OnStartups

How He Built a €1.1B Giant - Interview with Enrico Giacomelli, the Founder of Namirial

The EU Startups podcast features Enrico Giacomelli, founder of Italy’s digital‑trust specialist Namirial, which has grown into a €1.1 billion enterprise. Giacomelli walks through the company’s 30‑year journey from a modest paper‑selling venture in 1991 to a market‑leading platform for electronic identification, signatures and transaction security, now positioning itself as an AI‑first player. Key insights revolve around a relentless focus on the customer: empathy, gut instinct and the ability to sell solutions before chasing hype. Giacomelli stresses that timing is as important as technology—many early projects failed because the market wasn’t ready. He also highlights the importance of resilience, cash‑flow discipline, and treating venture capital as a tool rather than a goal. The Italian startup ecosystem, he notes, presents bureaucratic challenges but also a fertile ground for founders who can navigate it and expand across Europe and beyond. Memorable quotes include, “You have to sell; you can’t build a product in a vacuum,” and “Resilience and gut feeling are essential for surviving market cycles.” Giacomelli describes the shift to AI as a natural evolution: AI can streamline compliance, reduce costs and enhance trust services, reinforcing Namirial’s competitive edge. For founders and investors, the interview underscores that sustainable growth stems from solving real problems, entering the market at the right moment, and continuously adapting technology—especially AI—to evolving regulatory and customer demands. The Namirial story illustrates how a European company can scale globally by marrying customer‑centric salesmanship with strategic tech adoption.