Alexandre Flamant

Imagine speaking without saying a word! Sci-fi? Not Anymore 🧠🗣️ Rubén Domínguez Ibar and I had the chance of interviewing Vasco Pedro, the CEO & Co-Founder of Unbabel, who demoed their mind-blowing product, Halo Halo is a revolutionary technology that combines hardware, software Gen AI and a non invasive neural interface to translate brain signals into words hence - "speaking without saying a word" 🤯 Early usage is transforming the lives of ALS patients who haven't been able to speak in years. Seeing it in action is absolutely jaw-dropping 📽️ You've got to see the demo in the interview below 👇 AI For Good 🤖💖 - It's here ✅

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I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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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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AI is transforming transportation. Meight is the latest example of an AI-powered startup targeting the trucking sector. They are automating workflow for small European carriers. And they just raised $4M led by Cusp Capital. Europe is slow to adopt new transportation tech, but could this be a stepping stone for something bigger? https://lnkd.in/eiQsheT3

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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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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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Streamline your fundraising roadshow with edeck by Versible eu🚀 🔗https://lnkd.in/ekQxJZem With Versible's edeck you can create a data-driven, tailored and personalised one pager deck and share it with any one. You can even test it now: https://lnkd.in/eTUsGed8 ✅ Create unlimited links and set permissions for entry ✅ Set Password, 2FA, Invitation only & Expiration date ✅ Your viewers don't need to signup on Versible ✅ Track the movement of every viewer ✅ Track the minutes spent of your deck ✅ Send and receive live messages ✅ Receive Feedback ✅ Add your calendly link ✅ Receive Data room requests ✅ Access the top european VC database ✅ Create unlimited Data rooms ✅ Access fundraising CRM ✅ & so much more

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🌠 Jury Reveal for our Consumer Edge AI Hackathon! 🌠 After taking Quack AI to YC and launching The Drop with Julia Denoly I'm thrilled to have joined the Entrepreneur First talent investing team — now on a mission to find Europe’s most ambitious tech founders and bring them together in our next programme in Paris & SF. Julia & I have teamed up again to launch the Spotlight Hackathons. Our first edition is next week in Paris! The challenge: bringing Gen AI from the cloud to the edge, for new & fun consumer use-cases. For this edition, we’re joining forces with Hugging Face, Meta & PyTorch, and Scaleway, in the fabulous Paris HQ of Ekimetrics. - Teams will not only be supported by exceptional mentors (we have the pleasure of hosting Ali Khosh and Mergen Nachin from the PyTorch team coming from the US) but also to be judged by SOTA entrepreneurs & AI researchers made in France. These include: - Laurent Mazare CTO of Kyutai- representing the best of Open Source research today - Eliot Andres, CTO of Photoroom - who else for a consumer AI hackathon than our French success story - Xavier Fischer from Datakalab - tackling edge way before Gen AI was a thing Spots are limited and applications are already overflowing, so we’ve moved the deadline up a couple of days. Submit yours by Friday, Nov 15th (EOD) for your chance to secure a last minute spot. Link is in description 💥

