Beatrice Capretti

Beatrice Capretti has spent her private-equity career at Progressio SGR, the independent Milan-based firm she joined in 2009. She began as a member of the investment team and worked for several years as an Investment Manager, executing and monitoring portfolio deals, before moving into her current leadership role as Partner responsible for Investor Relations & ESG Strategy. In that capacity she manages the firm's investor relations and fundraising activities and, since 2018, has led the definition of Progressio's sustainability strategy — a mandate that has grown in importance as Progressio pursued B Corp certification (2021), Benefit Corporation status (2022), and its role as a PRI signatory.

Before Progressio, Capretti worked as an analyst in the leveraged-finance team at UniCredit Markets & Investment Banking in Milan, giving her a debt-and-structuring foundation that complements her later principal-investing work. She was educated at Bocconi University in Milan, earning a bachelor's degree in Business Economics and a master's in Administration, Finance and Control.

Although her title today centers on IR and ESG, she has remained active on the deal side and continues to carry responsibilities on certain portfolio investments. She sat on the deal teams for several of Progressio's transactions — notably serving as Investment Manager on the Polenghi Food investment and exit and as part of the team on the Garda Plast investment and sale. In 2019 she was recognized as "Female Investment Manager of the Year – Italy" in the Influential Businesswoman Awards.

Progressio SGR itself was founded in 2005 and focuses on buy-out, buy-in, and expansion-capital investments in Italian SMEs across industrial and service sectors. It has raised multiple funds (Progressio Investimenti I, II, III and IV), managing well over €300M, and targets "hidden champions" in niches where Italian manufacturing and brand heritage confer a durable edge.

• Invests through Progressio's institutional PE funds in established, revenue-generating Italian SMEs (roughly €20M–€200M in revenue) — a growth/buy-out mandate rather than early-stage angel or seed investing.
• Pursues majority and qualified minority stakes via buy-out / buy-in transactions and expansion financing, backing value-creating entrepreneurs and management teams.
• Concentrates on "Made in Italy" hidden champions — companies with defensible know-how and market positioning in fashion & luxury, food & beverage, chemistry & pharmaceutical, and precision mechanics.
• Says yes to businesses with high, sustainable growth potential where Progressio can add value through relationships, operational support, and — a distinctive lever for Capretti — a formal ESG / sustainability agenda (Progressio is a B Corp, Benefit Corporation, and PRI signatory).
• Firm mission, in its own words: to "generate real change by supporting those who create value," built on "experience, relationships and shared insights."