News
ISAI CAP VENTURE PARTICIPATES TO INSIDEBOARD’S €25M SERIES B LED BY AXA VENTURE PARTNERS
Axa Venture Partners, Orange Ventures and ISAI Cap Venture, acquire stake in InsideBoard, the 1st platform for organizational change management.
Paris, April 29, 2020 – InsideBoard, the start-up vendor of the first SaaS platform for organizational change management based on Artificial Intelligence, raises 25 million euros from a second funding round (Series B) conducted by AXA Venture Partners, with the participation of Orange Ventures and ISAI Cap Venture, structured by Alpha Capital Partners with the support of his banking partners, thus joining forces with its old fund, Entrepreneur Venture, also present in this round.
“In the current context, we are very proud to be joined by investment funds of such international reach. This investment is a powerful signal that it is absolutely crucial for companies to engage their employees, massively and remotely, in achieving successful digital transformation and developing the skills of their human capital. The trust they have shown us endorses InsideBoard’s founding vision: businesses can only reinvent themselves if they use individual potential to boost collective transformation and the power of digital”, says Michaël Bentolila, co-founder and CEO of InsideBoard.
25 million euros to accelerate international growth
The funding will foster InsideBoard’s expansion abroad – particularly in the United States, and to support artificial intelligence-based product development and the empowerment of its consulting partners, with the coming launch of the latest version of its API. Lastly, it will allow the company to grow its teams more quickly – key to meeting demand and maintaining the very high levels of customer satisfaction, certified by ScoreFact independent organization, generated by the start-up since it was first created.
InsideBoard ambition: become the leading SaaS platform to engage teams remotely in the corporate transformation success
Businesses no longer have any choice: they must revolutionize their approach to change management if they are going to succeed. Until now, 75% of transformation projects failed, because they were based on a traditional approach to change management that focused primarily on training. With InsideBoard, businesses now have a single platform that provides all the key employee engagement drivers needed to secure transformation projects’ employee adoption, wherever they work.
The InsideBoard digital platform uses artificial intelligence and employs an objectives-based approach inspired by Google’s OKR (Objectives & Key Results) system, which motivates teams and rallies them around expected successful outcomes.
“InsideBoard’s artificial intelligence allows us to understand each employee’s particular engagement mechanisms and thus guide them, one step at a time, towards the achievement of their goals. Thanks to InsideBoard, employees can now connect up with their project communities, monitor their objectives and get involved in just the same way as they already do in their everyday applications”, says Yohan Bentolila, co-founder and CTO of InsideBoard.
InsideBoard is now a leading actor in the field of digital change management.
Gartner Consulting named the InsideBoard platform as a leader in the Digital Adoption Solutions segment, consisting of platforms that are crucial to the success of transformation projects. Software vendor Salesforce, meanwhile, awarded its 2020 French ISV Partner of the Year prize to InsideBoard, in the “Customer & Partner Success” category.
“The Covid 19 crisis will clearly change the way we work and will be a catalyst for the adoption of digital solutions to allow employees and teams to communicate better and companies to transform themselves faster. Change management is indeed a key element of success in the transformation of many companies. By bringing to the market the 1st SaaS change management platform based on artificial intelligence, InsideBoard is positioning itself today, in particular in the current context, as a benchmark solution for companies seeking to carry out major transformation projects, with the active involvement of their employees. We are very happy and proud as investors to lead this financing round and to support Michael and Yohan and their team in this journey. It is a key moment for InsideBoard, and we are convinced that they will have the same success internationally than the one they have experienced in France”, said François Robinet, Managing Partner, AXA Venture Partners.
“The need for companies to maintain a continuous link with their employees is becoming an evident priority in this unprecedented context. Digital transformation is the first answer, and it involves reinventing the processes from A to Z, changing habits and professional relationships. InsideBoard offers the most complete digital change management solution on the market. By bringing together all the essential building blocks (social, gaming, e-learning, KPIs) and placing each employee at heart of the action, their smart platform is the key factor for the success of transformation projects today. We are proud to announce our entry into the capital of InsideBoard and we look forward to supporting it in the next stage of its development and international growth”, said Rémi Prunier, Investment Manager at Orange Ventures.
Jean-David Chamboredon, Executive President of ISAI, said: “The market for change management platforms is still very fragmented between e-learning solutions, gamification, interactive guides, and collaborative business networks. InsideBoard offers a unified and personalized approach per employee allowing effective support and monitoring of change programs.”
Bertrand Folliet, Entrepreneur Venture Managing Partner, said: “After leading the first round of financing, we are happy and proud to continue our support for this talented team in their upcoming development stages, both in France and worldwide.”
