Sébastien Le Roy

The Venture market is very weird right now and it sometimes feels like we are in the hottest and coldest fundraising market ever at the same time. Time to invest or time to wait? I’ve tried to summarize my understanding of what’s happening in a blogpost. 

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Only 4% of EU VC's have previous startup experience... versus 60% in US  In CVC in EU it will even be worse... (educated guess)  There are some more interesting insights on the low level of support by VC's, the needs from startups, .... in the article below  This confirms also the need for more VC Platform roles in the EU #vcplatform (see my previous post on VC Platform roles)  #venturecapital 

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Crunch Lab, a startup from our portfolio, has just raised $3.5M in a seed round led by Multicoin Capital ! Big big congrats to Jean & Arnaud and the whole team for the amazing work. I witnessed impressive dedication from the whole team to close this round and reach new heights. What does Crunch Lab la do? Crunch Lab makes it easier for big companies to unlock the value in their data by running machine learning competitions through their community, CrunchDAO, which has over 6,000 data scientists, quants, and ML engineers. These experts compete to build AI models that give companies actionable insights, mainly to the finance industry. With this funding, Crunch Lab will ramp up their operations and dive into new data-rich markets. Bravo! Link in the comments for the full article.

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🚀 How’s French Tech Doing in 2024? | Insights from the latest France Digitale x EY Barometer Reposted from: Joseph Landauer On September 11, 2024, France Digitale and EY released their annual report, and despite the tough economic climate, there’s plenty to be proud of! French startups are proving they’re ready to face the challenges head-on. Here are five key takeaways: 1️⃣ 15,000 startups are thriving in France, with 3,500 new ones launched in just the past year! So, who said French Tech was slowing down? 2️⃣ 1.3 million jobs created by these startups. Yes, you read that right. While hiring may slow down in 2024, we’re still pushing forward 💪. 3️⃣ Funding crunch: Big deals are happening, but smaller rounds are struggling. VCs are searching for ways to keep the ecosystem thriving. 4️⃣ Global reach: French startups are expanding fast, with 27% revenue growth internationally. Europe is our playground 🌍. 5️⃣ AI dominance: Whether it’s internal tools or product offerings, AI is everywhere. But competition with global giants is fierce 🤖. So, what’s next? French Tech is holding strong, but continued support from policymakers is crucial for future success. Innovation, taxation, and European regulations will be pivotal in the coming years. A big thank you to France Digitale and EY for this report! 🙏 Looking forward to seeing many of you at #FDDAY on September 18. Let’s keep pushing boundaries! 🙌 #FrenchTech #Innovation #Startups

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🤨 What do I look for in co-founders ? 🤨 This is the question I get asked the most often, and I (finally) have a good answer! At Hexa, I partner with entrepreneurs ~3x/year, a CEO and CTO for each project— essentially “marrying” 6x/year to build the best partnerships. I look for 4 key traits in my co-founders ⤵️ ⚡️ Energy booster Building and growing a company is about convincing people to follow you—investors, clients, team members—and the person’s natural energy is a key factor in achieving this. I call these people exothermic: they move things around them simply by the energy they exude. How do I test this? I need to feel more energized at the end of a meeting with them than I did at the start. ⏰ Sense of urgency The higher the velocity in a startup, the faster it will grow. Having a deep need to act and get things done sets the fast-paced tempo I’m looking for. 🧑‍🏫 Thirst for self-improvement Founders who are constantly looking to improve by proactively seeking feedback and showing vulnerability have an endless strength to overcome the (inevitable) challenges of entrepreneurship. 🏋️‍♀️ Commitment Being a founder means making your company part of your top priorities, it’s a journey that’s all-consuming. If you believe you embody these traits and are ready to build a transformative company, let’s connect!

