• SnapEvent

  Participated · Equity · Aug 2017

  SnapEvent is a Paris-based event organising platform that helps individuals, organisations, and businesses find and book spaces to host events. The platform lists over 500 locations and also offers catering and ancillary services, including hostess, security guard, chef, and valet rentals. SnapEvent raised €3 million in the reported round. It will use the funding to expand its presence in European capitals. The company also plans to strengthen its yield management software using machine learning. Investors in the round include Leap Ventures, 123Venture and 50 Partners Capital.

• Secret Sales

  Led · Equity · Apr 2014

  Secret Sales operates a stockless online marketplace that lets fashion and beauty brands sell leftover or unused inventory at discounted prices while retaining brand control. The platform integrates real-time inventory and customer-service data to forecast demand and enable brands to list stock quickly, with connections taking under two weeks compared with legacy outlets' up to eight weeks. The startup reports around $3 billion of inventory on its platform and generates revenue by taking a margin from retailers for sales and customer-experience services. It positions itself as a more sustainable alternative by reducing waste and lowering transportation-related carbon footprint since stock often remains in brands' warehouses. Secret Sales works with a range of retailers from athletic brands like Puma to higher-end names such as Ted Baker and Kurt Geiger. With the new funding, the company plans to enhance its technology and pursue expansion into 12 new markets. Secret Sales operates an online fashion marketplace that was relaunched from a members-only flash-sales website into a dedicated marketplace after its acquisition by Lifestyle Retail Group in March 2020. The platform showcases over 700 brands and has grown 4,000% since the relaunch in March last year. The company plans to use new funding to advance technological development, improve data mining capabilities, and deploy proprietary data AI to optimise sell-through and the user experience. It intends to scale its ecommerce platform to compete globally in the discount retail space while expanding its UK operations. Secret Sales is due to go live in six other countries in the next year and aims to increase sales and customer engagement for its brand and retail partners. SecretSales.com runs a flash fashion sales site that sells branded fashion through a members-driven platform. The company reports 3.2 million registered members and a portfolio of 650 brands. It posted 70% net sales growth in 2013. Mobile channels are material: 29% of sales come via smartphones and 26% via tablets. Management says it has “ambitious growth plans,” and investors describe the business as part of a movement of “data-driven” e-commerce companies. The new funding is earmarked for product development and customer acquisition. SecretSales is a private online shopping club offering discounted sales across fashion, accessories, home wares, travel and other lifestyle categories. Launched in the United Kingdom in 2007 and based out of Nothing Hill, London, it claims over 2 million registered members and partnerships with more than 650 individual brands. The company employs around 50 staff. SecretSales plans to use the funding to double down on its expansion in the UK. Management changes accompany the raise: Sergio Dias was appointed Executive Chairman and will join CEO Nish Kukadia and buying director Sach Kukadia on the board. Co‑founders Michael Cody and Silvia Cody are stepping down from active roles but remain shareholders. Launched in 2007, Secretsales is one of the UK’s largest online private shopping clubs, giving members access to discounted offers on some 450 lifestyle, fashion, homeware and leisure brands. The site exploits the overstock market while preserving an air of exclusivity for its sales and partner brands. Secretsales will use new funding to accelerate growth and to leverage the expertise and track record of its new investor, Brands4friends. The company remains based in London and has made several senior appointments as part of the deal, including Sergio Dias as Chairman and Ed Bussey as an Advisory Board Member. Brands4friends’ CEO Christian Heitmeyer and Director International and Corporate Development Olivier Schuepbach will also join the Secretsales board. Secretsales operates in a competitive European private-shopping market alongside players such as Vente Privee, BrandAlley, KupiVIP.ru and BuyVIP.

• Cooltech Applications

  Participated · Equity · Apr 2013

  Cooltech Applications designs and industrializes magnetocaloric (magnetic refrigeration) thermal machines intended for commercial, industrial, domestic refrigeration and vehicle/building air‑conditioning. The company has completed a €20M industrialization program called MagCop (co‑financed by France’s OSEO‑ISI) and holds a large portfolio of international patents protecting its technology. It employs about 33 staff, mostly engineers, and says its technology eliminates the need for gas and can halve electricity consumption versus classic systems. Cooltech is targeting supermarket refrigerated counters as its first commercial entry point and plans to follow with hybrid and electric vehicle HVAC applications. The company intends to launch a first series production line and start sales by the end of the year and accelerate international commercialization thereafter. Recent investors describe the technology as a significant industrial and environmental opportunity with a defensible technological barrier in magnetism, materials and thermal systems.

• StartingDot

  Participated · Equity · May 2012

  StartingDot is a Paris-based registry developing a range of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) dedicated to businesses. It focuses on gTLDs for the main industries of small businesses across Europe to help them optimize visibility and align internet addresses with business names. The company is led by Godefroy Jordan and Guillaume Buffet. StartingDot raised €1.5M to support its ICANN applications, establish its operational structure and expand its dealer network. A commercial launch is planned for the first half of 2013.

• Jobintree

  Led · Equity · Apr 2010

  Jobintree operates an online recruitment platform serving employers and jobseekers. Founded in April 2008 by two former managers from Keljob, the site attracts over 800,000 unique visitors per month and counts more than 600 clients, mainly large companies. Its monthly traffic grew an average of 80% throughout 2009. With new funding, the company plans to expand its national presence, including opening an office in Lyon and possibly Nantes or Lille, and to add new team members. Jobintree is also developing several new sites focused on professional training, slated to go live in September. The company previously raised €2 million from business angels at the end of 2008 and has now secured an additional €1 million.

No current team members are available.