Advisors:
Financial advisory: Alpha Capital Partners, Marc Oiknine
Legal advisory: Gide Loyrette Nouel, Pierre Karpik, Paul Jourdan-Nayrac, Marc Fournier
About InsideBoard
InsideBoard, a French Tech start-up founded in 2014 by brothers Michaël and Yohan Bentolila, is the 1st SaaS change management platform dedicated to continuously motivating employee adoption of digital transformation. It offers a revolutionary approach to change management, via a comprehensive solution based on unique artificial intelligence algorithms, supporting and guiding employees towards successful transformation, one step at a time. InsideBoard integrates with the main software tools on the market (Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle, Ivalua, SAP, ServiceNow, etc.), and, together with its renowned consulting and integration partners, it successfully engages all the agents of a company’s transformation. With offices in Paris, New York and San Francisco and employing more than 80 people, Insideboard has 150,000 active users and its clients include such major companies as Covéa, PSA, Adecco, EDF, LafargeHolcim, Crédit Agricole and La Poste. For more information, go to: https://www.insideboard.com – Twitter: @insideboard_tw
About AXA Venture Partners
AXA Venture Partners (AVP) is a venture capital firm investing in high-growth, technology-enabled companies. AVP has built, in less than 5 years, a unique investment platform specialized in tech investments with $800 million of assets under management (“AUM”) through three pillars of investment expertise: Early Stage, Growth Stage and Fund of Funds. To date, AVP has invested in more than 40 Early and Growth equity deals and more than 20 Funds. The AVP team operates globally with offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong. Beyond investments, AVP provides unique access to business development opportunities helping portfolio companies to scale globally and accelerate their growth. Visit our website at www.axavp.com
About Orange Ventures
Orange Ventures is an international 350 million euro multi-stage technology investment fund. It finances innovative startups in the areas of Orange expertise (Networks & IT, Digital Business, Cybersecurity, and Fintech) and beyond (Consumer platforms, E-gaming, Edtech, Health etc). Orange Ventures also has dedicated initiatives for impact investments and African and Middle East region. Supported by the Orange Group, the fund offers startups in which it invests access to the Group’s expertise and potential synergies with its numerous business units and 263 million customers in 29 countries. For more information, visit ventures.orange.com or follow on Twitter: @Orange_DV
About ISAI Cap Venture
ISAI Cap Venture is a 90 M€ investment fund, launched from the partnership between ISAI and Capgemini, to invest around the world in start-ups and scale-ups offering innovative solutions (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, sustainable IT) aimed at large companies. The fund acts as a follower and co-investor into financing rounds led by other venture capital funds (Series A onwards) with an entry ticket between 1 and 5 M€. ISAI manages its investments in accordance with the rules and practices of the venture capital industry. Capgemini, as a business partner, facilitates client adoption of the innovative solutions, helping to accelerate the growth of start-ups and scale-ups in the portfolio. www.isai.fr
About Entrepreneur Venture
Founded in 2000, Entrepreneur Venture is an AMF and AIFM-approved independent management company specialising in unlisted companies, owned and managed by its founders. It manages several investment funds with assets under management of more than €850 million. A major player in equity and bond financing for SMEs, Entrepreneur Venture has carried out more than 190 investment transactions. The company’s philosophy is to go beyond the status of a provider of capital by supporting the managers of the supported companies in the strategic choices necessary for the successful development of their business. This is achieved by sharing the experience of the members of the investment team, by involving them in strategic thinking, and by giving them access to a network of qualified partners. For more information Entrepreneur Venture Website -Twitter: @EntVenture
Press contacts:
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ISAI CAP VENTURE INVESTS IN TOUCAN TOCO, A SAAS BASED BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PLATFORM THAT USES DATA FOR STORYTELLING
Toucan Toco provides business driven insights to help organizations make transformational decisions
Capgemini and ISAI, through their joint investment fund ISAI Cap Venture, announced today that they have made their first minority investment in Toucan Toco, a data storytelling solution; this forms part of Toucan Toco’s first-ever round of funding of €12 million, led by Balderton Capital.
“Attracting a promising startup like Toucan Toco, shortly after the launch of the fund, confirms that the joining of forces between a professional VC and a strong business partner is a good value proposition,” said Lucia Sinapi-Thomas, Managing Director of Capgemini Ventures[1].
In a global Business Intelligence market expected to reach nearly $150 billion by 2025[2], data will become an even more critical path to strategic decisions. Therefore, the need for a better understanding of operations and related indicators will be at the heart of major transformational projects driven by CxOs. Created in 2014 and self-financed since then, Toucan Toco has become a significant player in the data industry, focusing on data storytelling, by facilitating the understanding of complex data through simple and collaborative applications. Toucan Toco makes business data and reports, the last milestone of the data value chain, available to all levels of a company mainly for non-technical decision makers to consume.
"We are pleased to invest in Toucan Toco as we know their value proposition will enable our Capgemini Invent and Insights and Data capabilities to create deeper collaborations with our clients to unlock the real value of data, especially in major transformational projects," said Etienne Piollet, Vice President at Capgemini Invent and Toucan Toco Business Sponsor. “Toucan Toco’s solution perfectly complements Capgemini’s approach and core competencies in driving innovation for clients.”
