EmblemA relatively new European VC firm based in Paris, announced the final closure of its first fund. Eighteen months after First closureThe Emblem team managed to secure € 80 million in total (around $ 85 million at current exchange rates).
This is not a small work in the current funding environment. According to Atomico's latest European Tech state report, in 2024, Funding the adventure fell for the third year in the meant. One of the main reasons for this is that the acquisitions and IPOs are not really happening right now.
As a result, the VC as an investment category is less attractive -attractive than before. Many VC firms find it difficult to raise follow-on funds despite the current artificial intelligence boom, which can potentially represent a major investment opportunity.
But it did not prevent the emblem from reaching its hard cover – the maximum amount originally set to raise. Established by Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan and Guillaume Durao, the duo has already made some interesting investment as business angels before creating a symbol. They invested in the Trading Card game SowStarting pet insurance Dalmaand cultivated meat company Gourmeyto name a few.
They want to go one step more than a valid VC company, which in the Symbol, a seed investment company that wants to make 25 to 30 investments along with its initial funding. Ideally, they would rather lead or rule in seeds with tickets from € 500,000 to € 3 million. But the company is willing to comply with another lead investor if there is a good chance too.
The emblem has invested in 16 startups since its first closure in March 2023. Techcrunch covers some of them. Examples include:
- PivotA tool for taking and competitive with the Coupa.
- The mobile-first companyA B2B Mobile App Studio that draws inspiration from Voodoo and other consumer app studios.
- ElsewhereA new material company using AI and Lab Automation to accelerate research.
- TimeAn online commerce platform like Shopify, but focuses exclusively on B2B transactions.
It is a diverse portfolio when it comes to the focus area, but also the focus on geography. “We made 16 investments. To give you an idea, there were eight of them in France, six in Nordics – Denmark, Sweden – and then we made one in the US and one in Italy,” De Raphélis Soissan said In the techcrunch.
The main focus of the emblem remains in France and the Nordic Tech ecosystem. It has more than 200 limited partners who invested in the first fund, including family offices and tech businessmen, such as Unity, Pleo, Pleo, Qonto, 3shape, Spendesk, Voodoo, Pennylane, JobandTalent, Ledger and Zendesk founders. They make up more than half of the total amount.
The rest has been raised from multiple funds, as well as promises from the same EIFO (the Danish Sovereign Fund) and BPIFrance (the French Sovereign Fund). Emblem is already thinking about its next funding, which should be almost the same size.
“Now we have a little time when we don't have to top up. So we'll be happy. But you don't want to be off -market,” De Raphélis Soissan said. “So, because it will take you four years to go Deploy, and we're about halfway through, that means that in one year, we have to start over again. “
