Instead of relying on templates, forms or generic annual reviews, Pack captures behavioural data from everyday work including: how employees collaborate, communicate, take ownership and grow. The platform synthesizes these qualitative signals into structured insight that managers can act on. Now with Pack, employee development is no longer a painful semi-annual ritual. It’s become a transparent, continuous narrative that helps companies understand strengths, gaps and real behavioural patterns.
HR gains visibility into how development actually happens across teams,
Managers gain better guidance and clearer expectations,
Employees understand their progress and where they can improve.
The impact is simple but powerful: better feedback, fairer evaluations, stronger growth trajectories, and a deeper connection between organizational goals and individual development. This is simply game changing in Southern Europe, where talent tools have lagged behind and Pack’s traction already reflects that with over $4.4M cARR and 129% net revenue retention and growing.
🧑🤝🧑 The Team
The founding team is ambitious and uniquely positioned between Milan’s emerging tech ecosystem and Barcelona’s engineering talent depth. The founders:
Pietro Picogna (CEO) brings uncommon clarity and conviction on what effective employee development should look like. His energy is off the charts, and his vision instantly resonated with us.
Giacomo Gentili (CTO), brings deep product and technical mastery, giving us confidence they can ship fast on an ambitious roadmap.
👊🏻 Why Now & Our Conviction
AI finally makes it possible to interpret qualitative behaviour at scale, just as companies shift towards transparent, skills-based cultures where fairness and clarity matter. Pack sits exactly at that intersection and is building the intelligence layer that links daily work to development. Not only is their early traction remarkable, but they were also ranked #13 in Sifted’s Future 50 a few weeks ago!
We are extremely excited to partner with Pietro, Giacomo and the Pack team as they build a modern, AI-native talent platform for Europe and beyond! For more on Pack, you can check out their press coverage in Tech.eu.