Capgemini and Toucan Toco have already demonstrated their ability to deliver joint value to common clients. Along with this investment, Capgemini will support Toucan Toco’s strategic agenda of accelerated growth in Europe and the US, leveraging the Toucan Toco solution as part of its global Insights and Data capabilities and offerings.
"By democratizing data storytelling, Toucan Toco has shown over the last 5 years that it is one of the up and coming main players in the software market. Thanks to our success, we are proud to be the first company chosen by the ISAI Cap Venture fund for investment. This partnership is one of the key pillars that will help us to accelerate growth in France, but also in Europe and in the United States,” said Baptiste Jourdan, Toucan Toco's Co-Founder and VP Europe / Head of Alliances.
About Capgemini
A global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, Capgemini is at the forefront of innovation to address the entire breadth of clients’ opportunities in the evolving world of cloud, digital and platforms. Building on its strong 50-year heritage and deep industry-specific expertise, Capgemini enables organizations to realize their business ambitions through an array of services from strategy to operations. Capgemini is driven by the conviction that the business value of technology comes from and through people. It is a multicultural company of almost 220,000 team members in more than 40 countries. The Group reported 2019 global revenues of EUR 14.1 billion.Visit us at www.capgemini.com. People matter, results count.
About ISAI
Launched in 2010, ISAI is the Tech Entrepreneurs’ Fund and brings together a community of over 250 entrepreneurs around the world. Nearly 200 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI funds, and more than 50 ISAI-backed start-up co-founders share the collective ambition of co-writing great entrepreneurial stories. ISAI invests in differentiated projects run by ambitious teams that it selects rigorously and actively supports.ISAI Gestion, an investment management company approved by the AMF, with over €400 million under management, aims to finance and support high potential Tech companies, initially French founders at seed/pre-series A stage (tickets from €150k to €5M) or when they have reached the break-even stage (Growth/LBO, tickets from €5m to €30m). ISAI CAP Venture is their new fund, in collaboration with Capgemini, focused on co-investing in early growth companies (Series A to D) anywhere in the world. More information on www.isai.fr/enThis document is not an offer of securities for sale or for investment advisory services. This document contains general information only and is not intended to represent general or specific investment advice. [1] Capgemini Ventures is part of Capgemini's approach to enabling its open innovation strategy: connecting the Group's large client organizations to a global ecosystem of innovation partners and start-ups, to create the most promising and innovative digital solutions for their businesses.[2] Based on Kenneth Research Global Business Intelligence Market report from April 2019
CAPGEMINI AND ISAI ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF A FUND FOR B2B START-UPS AND SCALE-UPS
With Capgemini Ventures [1] , the Group adds corporate venturing to its Open Innovation strategy. Partnerships with portfolio companies will help create innovative digital solutions for its clients.
Capgemini and ISAI announce today the launch of a dedicated investment fund for B2B start-ups and scale-ups. With a target allocation of 90 million euros, this fund aims to take minority stakes in young technology companies who have developed innovative solutions, future leaders of the software industry (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS[2] ) and sustainable IT.
Managed by ISAI, the “ISAI Cap Venture” fund will target young companies around the world, and namely in Europe, having reached a stage of maturity that allows a joint commercial approach with Capgemini. It will co-invest into financing rounds led by venture capital funds (Series A onwards) with an entry ticket between 1 and 5 million euros.
Recognized for its ability to master the IT and organizational complexity of large international groups, Capgemini will facilitate client adoption of the innovative solutions, thus helping to accelerate the growth of the start-ups and scale-ups within the portfolio.
Under the partnership between Capgemini and ISAI:
•In the main, sourcing of investment opportunities will be done by Capgemini via the mobilization of the Group's employees and its worldwide network of "Applied Innovation Exchanges". ISAI will actively contribute through its access to the venture capital ecosystem across Europe and the USA.
•Following an initial selection based on the potential synergies with Capgemini, the "ISAI Cap Venture" fund will invest into 15 to 20 start-ups / scale-ups, by strictly following the rules and practices of the venture capital industry.
"Our close proximity to the Capgemini Group has allowed us to launch this fund with clear ground rules, enabling everyone to play their role. Capgemini will act as the business partner and growth accelerator for this portfolio of start-ups and scale-ups. We will be, as always, the venture capital investor structurally aligned with the interests of the young companies and their shareholders," said Jean-David Chamboredon, ISAI's Executive Chairman.
"This partnership with ISAI will enable Capgemini Ventures to be operational immediately in the venture capital ecosystem and to focus on the selection of investment opportunities and synergies creation with the start-ups and scale-ups in the portfolio," said Lucia Sinapi-Thomas, Executive Director of Capgemini Ventures.
This initiative is part of Capgemini's approach to innovation: connecting the Group's large client organizations to a global ecosystem of innovation partners and start-ups, to create the most promising and innovative digital solutions for their businesses.
