Stefano Miari

Stefano Miari built his early career in capital markets and equity sales within the asset-management industry, rising to Vice President and later Managing Director roles serving institutional clients — investment funds, hedge funds, insurance companies and family offices. In 2006 he was a Vice President in the Wealth Management division of Morgan Stanley, and he subsequently worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch until the end of 2011.

After leaving institutional banking, Miari became an active Business Angel. He was among the first members of IBAN (the Italian Business Angels Network) and, in 2012, a member of IAG — Italian Angels for Growth, one of Italy's largest angel syndicates. This positioned him at the center of Italy's emerging early-stage investing community.

In June 2013 he began collaborating with Digital Magics, the Milan-based startup incubator, initially supporting its listing (AIM/Borsa Italiana) phase. From January 2014 he was appointed Partner, taking responsibility for building and running the Digital Magics Angel Network, structuring industrial agreements for Open Innovation, and managing the fundraising process and co-investments for the incubator's portfolio startups. In the firm's 2014 corporate presentation he is listed as the Partner responsible for fundraising. Digital Magics has since merged with LVenture Group to create Zest Group, described as the Italian market leader in early-stage venture capital, acceleration, open innovation and corporate venturing.

• Operates primarily as an angel investor and network-builder rather than a fund GP, channeling co-investment into seed-stage Italian digital startups incubated by Digital Magics.
• Built and led the Digital Magics Angel Network — a syndicate of 100+ investors interested in co-investing alongside the incubator on "club deals" to back early-stage companies.
• Focus areas reflect the Digital Magics thesis: digital/internet businesses, fintech, and open-innovation ventures paired with corporates.
• Value-add beyond capital: hands-on operational involvement, fundraising structuring, and industrial/open-innovation partnerships — Miari personally sat on the turnaround management team of at least one portfolio company.