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Partech’s new venture fund, called Partech Venture, is the natural continuation of the strategy of the previous fund Partech International Ventures VII, which is to invest in and support for the long term companies that develop mission-critical solutions, bringing digital transformation to the hearts of large companies and SMEs. The fund, which has a target of €360 million, has already received commitments of €180 million and among the limited partners there is also CDP Venture Capital, which with this operation inaugurates the operations of the International Fund of Funds, which sees it committed to participating in European venture capital, thus encouraging the attention and availability of international capital towards Italian startups such as, In fact, it demonstrates the first investment by Partech Venture involving the Italian startup Smartpricing. Partech Venture thus confirms its interest in the Italian market and has recently opened an office in Milan, appointing Simone Riva as head of local deal flow.
The investment team, led by Philippe Collombel and Reza Malekzadeh, has been strengthened with the addition of experienced profiles, including Jean Sini, Simone Riva and Elena Moneta, the latter two both Italian. Together, they bring a wealth of operator and investor experience, combining a mix of expertise across both technical and business verticals and a strong international component. Expertise in product, business development, go-to-market, M&A, research and selection and fundraising will be put at the service of the companies in the new fund’s portfolio. Companies will also be able to access the other teams on the Partech platform.
“We continue to build for the future by building on the success of our previous venture fund, with experienced partners who have assembled a portfolio of leading companies in Europe; we have also decided to expand the team with international talent to increase our coverage of the best European deals,” Philippe Collombel, general partner and co-founder of Partech, said in a statement.
Partech Venture will invest primarily in four verticals: application software, deeptech software (data & AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, devops), B2B & B2B2C vertical platforms, and fintech & insurtech applications. The investment thesis and ambitions remain the same: to lead funding rounds in 22-24 European companies at the Serie A and Serie B stages with recurring revenue in the range of 1-10 million euros.
“We are essentially maintaining the same investment strategy for our new venture fund: we will look to invest in high-potential category leaders with the ambition to expand at least at the European level at first, and then look to the United States,” comments Reza Malekzadeh, general partner. Malekzadeh adds: “We have only just started to exploit the great market potential resulting from the digital transformation of European businesses and SMEs. Europe’s expertise in developing mission-critical applications for productivity tools, digital infrastructure, data protection, cybersecurity, and data- and AI-based solutions has significantly improved over the past 10 years.”
Partech Venture’s investors include international financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and multinational companies, including Allianz France, BNP Paribas, BPIFrance, CDP Venture Capital, Edenred, FDJ Ventures, JCDHolding, LCL and Lombard Odier Investment Managers. “We are thrilled with the strong support we have received from Partech Venture, a testament to the success of our previous fund, the effectiveness of our investment strategy and the commitment of our team,” adds Philippe Collombel . To date, we have received a commitment for half of the fund, €180 million, with the support of a wide range of investors.”
Overview of Partech Venture
Partech Venture, successor to the PIV VII fund, has invested in and supported global category leaders including:
- ABTasty: User Experience Optimization Platform
- Agicap: treasury monitoring and management platform for SMEs
- Akeneo: software di Product Information Management & Product Data Intelligence
- Bitrise: Mobile DevOps software
- Compte Nickel (acquired by BNP Paribas): the first Neobank Phygital
- Fresha: vertical ERP for the beauty salons, hairdressers and spas sector
- Guardicore (acquired by Akamai): Micro-segmentation and workload protection solution for datacenters
- Kantox (acquired by BNP Paribas): risk management automation software for FX
- ManoMano: B2C and B2B DIY and DIY marketplace
- Medigate (acquired by Claroty): cybersecurity platform for connected medical devices
- Memfault: IoT reliability platform
- Odaseva: Data Governance & Security Platform
- Papernest: solution for the management and optimization of B2C contracts and subscriptions
- Platform.sh: Global DevOps Infrastructure Platform
- Shippeo: Real-Time Supply-Chain Visibility Platform
Since the end of 2021, Partech has carried out 11 exits generating at least a return of 3x on invested capital, including 6 exits in the venture portfolio, and 5 exits with a multiple greater than 5x.
Partech Venture’s investment team
Partech Venture’s international team is made up of experts and operators in the software vertical, with functional and industry-specific expertise. Based in Paris, New York, Milan and London, members include:
- Philippe Collombel (co-founder and general partner): has invested in companies such as Agicap, Fresha, Kantox, ManoMano, Compte Nickel, Papernest, Perfectsay, Shippeo and SideCare.
- Reza Malekzadeh (general partner): has invested in AB Tasty, Akeneo, Bitrise, Elopage, Guardicore, Odaseva and Platform.sh.
- Jean Sini (general partner): Invested in Medigate, Memfault and, prior to Partech, Canva, Datakin, Fieldwire and Treasure Data.
- Simone Riva (senior principal): he invested in Koro and, prior to Partech, in Contentsquare, Deliveroo, Flixbus, GetYourGuide, Sennder, Sumup, Wefox and Bending Spoons.
- Elena Moneta (principal): she invested in Roger and, before Partech, in PrimaryBird, Peppy and Semble.
- Nikhil Punwaney (associate, advisor): recently joined the third quarter of 2023, with experience in deeptech, devops, cybersecurity and software engineering.
Overall, Partech is a global tech investment platform headquartered in Paris with offices in Berlin, Milan, Dakar, Dubai, Nairobi and San Francisco. The investment firm is comprised of tech vertical specialists with strong industry expertise and combines capital, operational experience and strategic support for entrepreneurs from seed to growth. Founded in San Francisco 40 years ago, Partech now manages €2.5 billion of assets under management with a portfolio of 220 companies in 40 countries, on 4 continents.
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