Emblem Raises $85M for Debut European Venture Fund

Emblem Closes First Fund with €80 Million

Emblem, a European venture capital firm headquartered in Paris, has announced the successful final closing of its inaugural fund. Following an initial closing eighteen months prior, the Emblem team successfully amassed a total of €80 million – equivalent to approximately $85 million based on current exchange rates.

Navigating a Challenging Funding Landscape

Achieving this milestone represents a significant accomplishment given the present investment climate. Recent data from Atomico’s State of European Tech report indicates a third consecutive year of decline in venture funding for 2024.

A primary contributing factor to this downturn is the limited number of acquisitions and initial public offerings currently taking place.

VC Investment Attractiveness

Consequently, venture capital as an investment vehicle has become less appealing. Despite the ongoing advancements in artificial intelligence, which present substantial investment potential, numerous VC firms are encountering difficulties in securing subsequent funding rounds.

Emblem's Success and Founding

However, Emblem defied these trends by reaching its predetermined hard cap – the maximum amount initially targeted for fundraising. The firm was established by Bénédict de Raphaélis Soissan and Guillaume Durao, who previously demonstrated investment acumen as angel investors.

Their prior investments included Sorare, a crypto trading card game; Dalma, a pet insurance provider; and Gourmey, a company focused on cultivated meat production.

Investment Strategy

The founders aimed to expand their impact through a dedicated VC firm. Emblem functions as a seed-stage investment firm, planning to execute between 25 and 30 investments with its initial fund.

The firm’s preference is to lead or co-lead seed rounds, allocating between €500,000 and €3 million per investment. However, Emblem remains open to participating as a follower in promising opportunities led by other investors.

Portfolio Companies

Since its initial closing in March 2023, Emblem has already invested in 16 startups. Some notable examples include:

• Pivot, a procurement solution and competitor to Coupa.
• The Mobile-First Company, a B2B mobile application studio inspired by Voodoo and other consumer app developers.
• Altrove, a materials science company utilizing AI and automation to accelerate research.
• Volta, an online commerce platform similar to Shopify, but specifically designed for B2B transactions.

Geographical Focus

The portfolio demonstrates diversity in both industry and geographical concentration. Bénédict de Raphaélis Soissan explained, “Of our 16 investments, eight are located in France, six are in the Nordics – Denmark and Sweden – and we’ve made one investment each in the U.S. and Italy.”

Emblem’s primary investment focus remains on the technology ecosystems of France and the Nordic countries.

Limited Partners

The fund attracted over 200 limited partners, including family offices and prominent tech entrepreneurs. These include the founders of Unity, Pleo, Qonto, 3Shape, Spendesk, Voodoo, PennyLane, JobandTalent, Ledger, and Zendesk, collectively contributing over half of the total capital.

Additional funding came from various funds of funds, alongside commitments from EIFO (the Danish sovereign fund) and Bpifrance (the French sovereign fund).

Future Plans

Emblem is already considering the structure of its next fund, anticipating a similar size to the current one.

Bénédict de Raphaélis Soissan stated, “We now have a period where we don’t need to actively fundraise, which we intend to enjoy. However, maintaining market presence is crucial.”

“Given the four-year deployment timeline, and being approximately halfway through, we will need to begin preparations for the next fundraising round within a year.”