"In the digital age, our clients are increasingly embracing open innovation and actively engaging with start-ups. They see Capgemini as a facilitator for the adoption of innovative technologies with the capacity to ensure rapid deployment on a large scale," comments Thierry Delaporte, Chief Operating Officer of the Capgemini Group. "As their innovation partner mastering their internal complexities, clients naturally expect the Group to invest alongside them in emerging technology solutions. Capgemini Ventures fulfils this expectation."
About Capgemini
A global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, Capgemini is at the forefront of innovation to address the entire breadth of clients’ opportunities in the evolving world of cloud, digital and platforms. Building on its strong 50-year heritage and deep industry-specific expertise, Capgemini enables organizations to realize their business ambitions through an array of services from strategy to operations. Capgemini is driven by the conviction that the business value of technology comes from and through people. It is a multicultural company of over 200,000 team members in more than 40 countries. The Group reported 2018 global revenues of EUR 13.2 billion.
Visit us at www.capgemini.com. People matter, results count.
About ISAI
Launched in 2010, ISAI is the Tech Entrepreneurs’ Fund and brings together a community of over 250 entrepreneurs around the world.
Nearly 200 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI funds, and more than 50 ISAI-backed start-up co-founders share the collective ambition of co-writing great entrepreneurial stories. ISAI invests in differentiated projects run by ambitious teams that it selects rigorously and actively supports.
ISAI Gestion, an investment management company approved by the AMF, with over €300 million under management, aims to finance and support high potential Tech companies, at the seed/post-seed stage (venture capital, ticket from €150k ticket to €2m with participations in successive rounds) or when they have already reached the break-even stage (Tech Growth/LBO, tickets from €5m to €30m).
More information on www.isai.fr/en
This document is not an offer of securities for sale or for investment advisory services. This document contains general information only and is not intended to represent general or specific investment advice.
[1] Capgemini Ventures’ role within the Capgemini Group is to forge partnerships and investment initiatives within the innovation ecosystem
[2] Within the delivery of Cloud computing IaaS is Infrastructure as a Service, SaaS is Software as a Service, and PaaS is Platform as a Service
KEENSIGHT CAPITAL AND ISAI EXPANSION INVEST IN IVIDATA, A LEADING PURE PLAYER IN BIG DATA CONSULTING
Keensight Capital, one of the leading players in Growth Buyout and ISAI Expansion, the French Tech entrepreneurs' fund, announced the acquisition of a majority stake in IVIDATA, an IT consulting group specialized in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence services, alongside Etienne Aboulker, IVIDATA’s co-founder and CEO.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Levallois-Perret, IVIDATA is a leading consulting group covering the entire Big Data value chain, from strategy to UX, and including Data Science and Data Privacy services. IVIDATA’s one-stop-shop model offers a broad range of services structured around 5 areas of expertise:
- Big data expertise: digital transformation, data privacy and IT Big Data consulting and management;
- Data Management: Microsoft and Javascript, back and front-end application development;
- Digital services: digital strategy, communication and marketing;
- Infrastructure: Big Data, Cloud and DevOps architecture consulting and development
- Pharmaceutical/retail: biometrics, biostatistics and clinical trials for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries.
Thanks to its cross-disciplinary and multi-sector position, IVIDATA accompanies a diversified client portfolio which includes over 100 blue-chip companies such as Danone, France Télévisions, La Poste, Sanofi, Société Générale, Total and it maintains long-standing relationships with major pharmaceutical companies. Since its creation, IVIDATA has experienced very strong annual growth (+82% yearly since 2013) and it intends to sustain this fast-paced development.
IVIDATA has established a strong employer brand. Awarded Great Place to Work for three consecutive years, the company has succeeded in attracting talented consultants, and now works with more than 320 Big Data experts, of which 250 employees.
Keensight Capital and ISAI, leveraging their extensive experience in the digital, IT and Healthcare sectors, will support IVIDATA in the acquisition of companies with complementary offerings, and the launch of new high value-added services.
Etienne Aboulker, Chief Executive Officer of IVIDATA stated: “We are thrilled to partner with Keensight Capital and ISAI, who have demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of our business and core strengths. This partnership opens a very exciting new chapter for the company, as it will allow us to further enrich our value-added data services portfolio and to embrace worldwide digital transformation opportunities. We are convinced that joining forces will enable us to scale up substantially and to become the European leader in Big Data services within the next 5 years.”
Philippe Crochet, Partner at Keensight Capital, said: “We are delighted to team up with IVIDATA in order to pursue its growth strategy. Etienne is a visionary manager and we immediately shared his ambitions and human values. Our deep knowledge of the IT and Healthcare sectors, as well as our strong international network, will help IVIDATA to fully benefit from the fast-growing demand for Big Data services, a market which is expected to double over the next 10 years.”
