MILAN — Italian tech company Hyphen-Group, a software house active in digital content production and management for fashion, luxury, retail and media brands, is entering its next phase of development through an agreement with the Canadian investment firm Valsoft Corp.
The latter is acquiring Chalco Technologies, a newco resulting from the spin-off of Hyphen’s business unit operating the Chalco software, its crown jewel platform.
Introduced in 1998, the software allows brands to manage and distribute their products’ digital content through an integrated suite of solutions designed for different teams and needs, from product development and sales to marketing, e-commerce and archive.
The technology is currently adopted by such labels as Ferragamo, Corneliani, Guess and brands that are part of the Max Mara Fashion Group. The fashion industry represents about 60 percent of the company’s clientele.
The stronger backbone resulting from the acquisition will also lay the groundwork for Chalco Technologies to branch out into food and beverage, beauty, design and automotive, the company said.
In addition to licensing the proprietary software, Hyphen over time has integrated side services including consulting, software implementation and support, as well as the Hyphen Shooting Line for content production and Hyphen-Media, for photographic, 3D and CGI production and post-production. These will continue to be carried out by Hyphen-Integration, which was not part of the Valsoft acquisition.
As part of the deal, whose financial details were not disclosed, Hyphen-Group’s current chief executive officer Stefano Righetti is to assume the same role at Chalco Technologies, leading the newco toward international expansion and implementation of generative AI capabilities.
“The Hyphen team has built with Chalco a solid product in the field of content operations and a loyal client base in Italy and Switzerland in the luxury and retail sectors: exactly the kind of team and technology we choose to support with a long-term horizon, making our resources and international network available to accelerate its growth,” said Aidin Mohsenin, investment partner of Valsoft Corp.
The latter is specialized in the acquisition and growth of software companies that provide critical solutions in their respective markets. Over more than 10 years it has built a portfolio of about 150 companies active in more than 20 sectors and 20 countries.
Righetti and business partner Andrea Turazza, who will become CEO of Hyphen-Integration, established the company in 1998, acquiring the trademark from a troubled software company. They turned it into a hub for advertising, publishing and content management, adapting it as digital technology reshaped media and consumer good businesses.
“Our small insight was that, in the future, companies would become publishers of their own content. We began working on the life cycle of digital content,” Righetti told WWD, recalling the early days of Hyphen.
Since 2010 and then more markedly from 2015, Hyphen has been stepping up its game helping brands develop, manage and distribute what it bills as “digital product identities.”
The Chalco software house being sold to Valsoft sits at the heart of this process. It’s a centralized toolkit for photographic production, 3D product development, product catalogues creation, hybrid physical-digital showroom, and window displays and in-store display materials, among other services.
“Alongside the supply chain for the physical product, there is a supply chain for producing that same product digitally,” Righetti said. “That is where our relationship with luxury brands began, making the sector more receptive to certain aspects of the first wave of digitalization.”
Hyphen helps brands build “digital factories,” workflows that streamline the consistent production and management of digital assets, break down operational silos and align teams across departments.
The Hyphen-Group headquarters in Milan.
Courtesy of Hyphen-Group
Through the acquisition, Chalco Technologies is expected to double its sales in five years. In 2025 Hyphen-Group posted revenues of 14 million euros, up 10 percent versus 2024.
“In Valsoft Corp., we have found a partner whose intentions aligned with ours. They have a portfolio of 150 companies and 20,000 clients overall, which represent a significant lead-generation opportunity. This global distribution gives us something that would have been very costly for us to achieve on our own: the opportunity to speak with and get to know companies.…It is also a group with considerable financial strength, and an acquisition rate of 1.5 companies a month, which follows a buy-and-hold approach that allows it to invest,” Righetti said.
As part of the growth strategy, the Chalco software is to expand its footprint, across countries and sectors.
“In five years, we want to reach eight countries. Hyphen’s DNA will not change, but the architecture behind it will,” Righetti said, mentioning France as an obvious choice among the target markets for its concentration of luxury house, as well as the U.K.
In all new countries the team will identify the right partners for distribution and implementation of the Chalco software, with the first deals expected in the second half of 2027. In Italy and Switzerland those operations will continue to be handled by Hyphen-Integration.
Stefano Righetti, CEO of Chalco Technologies
Courtesy of Hyphen-Group
Righetti did not rule out expanding Chalco through acquisitions, an approach consistent with Valsoft’s buy-and-hold strategy.
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