ZetaBarber
SaaS for barber shops
100%
Every shop has its own app, a booking calendar and booking via Google. Development, sales, training and support are all in-house.
820paying shops
700.000app users
5mbookings a year
Anabasis · holding company
Ten thousand men. No commanders. A sea to reach.
It is the story that gave us our name, and it is how we build companies.
Scroll to start the march
The arrival
Thálatta! Thálatta!
“The sea! The sea!” shouted the Ten Thousand from the summit of Mount Theches.
Anabasis is the holding company that owns Zumbat Hub and the companies that spin out of it: on their own, or with the right partner.
Continue into the seaThe march, stage by stage
Stage I · The departure
Where it began. 2019, San Marzano sul Sarno. Three founders leave university to build their own products. No commanders: decisions are made together, like the Ten Thousand.
Stage II · The camp
Zumbat Hub. This is where we build. Software, marketing and sales in a single team. Every product starts in Zumbat and stays there until it has paying customers. Then it spins out: on its own, or with the right partner.
Stage III · ZetaBarber
Holding company subsidiary, Anabasis stake 100%. The app that brings customers back to their barber, with management software for the shop. 820 paying shops, 700,000 users, 5 million bookings a year.
Stage IV · Choco Zero
With the right partner, Anabasis stake 15%. Chocolate with no added sugar, born from an idea of a nutritionist biologist. From €10k to over €1m in revenue; Zumbat runs all its marketing.
Stage V · Blindzone
With the right partner, Anabasis stake 46%. Artificial intelligence that uses the cameras already in the store to flag theft and fraud. Developed with Excursus Group, a corporate intelligence firm.
Stage VI · Sto Puzzle
Zumbat project, Zumbat stake 100%. Designer jigsaw puzzles of 500 and 1,000 pieces, with a playlist in every box. 4,170 orders, 4.8 out of 5 from 711 reviews.
Stage VII · Capzone
Zumbat project in the works, Zumbat stake 100%. Administrative computer work, done by an AI agent: it logs into portals, downloads invoices and updates the cash book.
Stage VIII · ProntoDev
Zumbat project about to launch, Zumbat stake 100%. On-demand development for the software you already use, even if it is more than ten years old: describe the change in words, try the preview, publish it only if you are happy with it.
Stage IX · POOK
Zumbat project, live, Zumbat stake 100%. The app for people who want to read regularly: goals, reading streaks and comments between friends tied to the page.
Stage X · The pass
How we do it. Each company shortens the road for the next. The software of one becomes the foundation of the next; the customers of one become the market of another.
Thálatta! Thálatta! Anabasis is the holding company that owns Zumbat Hub and the companies that spin out of it: on their own, or with the right partner.
Where it began
A march without commanders. In 401 BC and in 2019.
Move the cursor or touch the sea: a wave is born.
The story
Xenophon and the Ten Thousand
In 401 BC ten thousand Greek mercenaries follow Cyrus the Younger into the heart of the Persian Empire. After the battle of Cunaxa their commanders are treacherously killed. Far from home, in hostile territory, they choose new leaders from among themselves, decide together and march north for months, across the mountains.
One day, from the summit of Mount Theches, they see the Black Sea. Xenophon, who was among them, tells the story of the journey in the Anabasis: in Greek, the ascent, the expedition inland.
Ours
San Marzano sul Sarno, 2019
Francesco Giugliano, Nicola Vastola and Lorenzo De Stefano leave university to build their own products. Their own capital, no hierarchy: decisions are made together and everyone works on everything, from development to sales.
That group gave rise to Zumbat Hub, the team that builds. Zumbat gave rise to the companies that make up Anabasis today. We chose the name because it describes how we work: one team, a long road, a market to reach.
We are not a financial holding company. We are the team that builds the companies it then holds stakes in.
What it does
It owns the team that builds. And what it builds.
Anabasis brings two things together: Zumbat Hub, the team that builds the products, and stakes in the companies that spin out of it.
The filled circle is the stake held by Anabasis. The dashed line marks what was born inside Zumbat.
The engine · 100%
ProductionZumbat Hub
Software, marketing and sales in a single team. It works for the group companies, which pay it a fee for development and marketing, and for outside clients with the same method. This gives the group its own revenue while the companies grow.
TrenDeviceAgosStanhomeLa Regina di San Marzano30+ startups
Go to zumbat.it ↗
20231,58 M€Zumbat revenue
2023119 k€Zumbat profit
Today11people across development, design, marketing and sales
Since 201914products launched or in the works
Holding company subsidiary
Product page ↗
Choco Zero
Food, direct online sales
15%
Chocolate with no added sugar, born from an idea of a nutritionist biologist. Zumbat runs its e-commerce, customer acquisition, email and creators.
1 M€+revenue, up from €10k in 2020
85,30 €average order value, up from €28
25%of revenue from email
Blindzone
AI for retail security
46%
It uses the cameras already in the store to flag theft and fraud. No facial recognition, everything stays on site. Developed with Excursus Group.