Pierre Martini, General Partner in charge of the Tech Growth / Buyout funds at ISAI, added: “We are glad to partner with Etienne and Keensight Capital to take part in IVIDATA’s promising future developments. With its technological expertise, its strong entrepreneurial culture and the outstanding quality of its staff, IVIDATA is ideally positioned to take advantage of the steady growth of the Big Data market worldwide. We are determined to bring to the company all the support needed in order to roll out an ambitious development plan and thus to strengthen its technological leadership.”
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IVIDATA
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Levallois-Perret, IVIDATA is a leading consulting group specialized in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence services. IVIDATA’s one-stop-shop model covers the entire Big Data value chain, from strategy to UX, and including Data Science and Data Privacy services. IVIDATA accompanies a diversified client portfolio which includes over 100 blue-chip companies and it maintains long-standing relationships with major pharmaceutical companies.
More information on www.ividata.com - Twitter: @ividata
Keensight Capital
Keensight Capital, one of the leading European Growth Buyout firms, is committed to supporting entrepreneurs as they implement their growth strategies. For 20 years now, our team of seasoned professionals have leveraged their knowledge in investment and growth industries to invest for the long term in profitable companies with high growth potential and revenues in the range of €15 million to €250 million.
Drawing on its expertise in the Information Technology/Internet and Healthcare/Wellbeing sectors, Keensight identifies the best investment opportunities in Europe and works closely with management teams to develop and achieve their strategic vision.
More information on www.keensightcapital.com
Media Contacts
Anne de Bonnefon - abonnefon@keensightcapital.com- +33 1 83 79 87 37
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Alienor Miens – alienor.miens@citigatedewerogerson.com - +33 6 64 32 81 75
Alexandre Dechaux – alexandre.dechaux@citigatedewerogerson.com - +33 7 62 72 71 15
ISAI
Launched in 2010, ISAI is the Tech Entrepreneurs’ Fund and brings together a community of over 250 entrepreneurs around the world.
Nearly 200 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI funds, and more than 50 ISAI-backed start-up co-founders share the collective ambition of co-writing great entrepreneurial stories. ISAI invests in differentiated projects run by ambitious teams that it selects rigorously and actively supports.
ISAI Gestion, an investment management company approved by the AMF, with over €300 million under management, aims to finance and support high potential Tech companies, at the seed/post-seed stage (venture capital, ticket from € 150k ticket to € 2m with participations in successive rounds) or when they have already reached the break-even stage (Tech Growth/LBO, tickets from €5m to €30m).
More information on www.isai.fr - Twitter: @isai_fr
Media Contacts
Kablé communication
Catherine Kablé: catherine.kable@kable-communication.com - +33 1 44 50 54 75/ +33 6 82 25 73 85
UPFLUENCE, RAISES A 3,6M$ SERIES A.
UPFLUENCE, THE COMPREHENSIVE INFLUENCE MARKETING SAAS PLATEFORM, RAISES A 3,6M$ SERIES A.
ISAI BACK2SCHOOL PARTY 2018 !
Many changes in 2018 at Isai with new offices and a new fund ! But we continue the good old tradition of the Back2School Party ! Always great to spend a good time together with Isai Friends and Family before starting a new school year :-)
ISAI RAISES €150 MILLION FOR ITS NEW TECH GROWTH/LBO FUND
-A unique expert positioning in France, at the crossroads of Tech and private equity/VC businesses
-An innovative approach in financing, which is an attractive alternative to IPO or strategic acquisitions for the founders and managers of high-growth tech companies
Paris, July 4, 2018: ISAI, the main French Tech entrepreneurs’ fund, announces the closing of its €150 million ISAI Expansion II fund.
