Orange (Euronext Paris: ORA NYSE: ORAN) and Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] have launched a European multi-corporate venture capital fund.
IrisNext, this is the name of the new fund, aims to become one of Europe’s leading venture capital funds through funding from major international groups of French, German and international origins, as well as from institutional investors. Publicis Groupe and Orange have committed to provide €75M each.
It will mainly invest in European startups involved in all aspects of corporate digital transformation, to fund their growth, not just in the early stages but all throughout the phases of growth.
IrisNext will be funding pure players and new business models built around digital technology, as well as new tools and technologies taking on the challenge of this transformation (e.g. big data, cloud, artificial intelligence, digital innovations, robots, etc.).
The fund will be managed by Iris Capital, assisted by German venture capital fund Capnamic, with an initial closing scheduled in 2016.
Gerhard Cromme, who has joined the project in a personal capacity, will sit on the Supervisory Board of Iris Capital.
FinSMEs
30/10/2015