−40%shrinkage from the first month
+60%goods recovered, in the best cases
~3 monthsto recoup the investment
Projects 100% owned by Zumbat
Four projects with real numbers, still inside Zumbat. When one is ready it spins out and becomes a company, and that is where investors can come in.
Sto Puzzle
Designer jigsaw puzzles · e-commerce
500- and 1,000-piece puzzles with a playlist in every box, sold online worldwide. Featured in Vanity Fair, ANSA and NSS Magazine.
4.170orders
4,8out of 5, from 711 reviews
11,5%of buyers come back to buy again
Capzone
AI agents for businesses
Administrative computer work, done by an AI agent: it logs into portals, downloads invoices and updates the cash book. Every task leaves a step-by-step report.
macOSand Windows, desktop app
0,18 €cost of the sample task
3 minfor 14 invoices, in the sample case
ProntoDev
On-demand development with AI
Changes to the software you already use, even if it is more than ten years old: you describe them in words, try the preview, and they go live only when you say yes.
1/10of the cost of a software house
39 minfrom request to production, in the sample case
POOK
Consumer reading app
The app for people who want to read regularly: goals, reading streaks and comments between friends tied to the page.
1codebase for web, iOS and Android
Livewith real readers
Stakes held by Anabasis, as of October 2026.
How it does it
Three steps for every company. Two ways to spin out.
Build
Zumbat designs the product, writes the software and takes it to market with its own capital and people. Ideas come from the market, from a group company, or from a problem someone on the team has lived through.
Validate
The product stays inside Zumbat until it has paying customers. It has a set time to prove it. If it does not get there, it is shut down without ceremony and the team moves on to the next one.
Spin out
When it can stand on its own, it becomes a company with its own accounts.
On its ownAnabasis holds the controlling stake. This is the case with ZetaBarber.With the right partnerA partner who brings market access or expertise comes in and receives a stake. This is the case with Choco Zero and Blindzone.Projects still 100% owned by Zumbat, such as Sto Puzzle, Capzone, ProntoDev and POOK, spin out when investors need to come in.
The rules of the march
Our capital, always in
Every company gets the team’s money, skills and time. Investors come in alongside us, never in our place.
Ship as soon as it is useful
Products go to market as soon as they are useful, not when they look perfect. Real feedback decides the next version.
The team moves where it is needed
No fixed team per company. More design at launch, more development during growth, more marketing for distribution.
Every stage shortens the next
The software of one company becomes the foundation of the next. The customers of one become the market of another.
In the works
The next waves.
On Zumbat’s workbench, between products on the market and prototypes. Each one is made for a specific sector.
- App · in the storesKing FocusTrains your attention in three or four minutes a day, instead of blocking your other apps.
- Game · in the browserEsonerato!The football transfer market as a roguelite: you are the sporting director and you last until the chairman sacks you.
- iOS app · readyHotel GattinoThe step counter that brings you guests: you walk and kittens arrive, each one different.
- SaaS · in usePrima NotaStatements from seven banks and cards in a single ledger, with no duplicates.
- B2B service · demoZumbat CreatorsSelected creators, trained and paid on verified views. One supplier, one invoice.
- Food app · in developmentGufoodRecipes saved from TikTok and Instagram become step-by-step cooking cards.
- App · in the browserFish FocusA Pomodoro timer with a fisherman: as long as you leave your phone alone, he fishes for you.
- Mobile gameDungeon ArrowA roguelite for smartphones in five languages, with artwork and code made in-house.
For the press
The story in one paragraph, the facts with dates, one person to call.
The story in brief
Anabasis is an Italian holding company founded by Francesco Giugliano, Nicola Vastola and Lorenzo De Stefano. It owns Zumbat Hub, the team that since 2019 has designed, built and sold digital products, and stakes in the companies that spin out of it: ZetaBarber, Choco Zero and Blindzone. Other projects are growing inside Zumbat, such as Sto Puzzle, Capzone, ProntoDev and POOK, which can become companies when an investor needs to come in. The name comes from Xenophon’s Anabasis, the march of the Ten Thousand who, left without commanders, organised themselves all the way to the sea.
Facts
- Group founded
- 2019
- People at Zumbat Hub
- 11
- Companies held
- 4
- Projects 100% owned by Zumbat
- 4
- ZetaBarber paying shops
- 820
- Choco Zero revenue
- 1 M€+
- Products on the workbench
- 8
Press contact
Francesco GiuglianoChief Executive Officer
contact@anabasisholding.it +39 334 272 9012 Logo, images and company fact sheets available on request.
In the press
TG5Blindzone
Corriere della SeraBlindzone
Vanity FairSto Puzzle
ANSASto Puzzle
NSS MagazineSto Puzzle
Investors and partners
Two ways to join the march.
In the holding company
Investors in Anabasis take part in every group company, in proportion to the stakes the holding company holds, Zumbat included. We talk to family offices, private equity firms and entrepreneurs.
In a single company
When a company is ready to grow, we look for the partner who brings it market access, customers or sector expertise. The same goes for Zumbat projects: when one spins out, an investor can come in with a stake in that company.
This website presents the Anabasis group and does not constitute a public offering of financial products or a solicitation to invest. Information on any capital transactions is shared only on request, within the limits set by law.