This new fund, triple in size than the previous fund, reached its hard cap in less than three months thanks to the strong support from its historical limited partners (entrepreneurs and institutional investors) and with the arrival of some dozens of new entrepreneurs as limited partners.With its strong track record since 2013, its expertise and its unique positioning as an entrepreneurs’ backed fund, ISAI Expansion has become the preferred partner for ambitious entrepreneurs, eager to accelerate their profitable growth strategy.Over the past 5 years, ISAI Expansion has supported 9 companies from a variety of sectors from digital marketing, cybersecurity to B2B services, and has already successfully completed the exit of two investments, Hospimedia and Labelium.The ISAI Expansion II fund will support ambitious teams with tickets between €5 and €30 million, in minority or majority, as lead investor or co-investor in syndicates. Most of the operations will be focused on:- Support for companies to pursue profitable growth (international development, acquisition financing),- Capital restructuring, via an Owner Buy-Out mechanism, in order to offer entrepreneurs an attractive alternative to premature sales to strategic buyers.- Scale up financing for tech companies not yet profitable but needing a last financing round to carry out their growth project,- Support for more traditional companies working on digital “intrapreneurial” initiatives with the potential to create meaningful value.ISAI Expansion II will rely on its Parisian and New York teams, which will be significantly strengthened in the coming months. These teams will continue to federate the 250 or so entrepreneurs gathered behind ISAI and to provide a high added value support.Jean-David Chamboredon, Chairman of ISAI, comments: "We are obviously very honored by the confidence of our backers, bothentrepreneurs and institutional investors. With ISAI Expansion II, we participate in the emergence in France of the "Tech Private Equity" market which is already well established in the United States. This is another option for tech entrepreneurs who want to be in it for the long haul."Pierre Martini, General Manager in charge of the Tech Growth / LBO funds, adds: "We have succeeded in demonstrating that our entrepreneurs’ fund model is legitimate and differentiating in the market. We now have significantly strengthened resources to support ambitious entrepreneurs in a demanding yet caring approach and with a true partner DNA."About ISAILaunched in 2010, ISAI is the Tech Entrepreneurs’ Fund and brings together a community of over 250 entrepreneurs around the world.Nearly 200 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI funds, and more than 50 ISAI-backed start-up co-founders share the collective ambition of co-writing great entrepreneurial stories. ISAI invests in differentiated projects ran by ambitious teams that it selects rigorously and actively supports.ISAI Gestion, an investment management company approved by the AMF, with over €300 million under management, aims to finance and support high potential Tech companies, at the seed/post-seed stage (venture capital, ticket from € 150k ticket to € 2m with participations in successive rounds) or when they have already reached the break-even stage (Tech Growth/LBO, tickets from €5m to €30m).
More information on www.isai.fr - Twitter : @isai_fr
Press contacts
Kablé Communication
Catherine Kablé / Marie Le Goff
Catherine.kable@kable-communication.com / marie.legoff@kable-communication.com
01 44 50 54 75 / 07 87 96 12 74
KEENSIGHT CAPITAL AND ISAI INVEST IN THEODO, A TECH EXPERT IN AGILE DEVELOPMENT OF WEB AND MOBILE SOLUTIONS
Keensight Capital, one of the leading players in European Growth Private Equity1, announced the acquisition of a stake in M33, the holding parent company of Theodo (“the Group”), independent expert in the development of digital web and mobile solutions. As a new shareholder of the Company, and lead investor in this financing round, Keensight Capital, accompanied by ISAI (via its growth/LBO fund), join forces with the Group’s two founding managers, Benoît Charles-Lavauzelle and Fabrice Bernhard.
Founded in 2009, M33 is a premium tech player able to address all markets of the digital transformation thanks to their original agile methodology as well as their expertise on the best web technologies. The Group is, thus, able to provide fast, high-quality delivery while also training their clients’ internal teams.
With more than 200 employees of which more than 150 engineers, and based in Paris and London, M33 is currently structured around 5 companies specialized in B2B delivery of customized digital solutions. Theodo and Theodo UK are specialized in web applications; BAM in mobile applications; SICARA in datascience; and SIPIOS in solutions for the Fintech industry.
M33’s clients include fast-growing start-ups as well as major international groups, including Safran, Société Générale, Suez environnement, Renault, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Ada, Condé Nast, BlaBlaCar, Business Immo or ManoMano.
Deeply concerned about stimulating its employees through their working environment, the Group attracts the best talents from leading engineering and business schools and is regularly top-ranked in the HappyAtWork ranking.
Since 2009, M33 has achieved an average annual revenue growth rate of 70% to reach €21m in 2017. This very strong growth confirms the relevance of Theodo’s business model, based on excellence in recruited profiles, expertise on digital technologies, as well as a Lean and Agile methodology that enables a velocity unique in the market. Since 2015, the Group is also in Great Britain through Theodo UK with more than 30 employees. Given its strong growth profile with earnings upside, the Group intends to hire 130 professionals by year-end 2018.
Philippe Crochet, Partner at Keensight Capital, commented: "We are delighted to participate in a new stage of growth for Theodo, a Tech expert company which combines all the ingredients Keensight Capital is looking for, i.e. a recognized and unique player in the Tech ecosystem with a strong growth profile, led by two ambitious and visionary entrepreneurs, supported by highly committed tech talents, and renowned for exceptional implementation capacity and which has reached a mature growth stage allowing accelerated international development."
Benoît Charles-Lavauzelle and Fabrice Bernhard, M33 and Theodo’s founding managers, added: "Keensight Capital and ISAI are experienced partners and a perfect match to help us achieve our ambitious targets. They are experts of our ecosystem and share our values. They will be able to challenge us on a daily basis and join forces on our international growth strategy."
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About M33
M33, the holding company of the Theodo group, is composed of 5 companies specialised in B2B delivery of bespoke digital solutions : Theodo and Theodo UK are specialised in web development, BAM in mobile development, Sicara in data science and Sipios in solutions for the fintech industry. In 2017, M33 had a revenue of 21 millions euros, multiplying it by 20 compared to 2012.
