French VC fundraising shows startup money is pouring into Paris

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Two of France’s bigger venture capitalists, Partech Ventures and Idinvest Partners, are closing funds this month, adding to recent examples of investors pouring money into European startup investments.

Partech Ventures said on Monday it increased its latest venture fund to €400m (£354m) from the likes of Cisco, Nokia, Renault and others – more than it had initially anticipated when it closed the first round a year ago. Idinvest Partners, another Paris-based VC, expects to close a €250m fundraising in the coming weeks, including from state-backed Bpifrance, insurance companies, and financial investors, said Benoist Grossmann, managing partner.

“The European entrepreneur ecosystem today is just magic,” Mr Grossman said in an interview. “We’re seeing quality people, serial entrepreneurs, younger and younger, all over Europe.”

The closing, which comes about four months after Idinvest told Bloomberg it was seeking money, will provide resources to invest in themes including artificial intelligence, Mr Grossman said. Partech meanwhile has raised a total of about €1bn in the past 18 months, giving it significant firepower to back startups in e-commerce, fintech, virtual reality and connected objects, across Europe.

Technology ecosystems from Paris to London have been competing to catch up to Silicon Valley. French billionaire entrepreneur Xavier Niel last month inaugurated a 34,000sqm startup campus in the French capital he aims to make the world’s biggest. Facebook said it will have a “startup garage” there, and newly elected President, Emmanuel Macron, went so far as to call to make his country “a startup nation”.

Partech and Idinvest have built a reputation by taking stakes in some of Europe’s better-known startups like Sigfox, a telecommunications network provider that connects objects from fire hydrants to defibrillators. Partech has also backed online furniture designer and seller Made.com, and hovering water-taxi builder Seabubbles. Idinvest has a stake in Spotify rival Deezer and online ad-placement company Criteo, which went public in 2013.

They’re not alone benefiting from the outpouring of funds. Earlier this month Felix Capital Partners, a London-based firm that’s backed Gwyneth Paltrow’s fashion brand Goop and is seeking digital brands investments in Europe and the US, said it got more offers than it could accept for its latest fundraising of $150m (£116m).

Bloomberg