[bcurdy]

Of course, there's one :) Sure, it's not the biggest in the world, maybe not the most vibrant either but there are definitely interesting companies and great people. A few people you could try to follow/contact to get a sense of what's happening in Italy (I'm not Italian myself, so they'll know better than I do). Stefano Bernardi, VC from Milan, Pietro Polsinelli, one of the guys behind licorize.com in Florence, of course Peldi Guilizzoni from Balsamic in Bologna (I think), Luca Filigheddu in Sardegna (twimbow among other things).

And that's only those I know or heard of but there are for sure many many more...