I build the commercial architecture that turns scientific assets into fundable companies.
I am not a scientist, not a banker, and not a typical consultant. I am an economist who spent twenty years building bridges between worlds that do not naturally speak to each other — science and capital, academia and industry, Italy and everywhere else. Non-linear paths are where I tend to be most useful.
Who this is for
If you are a researcher trying to understand whether your discovery has commercial legs — I have had that conversation hundreds of times, with the researchers, not about them.
If you are a foreign company trying to enter Italy — I know the market not from reports, but from two decades of relationships with the people who run it.
If you are raising capital and the standard pitch is not working: I have spent twenty years across the table from pharma BD teams and VC funds, never on their side, always on yours. I know what they need to see before they engage, because giving it to them was my job.
None of this makes me the right person for every situation. But for situations that do not fit the standard playbook, it tends to help.
Not sure what a venture architect actually does? What is a venture architect in biotech →
Faculty, Master in Biotech Innovation and Industrial Development, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele. Module: equity story architecture for life sciences founders.
Verify ↗Mentor, Seed4Innovation, Università degli Studi di Milano. Board Network Consultant, BioInnovation Institute, Copenhagen.
Verify ↗Economics degree with a thesis in game theory, Università di Firenze. Venture Capital, Wharton Executive Education. The rest is twenty years of practice across three continents.
Verify ↗The background
I started by mapping the Italian biotech industry from the outside — building a national reference publication and the online portal that became the sector's primary reference point, co-developing both with a technical team from scratch. The work meant spending years in direct conversation with every significant player in the ecosystem, and presenting the annual report at BIO Annual Convention and BioEurope Spring — where I also participated as a panelist.
Then I moved inside a leading cancer research institute, where I spent over a decade working across international strategy, technology transfer, and innovation management: building joint labs in Singapore, Japan, and India, sitting on the board of the institute's technology transfer company, managing European research programmes, and working directly with researchers to translate their discoveries into terms that investors and pharma partners actually respond to.
More recently I have taken that same work outside institutional walls — advising founders, supporting TTOs, helping foreign companies navigate the Italian market, and teaching equity story architecture at the postgraduate level.
The roles changed. The work did not.
In their words
“Leonardo's deep, complementary expertise in life sciences and capital gave my thinking real structure and direction. He helped me see where the real value sat and how to build the infrastructure around it.”
Lili Troshina
Strategy & Growth Leader; Femtech Longevity expert platform founder.
“An exceptionally capable and analytical manager with a deep understanding of the biotech and venture capital industry.”
Jacopo Franchini
Strategic Marketing Advisor, Recordati Rare Diseases.
“Instrumental in refining our long-term strategy. Leonardo transformed my perspective on growth by showing that even the most innovative medical technology needs a robust plan to succeed. His ability to bridge complex science and market viability is rare and invaluable.”
Clarissa Meneghini
Sales Manager for Exoskeletons in Healthcare.
“A fantastic team player and natural leader who bridges science and business in pharma/biotech.”
Francesco Grillo
Start-up & Portfolio Manager, Max Planck Innovation.
Tell me about your situation. 30 minutes is enough to understand whether I can help — and to tell you honestly if I cannot.
