“I upload a simple file with all the names and the amounts they are owed, and within 20 minutes, a quarter of an hour, sometimes straight away, every transfer arrives.”
Andrea Schiavo, CEO & Founder, H501
In 2022 Andrea Schiavo moved his company from San Giovanni, the neighbourhood where he was born, to Porto Fluviale in Ostiense, a district of street art and industrial archaeology. He wanted a place that was alive. The company’s name is equally Roman: everyone born in Rome carries the code H501 in their codice fiscale, the Italian tax code.
Twenty-three years after it was founded, H501 provides cultural services to museums, galleries and institutions, produces events and works with more than 350 people. Paying a team of that size is where the fintech platform Vivid comes in.
From Spettacolo to H501
The company started in 2003 as Spettacolo S.a.s., working on stage productions such as the musicals Notre-Dame de Paris and Dracula and on the management of the Gran Teatro di Roma, then Italy’s largest theatre, with more than 3,000 seats. It moved on to the corporate sector, handling all ceremonial activities for the Ferrovie dello Stato group, Italy’s state railway, for more than three years, and then into culture, where it has worked for more than a decade.
In 2015, the year it organised an archaeological exhibition at Expo Milano for Ferrovie dello Stato and the Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma, the company became a limited company and took a new name.
“In Italy, when you are born in Rome, your tax code reads H501. We wanted to make the connection to the fact that we were born in Rome: I was born in Rome, the company was born in Rome, and our first projects were here in Rome.”
Andrea Schiavo, CEO & Founder, H501
Present from start to finish
Today H501 works in cultural and museum services and in event production. More than 350 people work with it on an ongoing basis, some on call and some as employees, all trained in cultural services. Revenue and headcount have grown together in recent years. In a segment with fewer but highly qualified competitors, some backed by large funding, H501 sets itself apart through close attention to each client.
“We are, let’s use the term, artisanal, in the sense that we take care of everything in a more detailed way. When we start working with our clients, what they like is precisely the fact that we follow them.”
Andrea Schiavo, CEO & Founder, H501
The company stays involved from the beginning to the end of every project, and that is how it has grown: winning new clients while keeping the old ones.
The roots of Rome
Schiavo has watched Rome’s attention to culture grow. Funding from the Jubilee and from the PNRR, Italy’s national recovery plan, has gone into restoring and reopening sites, new cultural venues have opened, and major events now fill places such as the Circus Maximus. H501’s revenue has grown steadily, which he attributes to that greater attention to the sector.
The recent project he is proudest of is a very old one: the historical re-enactment of the Girandola of Castel Sant’Angelo on 29 June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Castel Sant’Angelo brought in H501 for the organisational and logistical support.
“It is a very beautiful event, and a very ancient one, and we are very proud of it, because it keeps us in touch with the roots of Rome.”
Andrea Schiavo, CEO & Founder, H501
A photographer’s pass
Schiavo did not come into the industry through his family. He discovered events by getting into a concert as a photographer, after inventing various excuses to get a pass, and started working with the people he met there. Money, he says, was not the point; learning was.
“Learning, and especially learning from the great people who have shaped the culture sector, is the greatest fortune. If you can be humble in learning and persistent over time, you can certainly become a professional in culture or in events.”
Andrea Schiavo, CEO & Founder, H501
Payroll in one file
Schiavo found Vivid through an internet search. He was looking for a more flexible financial provider, better suited to the company’s needs, and Vivid met all his criteria.
For H501, transfers are the most important function. Schiavo pays the whole team’s salaries in bulk: he uploads one file with every name and amount, and within about twenty minutes, sometimes straight away, the payments arrive. H501’s subscription plan includes transfer fees.
“We make more than 500 transfers a month, so it’s a saving, because they are all included in the subscription package.”
Andrea Schiavo, CEO & Founder, H501
The Vivid Business Account also lets H501 dedicate sub-accounts to specific activities. The holiday apartment the company runs next to its office, listed on Booking, has its own sub-account within the same company account, so its income and expenses can be monitored separately. H501 also opened an Interest Account, so the company’s idle cash earns interest every day instead of sitting unused.
When an invoice arrives, Schiavo pays it from the Vivid account: the app reads the data from the invoice, so there is no need to type in the IBAN or the recipient. The operations are simple enough, he says, that they take neither his time nor his attention away from other things.
Next, H501 is opening a resort in Puglia, in the Salento near Lecce. The first part is due to start next summer, with the whole project complete, Schiavo hopes, by 2030: a way to bring Rome’s bond between tourism and culture to the Salento.
Note: This article reflects the individual experience of a Vivid customer and is provided for general information only. It is not legal, financial, investment or tax advice, and is not a guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of capital, and the value of investments can go down as well as up. Product availability, rates and conditions depend on your plan and may change. Information is current as of October 2026. Please seek advice from a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