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We have an another lineup of star investors for MELT. Let me introduce 23 amazing VCs and Angels ! ☞ Stedde Capital Sector: Biotech, B2C, B2B ☞ The Collective Sector: Fintech ☞ Muivona Capital Sector: Healthtech, Legaltech, Retailtech, AI, E-commerce, B2B ☞ Touring Capital | AI SaaS Fund Sector: SaaS, B2B, AI ☞ Forum Ventures Sector: Fintech, Climate tech, Govtech, Legaltech, Cybersecurity, AI, B2B, SaaS ☞ Plain Sight Capital Sector: Fintech, Insurtech, Retailtech, Legaltech, Govtech, Adtech ☞ Fantastocker INC Sector: Fintech ☞ Biran Capital Sector: Fintech ☞ Lynx Ventures Sector: Fintech, Proptech, Legaltech, AI ☞ CLNM Capital Sector: Fintech ☞ Brilliant Minds Sector: AI, Fintech, Climate tech, Retailtech, Biotech, Neurotech ☞ Woodside Capital Partners Sector: Adtech, E-commerce, B2B, B2C, SaaS ☞ Generous Ventures Sector: Fintech, Healthtech, Climate tech, Edtech, Insurtech, Proptech, Agtech, Govtech, Legaltech, Retailtech, Biotech, Adtech, Mobility, Cybersecurity, AI, B2C, Gaming, Web3, Robotics, AR/VR, Neurotech, Spacetech, B2B, E-commerce, SaaS ☞ 615.vc Sector: Spacetech ☞ seedlabs co / Harvard Sector: AI ☞ Bullpen Capital Sector: Fintech, Healthtech, Climate tech, Edtech, Proptech, Insurtech, Agtech, Govtech, Legaltech, Retailtech, Adtech, Biotech, Spacetech, Gaming, Web3, Mobility, Robotics, Cybersecurity, AR/VR, Neurotech, AI, B2C, B2B, SaaS, E-commerce ☞ Connecticut Innovations Sector: SaaS, B2C, B2B ☞ Matr (Matter) Ventures Sector: Fintech, Cybersecurity, Healthtech, Climate tech ☞ Sanctor Capital Sector: Web3, AI, AR/VR, Gaming ☞ Clockwork // 171 Ventures Sector: Fintech, AI ☞ W Ventures Sector: Fintech ☞ BASE64 Capital Sector: B2B, SaaS, AI, Cybersecurity, Robotics ☞ Conscience VC Sector: Healthtech, AI, B2C Founders x Investors Dynamic Network 『MELT』 6/3 5pm https://lu.ma/ldbfgkez 【💎VIP Sponsored】 ​Bradley Kam ​・Founded 2 companies Unstoppable Domains & Talkable ・Raised over $70M ・Unstoppable Domains recently raised $65M in a Series A round led by Pantera Capital, reaching a $1B valuation. Aquibur Rahman ​Founder of Mailmodo, has received funding from Sequoia and is an alum of Y Combinator S21 ​Nathan Stevenson ​CEO and Founder of ForwardLane Inc. has been featured by Forbes, the World Economic Forum, and American Banker ​Rene Anziani & Leevar Williams ​Founded by MIT alumni, APrime Technology Technology is an elite team of experienced engineers, product managers, and data experts intent on helping startups build innovative products that matter. Our customers operate in complex, data-driven, highly regulated industries such as quantitative finance, healthtech, fintech, and edtech. We have received 400+ registrations. ​・76 VC and Angel Investors ​・280+ Founders/CEOs ​3 Series D companies ​2 Series C companies ​6 Series B companies ​35 Series A companies ​15 Pre-Series A companies ​106 Seed companies ​146 Pre-Seed companies ​26 Bootstrap companies ​50+ Executives Meet at us MELT!

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🕵‍♀️ We meet a lot of the founders we invest in at our events. When is the next one, you ask? 13 November, in sunny Lisbon. As someone spending a lot of time between London and Hamburg, I'd say don't go for the money and don't go for the network. Go for the weather. 😉 Jokes aside, even if you don't want to or can't travel, you should still apply, as we review every application - and who knows what will happen... 💫 #diversefounders #impactinvesting #climatetech #inclusiontech

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I’ve been anticipating more creative M&A stories ever since Swile acquired employee benefits platform Bimpli, a subsidiary of Groupe BPCE in 2023. At the time, I dubbed what Loïc Soubeyrand, Swile’s CEO and Founder, successfully executed a Private Reverse Merger (or PReM). It’s when a smaller, fast-growing but loss-making private tech company acquires a private incumbent that’s larger, slow-growing, but profitable. Sure enough, 2024 has already brought us three new PReM stories. Last week, sennder (Nine years old, Series D company) announced its acquisition of C.H. Robinson’s European Surface Transportation operations (109 years old, global logistics platform). It is set to double the company’s annual revenue from €700m to €1.4bn (so also qualifies as a Merger of Equals) and catapult it to the top five European companies in its industry. Back in February, Cohesity (11 years old, Series F) announced its merger with the data protection business at Veritas Technologies LLC (41 years old, international enterprise) in February to form a new company that will work with 96 of the Fortune 100 and 80% of the Global 500. And in May, computer vision company Metropolis Technologies (7 years old, Series C) announced its acquisition of parking network SP+ (SP Plus). The deal will make Metropolis, originally a software company, the biggest parking network operator in North America. Like Swile, Sennder, Cohesity and Metropolis have accelerated their path to greater scale and profitability with their PReMs, while offering to the incumbent a potential exposure to a growth story trading at higher multiples, creating a win-win scenario for both sides. This approach can also offer scale-ups… ✔️ A faster path to liquidity and a premium valuation as a larger company and possible category leader ✔️ A de-risked business with a reduction in future dilution ✔️ Better terms for raising debt with a profitable business in the future (And by the way, two years after the Swile / BPCE merger, the integration is still going incredibly smoothly. One added benefit that we hadn’t anticipated back then: having the agility of a startup while having the support of a large banking group.) We’re not fully in the clear with private markets and the IPO market is tight, but these companies are more proof that creative M&A should be high on scale-ups’ agendas.