About Theodo
Founded in 2009 by Benoît Charles-Lavauzelle and Fabrice Bernhard, Theodo is specialised in agile delivery of web and mobile applications. Theodo identifies with its clients their best business opportunities and builds with them the digital solutions to leverage these opportunities.
Theodo creates a team composed of both Theodo experts and client employees. This team implements the new ways of working of successful startups and builds the digital solutions that will accelerate the transformation of the company.
Theodo offers its employees an accelerated professional progression path. It was awarded the HappyAtWork label for the last three years, a ranking rewarding the companies where people are the happiest.
Theodo’s clients include corporates as well as fast growing startups, among which Admiral, Safran, Société Générale, Suez environnement, Renault, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Ada, Condé Nast, BlaBlaCar, Business Immo or ManoMano.
Media Contacts Fabrice Bernhard – fabriceb@theodo.co.uk - +44 7 482 345 541
About Keensight Capital
Keensight Capital, one of the leading European Growth Private Equity firms, is committed to supporting entrepreneurs as they implement their growth strategies. For almost 20 years now, our team of seasoned professionals have leveraged their knowledge in investment and growth industries to invest for the long term in profitable companies with high growth potential and revenues in the range of €15 million to €250 million.
Drawing on our expertise in a variety of sectors including Internet/Media, Information Technology, Healthcare and Services, we identify the best investment opportunities in Europe and work closely with management teams to develop and achieve their strategic vision.
Media Contacts
Anne de Bonnefon - abonnefon@keensightcapital.com - +33 1 83 79 87 37
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Robert Amady – robert.amady@citigatedewerogerson.com - +33 1 53 32 78 91
About ISAI
Launched in 2010, ISAI is “the” French tech entrepreneurs’ fund gathering more than 200 entrepreneurs across the world. Almost 150 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI, and more than 50 startup cofounders supported by ISAI share the collective ambition to write great entrepreneurial stories.
ISAI invests in differentiated projects founded by ambitious teams that it rigorously selects and actively supports.
ISAI Gestion, authorized by French regulator AMF, can fund and support high potential companies at early stages (venture capital, €150k to €2M initial ticket with ability to follow on) or at more mature stages (growth equity, €3M to €15M investments).
For additional info, www.isai.fr - Twitter : @isai_fr
***1 Growth Private Equity: investment in profitable, private companies experiencing strong growth, in minority or majority positions, with or without leverage, using a flexible approach adapted to the needs of individual entrepreneurs, in order to finance organic growth projects, acquisition strategies or provide historic shareholders with liquidity
TINYCLUES CLOSES $18 MILLION INVESTMENT ROUND FOR INTERNATIONAL GROWTH
Paris, France, London, UK, New York, USA – February 22, 2018 – Tinyclues, provider of a leading AI-first marketing campaign intelligence solution, today announced the closing of a USD 18 million Series B investment. Lead investor in the round was the EQT Ventures fund (“EQT Ventures”), with participation from existing investors, Alven, Elaia Partners and ISAI.
The Tinyclues solution uses a unique Deep AI technology that captures the latent business and customer insights contained in first-party data. It then predicts the future buyers for any product or service campaign with incredible accuracy, allowing brands to present highly relevant product offers to highly qualified audiences. Using Tinyclues to reinvent the way they create, target and orchestrate campaigns, Tinyclues customers have secured an outstanding +49% average increase in campaign revenue, in addition to a significant improvement in customer experience.
Backed by EQT Ventures, Tinyclues will further accelerate its already impressive growth in North America and Europe; in 2017, the company more than doubled its annual revenue. The investment will also support an aggressive AI-first product development timetable, further empowering brands to win new sources of revenue from intelligent marketing campaigns.
“Tinyclues is changing the game for B2C marketers by adding an AI-first campaign intelligence layer on top of their campaign management solutions and processes,” said David Bessis, founder and CEO of Tinyclues. “As a result we’ve had a triple-digit annual growth and we’ve been able to seek out a top investor that shares our energy, drive and entrepreneurial spirit.” Bessis continued: “EQT Ventures provides us not just with capital, but access also to individuals with exceptional technology-business growth experience, eager to help us drive our aggressive plans for international growth and our ambitious product roadmap.”
Tinyclues now powers marketing campaigns for more than 80 enterprise companies including Air France, Arcadia, Cdiscount, Charles Tyrwhitt, Club Med, Fnac Darty, Lacoste, Manor, OUI.sncf and Vente-privee.
"Tinyclues is transforming a multi-billion dollar global market with deep AI expertise and a world-class team,” said Alastair Mitchell, Partner and investment advisor to EQT Ventures. “A huge percentage of sales for brands and retailers comes through promotional campaigns - mostly using manual segmentations or crude lookalike algorithms. AI is transforming this. Tinyclues' platform automates the targeting of customers and the orchestration of campaigns. As a result, Tinyclues increases revenue for its customers by up to 250%. This is game-changing not just for marketing campaigns, but promises to revolutionize the wider value chain, including retail category management, merchandising and customer communication."
