Last year around the same time, French tech VC, Partech closed its biggest-ever seed fund at €120M to continue its record of startup success. Now, despite the economic challenges that prevailed this year, the Paris-based global technology investment firm has announced its latest €360 million Venture Fund called Partech Venture.
This €360M fund will back mission-critical software, data, and fintech specialists in Europe. Partech Venture will back mission-critical software companies driving the digital transformation of enterprises and SMBs with the latest fund. With a target fund size of €360 million, half of which, €180M, has already been committed, Partech Venture will boast a diverse group of investors, including international institutions, sovereign funds, and multinational corporates such as Allianz France, BNP Paribas, BPIfrance, CDP Venture Capital, Edenred, FDJ Ventures, JCDHolding, and Lombard Odier Investment Managers.
22 to 24 Series A / Series B stage
The firm plans to invest in 22 to 24 Series A / Series B stage European companies with recurring revenues ranging from €1 to €10M, focusing on key themes like Application Software, Deep Tech Software (Data & AI Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, DevOps), B2B & B2B2C Vertical Platforms, and Fintech & Insurtech Applications.
Their inaugural investment has been made in the Italian-based company Smartpricing, and the investment team, led by Philippe Collombel and Reza Malekzadeh, is further strengthened by experienced international team members, including Jean Sini, Simone Riva, and Elena Moneta.
Born in San Francisco and Paris, known as one of the most active tech investors in the world, Partech Venture doubles down on the same focus as its predecessor – Partech International Ventures VII. It will back mission-critical software companies powering the digital transformation of Enterprises and SMBs. The fund will invest in 22 to 24 European companies at the Series A or Series B stage with €1 million to €10 million recurring revenue.
Furthermore, Partech Venture will invest across four key themes – Application Software, Deep Tech software (Data & AI Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, DevOps), B2B & B2B2C vertical platforms, and Fintech and Insurtech applications.
Smartpricing: €13M Series A
Founded in 2020, Smartpricing offers revenue management software for hotels to enable hoteliers to increase their turnover through technologies based on machine learning models.
The Italian startup uses a proprietary algorithm to process various types of data, including those related to the market, saturation, price trends in a specific geographic area, and the hotel’s history, to propose the best possible price to improve the performance of hospitality structures.
With the latest €13M Series A funding, Smartpricing will execute its plans to expand its team, launch new products, and further consolidate its position in the software and fintech vertical for the hospitality sector. While Partech led the round, Techshop’s Gianluca D’Agostino (lead investor of the 2022 seed round), Azimut Digitech Fund, supported by FNDX, and the founders of Bending Spoons also participated in the round.
“We are continuing to build on the success of our previous venture, with experienced partners that have built a portfolio of leading European companies and we have added some new talent to increase our coverage of the best European deals,” commented Philippe Collombel, General Partner and co-founder of Partech.
“We are essentially keeping the same investment strategy for our venture fund: we will seek to support promising category leaders that are striving for either European dominance or the potential to expand to the US,” said Reza Malekzadeh, General Partner. “We have only scratched the surface of the huge market potential arising from the digital transformation of European enterprises and SMBs. European capabilities in creating mission-critical applications for productivity, digital infrastructure, data protection, and cyber security, as well as tools that leverage data and AI, have dramatically improved over the last 10 years”.
“In merely three years, Smartpricing has orchestrated 2 millions bookings for over 3,000 hotels, B&Bs, and other such travel accommodation, elevating their turnover by an impressive average of 30%,” added Philippe Collombel. “Extending its footprint, notably in Italy and the DACH region, Smartpricing is poised to emerge as the global leader in revenue management for small and medium-sized hospitality structures.”
