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Partech Ventures, which Preqin recently ranked among the top 10 technology investment teams in the world, and the only European firm in the top 25[1], announced the launch of the Partech Growth fund, with a first closing round of nearly $250M (€200M).
“We managed to achieve the fund’s first closing less than four months after we began marketing Partech Growth. This validates the maturation of the European ecosystem and the strength of investor appetite”, stated Bruno Crémel, General Partner of Partech Growth.
Partech Growth intends to provide between €10M and €30M of capital to fast-growing technology and digital companies that have already achieved significant revenues.
The creation of Partech Growth is a direct response to the lack of availability of European funding in this sector. Since 2000 Europe has seen the emergence of more than 30 tech companies with a valuation of over $1B. This trend is accelerating. However, according to Mark Menell, General Partner of Partech Growth based in San Francisco, “most growth capital transactions for European companies have been done by non-European, primarily US investors, up until now”.
Omri Benayoun, General Partner of Partech Growth added: “the Fund’s investment strategy is very selective, simple and ambitious. We will invest in companies that aim to achieve a global market-leading position, and are capable of breaking the rules of their industry”.
The launch of Partech Growth is supported by major institutional investors, including Bpifrance, which specifically invested on behalf on the French Government as part of the Investing in the Future Programme, CNP Assurances, and AG2R La Mondiale. It also included participation from major global industrial groups such as Carrefour, Ingenico Group and Renault.
Daniel Balmisse, Executive Director in charge of Bpifrance’s funds of funds activity, made the following comment: “Partech Growth is an essential part of the French and European digital and technology ecosystem. This fund should enable the development of the best fast-growing and innovative young companies to become global giants.”
This success of this initiative is also due to the unique model pioneered and fine-tuned by Partech Ventures over the past 30 years. The firm headed by Philippe Collombel and Jean-Marc Patouillaud, stands out due to its transatlantic and pan-European positioning, thanks to its teams in San Francisco, Paris and Berlin, who support the international development of the companies in its portfolio.
With the Partech Entrepreneur Fund providing seed capital, the Partech VI Fund for early stage and Partech Growth for growth stage, Partech Ventures now covers the entire funding chain for start-ups. The firm has also consolidated its team in that process, with the arrival of three new senior partners dedicated to this growth fund, namely Omri Benayoun, Bruno Crémel and Mark Menell (see bios below).
Omri Benayoun was EVP Corporate Planning and Strategy at Casino Group before becoming Deputy CEO of Cdiscount. A Corps des Mines engineer, he was previously in charge of corporate development at Dassault Systemes. According to the Choiseul ranking, he is one of 100 business leaders of tomorrow.
Bruno Crémel held senior executive positions within several leading French retail companies (PPR, Fnac, Darty) and was a general partner at investment firm LBO France. An inspector of Finance, he also served as chief of staff for the French Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry.
Mark Menell co-headed Morgan Stanley’s Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Group in Silicon Valley, before becoming a venture capitalist as a founder of Rustic Canyon Partners. He also subsequently served as the founding COO and CFO of ShopRunner, a leading online shopping service backed by Alibaba and American Express.
[1] According to Preqin 2014: https://www.preqin.com/docs/press/Consistent-PE-14.pdf