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Very grateful to Investors in Healthcare for the opportunity Laurent van Lerberghe and I had to discuss our mission to bridge the post-Series A funding gap for digital health startups across Europe. Special thanks to Nick Herbert for the interview. In our conversation, we covered several key topics: Funding Challenges: We explored the difficulties digital health startups face in securing investments beyond Series A, highlighting the need for sustained financial support to drive innovation. Strategic Partnerships: We discussed the importance of collaborations between startups and investors in fostering growth and advancing healthcare solutions. Future Outlook: We shared insights into the evolving landscape of digital health and the critical role of targeted funding in bringing transformative technologies to market. https://lnkd.in/ew6q6XrN #venturecapital #digitalhealth #startups #growthstage

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Time to step up Germany 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 Corporations have pledged to invest €15bn in France at the “Choose France” summit — an annual event held since 2018 to facilitate foreign investments in the country. A large chunk of the money will be dedicated to AI. Microsoft stole the show after announcing its largest investment in France to date, a €4bn cash envelope to build more data centres — and expand existing ones — across the country by the end of 2025. The focus is on increasing the capacity of GPUs, which are needed to run large AI models. Amazon also announced that it’ll invest €1.2bn to further develop its French cloud and AI infrastructure. Quantum computing was also on the agenda. IBM pledged to invest €45m to expand the company’s research efforts in France. Up to 50 quantum researchers and engineers will be recruited in the country in the next year.

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Soooo pretty much how French VC has always been. VC firms suing each other. LPs firing GPs. LPs taking funds back. VCs suing entrepreneurs. It's always been a dramatic scene. 🇫🇷 🐓🍷🥖 https://lnkd.in/eK8JbgDA #vc #venrurecapital #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #tech #technology #innovation #money #business

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🚀 For the last 6 months, we've been working on a new programme to accelerate VCs raising their next fund... 🎙️ I am delighted to announce we are now live! Applications are now open to participate in the first programme for emerging VC managers based in Europe, providing fundraising workshops from fundraising experts, LP connections and world-class mentoring. We kick off the first cohort of 15 - 20 VCs in Q1 2025. 🧐 Fundraising is hard. Hard for founders. Even harder for VCs. There is a vacuum of fundraising support for funds, and there's never been a more difficult time to get one off the ground... So what do participating funds receive? 1️⃣ Warm introductions to Limited Partners and Family Offices 2️⃣ Fundraising templates 3️⃣ 10+ hours of world-class mentoring 4️⃣ Content delivered through workshops with a focus on fundraising 5️⃣ Strong peer community 6️⃣ Opportunity of an LP commit from our network Who are the mentors? 👥 VC mentors include founding partners from some of the most successful VCs in Europe such as LocalGlobe, Dawn Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Partech, Heartcore, Speedinvest, and many more. Collectively, they have raised over $11bn across 80 funds 🤯 👥 LP mentors include investors from some of the most active Limited Partners such as the BBB, KfW, Isomer and many more. Who is the programme for? 🚀 Emerging VCs (broadly those raising Funds I - III) based in Europe 💰 We expect applicants to already be exceptional investors, we will focus on making them exceptional fundraisers. How much does it cost? 💰 👉 It's completely free! With no hidden costs. We want to avoid selection bias and level the playing field for under-represented managers What is the time commitment? ⏲️ 👉 Designed to fit a General Partner's busy schedule, participants will attend at least 3 LP networking events, 6 days of high-impact workshops over a 3-month period and receive 10 hours of mentoring. How to apply? 🎯 👉 You can learn more & apply directly from our website 👉 All those applying will receive access to LP investor lists, fundraising templates and exclusive benefits from our partners. How will we select the funds? ⚖️ With the help of Blue Future Partners, our fund selection partner, we will select VCs with a differentiated strategy, a partner team with deep domain experience, and those that we believe will most likely become the next generation of top-tier funds. 🎗️ I researched and dilligenced all the VC service providers I was recommended, to select partners with a track record of supporting the Emerging Manager community. This programme would not have been possible without the support of: HFL as our fund admin partner 📕 Osborne Clarke as our legal partner 📃 Sage as our technology partner 🧑‍💻 Ballou as our PR partner 🎤 Leela Capital Regulatory Solutions as our regulatory partner 𝍍 Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers as our accounting partner 🧾

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"Agentic AI" is the buzzword in VC. But can AI agents actually plan and act ? 💡 The idea is that AI systems can plan and execute workflows autonomously with goals inputs. Example: "book me a 7 day trip in France that costs no more than X to discover hidden cultural gems". Does it work with the current AI systems? 🙅‍♂️ According to DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis, current AI systems are not good at planning, they can't problem solve, they can't do actions in the world for you. They are "very much passive Q&A systems". However according to Demis, this might be the next era in AI. 👀 By combining the work done with AlphaGo in games (agent players that are very good at planning) with multi-modal "real world" learning (Gemini) and applying this to language and everyday workloads, he believes that we might get there. João Duarte Darko Butina Xavier Mesnier Pepijn Rot

