Italian fintech startup Pillar raises €3.2M pre-seed funding to digitize construction finance across Europe

Construction may be one of the backbones of Europe’s economy, but its financial operations are still stuck in the past. Few firms use modern software, most rely on manual processes, and inefficiencies eat away at margins. That’s the gap Italian startup Pillar wants to close—and now it has fresh capital to push forward.

Today, the Milan-based fintech startup announced it has raised €3.2 million in a Pre-Seed round, the largest ever seen in Italy’s construction tech sector. The round was led by Emblem, a French Pre-Seed fund known for backing global scaleups such as Lovable. Other participants include U.S. investors Pareto and Plug and Play, France’s Kima Ventures, and Italian funds like B Heroes, Vento, Eden Ventures, and IAG. Prominent entrepreneurs and business angels such as Paola Bonomo, Enrico Pandian, and Ignazio Rocco Da Torrepadula also joined the cap table.

Pillar’s software gives construction companies a clear view of their financials across both entire businesses and individual projects. It tracks revenues, expenses, and margins in real time, using AI to reconcile bank transactions, automate controls, and flag irregularities before they turn into costly problems. The platform integrates data from tax records, banking systems, and on-site sources such as delivery notes, hours worked, and progress reports. Workers can even send updates directly through WhatsApp, feeding into the system automatically.

Founded by Gabriel Guinea Montalvo, Paolo Tarsia Incuria, and Lorenzo Demaio—entrepreneurs with backgrounds spanning Italy and abroad—Pillar was built to tackle a sector still marked by legacy workflows. The timing is ripe. Construction accounted for 11.4% of Italy’s GDP in 2023 and one-third of GDP growth over the last two years, according to the Bank of Italy. Yet only 20% of construction firms currently use software to manage building sites, according to Censis.

Since launch, Pillar has attracted over 100 clients, processed more than 40,000 invoices, and tracked upwards of 500 workers across 350 projects. The team has grown to 15 people, and with this new funding, the startup plans to accelerate product development, expand its go-to-market strategy, and scale its headcount to 30 by 2027. Its long-term aim is to establish itself as Europe’s go-to fintech platform for construction finance.

“This investment, at one of the highest valuations ever recorded for a Pre-Seed round in Italy, is an important signal of confidence confirming both the attractiveness and potential of our solution in a traditional and under-digitalized market such as construction,” said Gabriel Guinea Montalvo, CEO & Co-Founder of Pillar.

For Emblem’s general partner Guillaume Durao, the bet is as much about the team as the market. “The construction industry is huge and currently undergoing a strong push toward digitalization, driven by generational change, demand for greater efficiency, and the need to navigate increasingly complex regulations. It is fertile ground for mobile applications and AI solutions, but at the same time poses unique challenges for software vendors, as it is highly fragmented and requires a deep understanding of user needs to build an effective go-to-market strategy. To tackle the challenge of innovating this sector, we chose to back the Pillar team for its expertise and qualities, similar to those we’ve seen in many successful teams.”

Pillar is now positioning itself to capture a slice of one of Europe’s largest but least-digitized markets. If it succeeds, it could set the standard for how construction companies handle their finances in the years ahead.