With the support of EQT Ventures, Tinyclues is moving forward its vision of AI-first marketing solutions, removing the guesswork from campaign marketing and redefining how B2C marketers interact with customers.
“For too long, targeted marketing had to rely on static rules and predefined workflows that forced customers into arbitrary segments. Tinyclues’ AI-first vision means that marketers no longer have to worry about figuring out the right criteria: they can simply input their marketing agendas and business goals, and let the AI compute the best audience for each campaign. Not only does AI maximize business impact and long-term customer engagement, but it also creates a radically new experience for marketers: by assisting them with quantitative aspects, it enables marketers to finally focus on content and strategy. This sets new standards for what marketers can expect from software,” concluded Bessis.
About Tinyclues
Tinyclues is the leading AI-first Marketing Campaign Intelligence solution enabling companies to generate additional revenue through intelligent campaign targeting and planning. Tinyclues’ solution uses Deep Artificial Intelligence to identify future buyers for any promoted item, even in the absence of recent intent. Companies like Brandalley, Cdiscount, Club Med, Corsair, Fnac, Lacoste, La Redoute, Manor, Rue du Commerce, Vente-privee, Sarenza, Vestiaire Collective, Voyages-sncf.com and more are using Tinyclues to optimize and orchestrate more than 600 million messages per month across channels such as email, mobile push notifications, direct mail, call centers or Facebook to generate quantified and sustainable additional revenue. Tinyclues has been listed as a Vendor to Watch in Gartner’s 2017 Magic Quadrant for Digital Marketing Analytics.
For more information, visithttp://www.tinyclues.com
Twitter:@tinyclues
About EQT Ventures
EQT Ventures is a European VC fund with commitments of just over €566 million. The fund is based in Luxembourg and has investment advisors stationed in Stockholm, Amsterdam, London, San Francisco and Berlin. Fuelled by some of Europe’s most experienced company builders, EQT Ventures helps the next generation of entrepreneurs with capital and hands on support. EQT Ventures is part of EQT, a global leading alternative investments firm, with more than 170 investments and 80 exits. EQT has raised approximately EUR 38 billion, and its companies employ c. 110,000 people and have revenues of approximately EUR 19 billion.
About Alven
Paris-based Alven is an early-stage venture capital firm with over $500 million under management. Alven backs primarily ambitious European entrepreneurs in the digital technology space. Alven’s sectors of interest include notably AI, data-driven platforms, Saas, security solutions, as well as disruptive consumer models with a particular focus on marketplaces and web brands.
Past or current investments include Algolia, Dataiku, Drivy, Happn, Wit.ai (Facebook), CaptainTrain (Trainline/KKR), Bime Analytics (Zendesk), Frichti, Tinyclues, iAdvize, Peopledoc and Wynd.
About Elaia Partners
Created in 2002, Elaia Partners is an independent Venture Capital firm, focused on the digital economy and deep-tech. Elaia Partners has more than €250m under management and invests in high potential disruptive start-ups from the first financing rounds to the emergence of global leaders. With more than 60 years of cumulated experience in both venture capital and digital industries, the investment team offers a close, proactive and relevant support to its entrepreneurs.
In September 2017, Elaia Partners launched a new line of activities dedicated to pre-seed and tech-transfer vehicles. The first initiative is the structuring of PSL Innovation Fund, together with Paris Sciences & Lettres research university.
Elaia Partners was an early investor in companies such as Sigfox, Mirakl, Criteo, Teads, adomik, Talent.io, Agriconomie, EasyRECrue, Shift Technology, tinyclues, Orchestra Networks, Agnitio, etc.
Twitter: @Elaia_Partners / www.elaia.com
About ISAI
Launched in 2010, ISAI is « the » French tech entrepreneurs’ fund gathering more than 200 entrepreneurs across the world. Almost 150 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI, and more than 50 startup cofounders supported by ISAI share the collective ambition to write great entrepreneurial stories.ISAI invests in differentiated projects founded by ambitious teams that it rigorously selects and actively supports. ISAI means "different & remarkable" in Japanese.ISAI likes digital business models with a progressive capital intensity: marketplaces, adtech/martech, SaaS/big data/AI... With €160M under management, ISAI Gestion, authorized by French regulator AMF, can fund and support high potential companies at early stages (venture capital, €150k to €2M initial ticket with ability to follow on) or at more mature stages (growth equity, €1M to €15M investments).
Contact(s)
François LaxaltTinycluesTel: +33 6 80 05 13 80E-mail: francois.laxalt@tinyclues.com
ADIKTEEV, THE DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST, RAISES 12 M$.
ADIKTEEV, THE DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST, RAISES 12 M$ WITH RING CAPITAL, ISAI, VENTECH ET BNP DÉVELOPPEMENT.