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[🎬 Replay of the keynote of Stanislas Niox-Chateau, CEO and Cofounder of Doctolib, at the Adopt AI #Summit by Artefact] on Building the healthcare we all dream of, thanks to AI. 👉 Watch and get inspired by Stanislas Niox-Chateau on the Vision stage: https://lnkd.in/eWRQdsJZ 📖 Read the REPORT of Adopt AI with the replays & synthesis of all CEOs keynotes & key discussion panels: https://lnkd.in/e8yj2CeN 💼 After a severe back injury ended his tennis aspirations, Stanislas pivoted to academics, graduating from HEC School of Management. He co-founded Doctolib in 2013, which quickly became a leader in #ehealth across Europe, dramatically improving how patients connect with #healthcare providers. The platform serves 380,000 healthcare professionals and attracts 80 million patient visits each month. Key insights from the keynote of the CEO of Doctolib: ✔ Niox-Chateau envisions a future where healthcare professionals have access to patient #data in the right context, enhanced #medicalknowledge, and more time for #patientcare. He emphasizes the importance of simple, smart tools to enable preventive care. ✔ He believes that technology can transform how practitioners innovate in their daily work, allowing general practitioners and specialists to treat more patients and handle broader #clinicalcases efficiently. ✔ AI and technology can transform passive, traditional consultations into more dynamic, engaging experiences, benefiting both professionals and patients. Digital #healthstartups play a crucial role in this evolution. ✔ Niox-Chateau emphasizes that technology should be easy to use and have a significant impact on the daily lives of healthcare professionals. #AI can amplify these changes, opening up new possibilities. ✔ At the outset, AI will support practitioners with administrative tasks, ensuring transparency and reducing the possibility of mistakes, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of #healthcareservices. ✔ Niox-Chateau concludes by reinforcing the potential of technology and AI to change the lives of patients and professionals, encouraging the audience to embrace these innovations for a better healthcare future. 🗣 “I believe technology, amplified by AI, can have a systemic impact on health and the lives of professionals. We dream of healthcare professionals with patient data in the right context, enhanced medical knowledge, and more time for patient care, enabled by smart and simple tools for preventive care,” says Stanislas Niox-Chateau. 👉 Watch all the replays of the Adopt AI Summit: https://lnkd.in/eDxHcR47 📅 Save the date - on November 21st, join us at the AI for Health Summit at STATION F in Paris, where Doctolib will be present to explore the future of healthcare technology! ⚕ You can already book your pass: https://lnkd.in/ej3pUNa7 

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💡 7,5€ Billion (with a B). That’s the annual amount the French state provides to innovative companies through just one program: the CIR (Crédit d'Impôt Recherche). As an entrepreneur, my companies have been fortunate beneficiaries! But did you know that beyond the CIR, there are also: CII, JEI, JEA, BPI, CIMA, CICE, ACCRE, ACRE, FSE, ANR, FUI, PGE, FSN, PIA, FISAC, PTZ, FCTVA, AIF, and 1,753 other official grants and subsidies available? Combined, they represent well over €20 billion annually in funding for businesses. 😢 The catch (number 1)? Accessing these funds is often a bureaucratic nightmare. This is where agencies step in—offering to handle the process but taking a significant cut in return. 🚀 Enter REKI. We’ve developed the first software platform designed to simplify access to these subsidies. With Reki, companies can: 🔍 Discover all eligible opportunities   📑 Automatically generate applications and required documents   💾 Manage and update key data for compliance REKI is led by a seasoned duo of non-dilutive funding experts: Cyril Fougères (ex-BPI and iii-financements) and Aurélien Sibiril (repeat CTO). If you are looking for non-dilutive fundings, simply complete for form on our website (link in comment) Go Meghan Regior Victor Gross Nic Touron Calliste Duru Quentin Le Gall Thibaud Elziere Amaury Sepulchre Quentin Nickmans 🥰 catch (number 2) France is not alone, most countries are doing the same and we are going after it too :)

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How is AI changing the way founders solve problems? Next Monday I will be chatting with superstar guests Gabriel Hubert, co-founder of Dust, Victoire Mine (Goebel), Startup/VC head at Meta, and Yoach Lacombe, ML Research Engineer at Hugging Face, at the HEC Alumni House at an AI Conference on the topic "Building startups in the AI Era". I'm super excited to be moderating such a high-quality panel :) Co-organized by HEC Alumni , Hook, and 42Entrepreneurs, this event is a must for AI enthusiasts and founders looking to harness the power of AI to supercharge their startup growth. 👉Link in the comments to register.