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Have you noticed the recent surge in InsurTech advertisements online? At least, we've observed several B2C (pet) InsurTech players ramping up their social ad activity in the French market. This trend aligns with this month's investment activity, where B2C companies have dominated in terms of funds raised. Could this indicate a new era for these players? Well, it's a pattern worth noting. 🔥 As fundraising rounds are merely a means to an end, we collect and share public KPIs from startups each month. If you’re interested in learning more, leave a comment, and I'll send you the KPI of the month. #insurance #insurtech #venturecapital

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When the first alphabet in these conversations changes from 'M" to 'B', you know the funding winter is transforming into spring 🌱 #VC #VentureCapital #Earlystagefunding Read more about the latest monthly funding report for VC funding in July 2024 here: ttps://https://lnkd.in/dhdWF8fP

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Good Morning, folks ! Great news to start the week—the VC machine is slowly waking up and fueling European HealthTech startups !👇 In the first half of 2024, investor interest in European startups surged, with €27.8bn invested, a 16% rise from H1 2023 (Sifted data). Notably, public institutions are key players, with the European Innovation Council and Bpifrance actively supporting startups. Bpifrance, in particular, was involved in nearly 17% of all French deals in H1. Here are the top 15 leading investors in European startups this year, according to Anne Sraders and Sifted 👇 1- Antler : 82 deals 2- SFC Capital : 78 deals 3- Bpifrance : 63 deals 4- European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) : 44 deals 5- Y Combinator : 36 deals 6- HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds : 35 deals 7- Kima Ventures : 23 deals 8- Octopus Ventures : 23 deals 9- EIT - European Institute of Innovation and Technology : 22 deals 10- BNP Paribas : 19 deals 11- CDP Venture Capital SGR : 18 deals 12- Speedinvest : 17 deals 13- CDTI Innovación - Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación : 17 deals 14- Scottish Enterprise : 17 deals 15- Earlybird Venture Capital : 17 deals Link to the article in the comment 👇

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🚀 Exciting news from Hexa! Based in Paris, this innovative startup studio, which has successfully launched numerous B2B software companies, is set to unveil its next wave of projects that will emerge as independent startups. Originally founded in 2011 as eFounders, Hexa has been a catalyst for groundbreaking software-as-a-service solutions. As they continue to shape the future of B2B technology, we look forward to seeing how these new ventures will evolve. Stay tuned for updates! #startups #B2B #innovation #Hexa

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āltitude: 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞-𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 We're excited to learn more about remote work from co-founder Matteo Benedetti from our portfolio company Debtist in our SME Tech Leaders webinar "Scaling your Startup Remotely" 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lu.ma/mqgwi5p0 When Marc, Ingo, and I started āltitude last year, we did it remotely from Berlin, London, and Zurich, meeting monthly in person. Our team has since expanded to include Torge, our Chief of Staff, and Fernanda, our visiting analyst, currently based in Luxembourg and Munich. Post-pandemic, we believed against the consensus that building a firm apart was possible—we just had to prove it. Remote work naturally sharpens our focus on priorities, which is crucial for any business but also comes with challenges. Here’s how we’ve approached remote work: 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: We utilise tools like Notion, Asana, Google Docs, Shared Google Calendars and Folk. We also streamline our financial operations by using our own portfolio company cleverlohn for payroll. 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: We hold daily check-ins—morning for strategic decisions and afternoons for operational priorities. If needed, we schedule dedicated calls for deeper discussions on strategic topics. Regular in-person meetings in different cities keep us connected without the overhead of a permanent office. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀, 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁: Remote work demands trust as you cannot see what people are doing, which we build through clearly defined tasks, deadlines and roles. This clarity ensures that everyone is aligned. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗞𝗣𝗜𝘀: Understanding what outcomes need to be achieved every quarter is key. Especially as we continue fundraising and deploying capital. 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Our culture is built on radical candor and transparency, ensuring everyone is working towards the same goals. Open discussions and quick feedback loops allow us to address issues openly. This environment encourages accountability and continuous improvement. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: We meticulously discuss and document our processes via Loom recordings, google docs or notion so everyone understands how things are done. Regular iteration on these processes helps us stay disciplined and efficient. This is particularly important in a remote setup where discipline is key to consistency. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: We anticipate predictable workload:, such as attending events (booking travel/meetings) and LP updates, by planning and working ahead of time. This allows us to be proactive rather than reactive, a necessity in remote work where spontaneous problem-solving isn’t as easy. These strategies have enabled us to build and scale our venture capital firm remotely, proving that it’s possible. #scaleup #venturecapital #remotework

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