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🕚Here’s a flashback to an exciting and bold VC fund launch from 2023. 💸 In Q4 2023 Paris, France based Venture Capital Firm Hi Inov - Dentressangle successfully raised €75mn at first closing of its third fund from investors including DENTRESSANGLE and new investors from Germany and Luxembourg. 🌍 #France #Benelux and DACH region: #Germany #Austria #Switzerland 💡 #B2B fund targeting six sectors (i) #SaaS (ii) #PaaS / no-code / low-code (iii) #Cloud infrastructure software / DevOps (iv) #ClimateTech (v) Collaborative Tools (vi) #ArtificialIntelligence / #Data. Tickets of €2 million to €6 million and can go up to €15 million for #SeriesA and #SeriesB investment. A small #seedstage pocket of about €10mn to make between 10 and 12 investments. 📈 ‘Over the past ten years, Hi Inov has invested in 39 start-ups incl. Styla, 360Learning, Deepki, Glopal, Kenjo, Luzmo, Famoco, Zelros, amongst others; and now has €350mn in capital under management. 💭 “The fund is 50% bigger than previous funds, but we will keep a focused strategy. We simply want to have more reserves for the complicated period ahead so that we can support our societies more..." - Valerie Gombart, co-founder and CEO of Hi Inov. 🗞️Monon Triniac Maddyness https://lnkd.in/etPX22sF 👏 For the #AudaciousInvestors unleashing innovation and empowering tomorrow🚀 Pierre-Henri Dentressangle I Wolfgang Krause I Marie ROLE I Veronique Gauduchon I Valère Rames I Eléonore Caillaud I Camille Rivet I Nicolas Amiet I Myrtil Mitanga I Audrey Caramelle I Team Hi Inov … #venturecapital #vc #funds #startups #entrepreneurs #funding #tech #entrepreneurship #technology #innovation #paris #venture #fund

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Vertical Software: Think Small to Win Big 💥 In 2013, booking a doctor’s appointment in France was a nightmare—until Doctolib tailored a solution specifically for healthcare. Today, global leaders like Toast and Procore Technologies prove the power of vertical SaaS: solving industry-specific challenges to unlock massive opportunities. In this article, we dive deep into why Vertical Software (vSaaS) is thriving and what’s next: ✅ Tailored tools driving industry transformation ✅ Adjacent revenue streams through fintech & marketplaces ✅ New AI opportunities enabling hyper-efficiency Startups like Planity and Obat in France are following this path - turning niche markets into global success stories. Vertical SaaS is the future. Which sector will disrupt next? Let’s discuss! cc Erwan Bernard 📖 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/efP6W6FU

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WHO WANTS A McDonald's Big Mac Menu for 1 USD ? When you launch a #retail app such as KooulMaroc, and especially in the #food #delivery space, with the objective of promoting it, and getting #downloads and #orders, and you don’t have a deep pocket to lose #money for years .. you are facing this critical question : Where should I put my #marketing budget ? 4 options come to me : 1 - full budget on offline ads 2 - full budget on online ads 3 - mixed budget on both with nice promotions 4 - 0 budget on both and full budget on #promotions to propose the lowest products #prices possible and EVER to users Then I started to ask myself whether my marketing budget should go to Meta / TikTok / YouTube or benefit to my #customers 🤔🧐 USE CASE : Let’s say the first target for our startup would be to have 1% market share on food delivery in the 5 big Moroccan cities, that might actually do around 1,000,000 orders a month i.e very first target would be 10,000 orders a month for KooulMaroc. With only 50,000 usd monthly marketing budget, I can offer 10,000 McDonald's #bigmac menus or TACOS DE LYON #steakhouse menus at 1 usd each.. do you think I would need any #ads with this offer to get the needed virality ? It doesn’t change my 10% comission on the public price .. doesn’t change the restaurant agreed profitability on KooulMaroc orders, doesn’t change delivery cost for Kooul deliverers .. the only thing that changes is that my customer benefits from 100% of my #marketing budget .. I am not saying this is a sustainable solution but when you’re small, facing the big, how should you tackle your launch, from downloads to conversion, activation and retention without following the general & costly path of digital marketing …? PS : With only 35,000 usd monthly marketing budget, I can offer #for #free 10,000 menus of any Moroccan restaurant that has a Menu public price of 3.5 usd or less ….#Aladdin KFC #snackorange #burgerlesdaltons #latelierduboucher Burger King® Maroc - General First Food Services and many others … BELOW THE POTENTIAL MENU PRICES IF 100% OF MY MARKETING BUDGET GOES TO CUSTOMERS …FOOD FOR THOUGHT E-Morocco for everyone 🇲🇦🇲🇦 Support Moroccan Tech, Be & Download Kooul https://lnkd.in/eb9vu24g ORA TECHNOLOGIES

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 🚀 OSS Ventures Secures €8.5 Million to Propel the Future of Operations 💡 We are thrilled to announce that OSS Ventures has successfully secured €8.5 million in our latest funding round! This milestone was made possible by our esteemed investors, including Tikehau Capital, Bpifrance on behalf of French Tech Accélération 2, Etablissements Peugeot Frères, and visionary business angels like Max Pog. 🌿 At OSS Ventures, we are driven by a mission to make industrial operations not just more efficient, but also adaptive and future-ready. We envision factories where technology and human ingenuity combine to create sustainable solutions that meet the challenges of tomorrow. 🌎 Our vision extends beyond technological advancement. We're committed to transforming the very foundation of how goods are produced, addressing critical challenges like climate change and working conditions in the process.  Since our inception in 2019, we've launched 15 startups, invested in four external projects, and our innovative solutions are now empowering over 40,000 operators across nearly 2,200 industrial sites worldwide. 🔧 "Operations account for 25% of the world GDP, yet only a fraction of startup funding goes to this sector. This funding round is pivotal as we aim to scale our impact globally thanks to our esteemed investors for their confidence, » says Renan Devillieres, our CEO. 🙌 A huge thank for the trust and support of our investors and to every team member, partner, and supporter who is part of this transformative journey. #OSSVentures #Innovation #Fundraising #FutureOfManufacturing Francois Lavaste Romain FRIEDMAN Pierre GILLET Frédéric Villain Ulysse Laroche Pierre GILLET Océane Fleury Renan Devillieres

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💥 Linkup annonces a 3M€ funding round to plug LLMs to high-quality content.    Much like the music industry before Spotify, AI applications today face hurdles in accessing quality content. In the early 2000s, people often turned to platforms like Pirate Bay to download music, but that came with legal risks, poor sound quality, and artists missing out on fair compensation. Similarly, today many AI tools depend on existing web frameworks like search engines and web scraping to collect information.   However, as the AI landscape evolves, these methods are proving less efficient and raising new concerns around legal compliance and fair use of copyrighted content.   Linkup aims to solve this problem by taking a new approach with premium content providers with both a legal and ethical consideration.   Delighted to support this top-notch team Philippe Mizrahi, Denis Charrier, Boris Toledano alongside Seedcamp, Motier Ventures, Kima Ventures OPRTRS CLUB and amazing BAs ! cc Sia Houchangnia, Nicolas Essayan, Christophe Raynaud, Noé Gersanois, Chloe Timsit, Alix François-Poncet, Axeleo Capital (AXC)

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💟 This is the kind of news that makes you love Venture Capital! 🦄🇫🇷 Some will only remember the €1.5 billion exit for a French company. It's not a UNICORN valuation, it's a real EXIT! 3️⃣ 6️⃣ Some will only remember the x36 multiple on investment. 💥 Some will only remember the €175 million proceeds returned to the funds with a single operation. 👑What I'll remember, is Denis Ladegaillerie's passion, vision, and ambition. These are the keys to success. Excited to share this fantastic news for Believe, for Ventech, but also for the entire Tech ecosystem! 🚀 #VentureCapital #SuccessStory cc France Digitale

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