French private equity firm Idinvest Partners is now managing assets on behalf of French and international investors of in excess of EUR5 billion.
The firm has backed 3,500 companies since its launch in 1997 and spin-off from the Allianz Group in 2010.
Since Idinvest Partners became independent 4 years ago, the firm’s AUM have doubled from EUR2.5 billion to EUR5 billion. To support this growth, the team has also doubled in size, expanding from 25 to 48 people.
The pace of fundraising accelerated over the course of 2014, as the firm raised over EUR1 billion across various strategies including private debt and venture capital, with the proportion of international investors also increasing.
In conjunction with this sustained pace, the company has managed a dozen exits including three IPOs of European companies on the Nasdaq: Criteo, Prosensa and Auris Medical.
By the end of 2015, Idinvest Partners plans to have funded 4,000 companies.
According to Idinvest, Europe – and France in particular – is teeming with entrepreneurial opportunities in many sectors, such as the digital industry (sharing economy, connected devices etc.), healthcare (ageing population, well-being etc.) and renewable energies (considerable room for improvement as the world undergoes a major demographic and technological boom). These three sectors, which affect our daily lives, lie at the heart of future developments and progress.
Christophe Bavière, Chairman of Idinvest Partners, says: “Idinvest Partners aims to accelerate the financial backing it provides to SMEs to support their growth. These companies not only create jobs but are an essential driving force for the European economy. Through our funds, endless investors have enjoyed the success of companies such as Meetic, Withings, Pretty Simple, Mont-Blanc Materne, Talentia Software, Fircosoft, Criteo and Dailymotion.”
Benoist Grossmann, Managing Partner of Idinvest Partners, adds that: “There is much talent in France and our entrepreneurs have no need to envy their American counterparts. They enjoy a global perspective right from the start and benefit from the support of the French entrepreneurial ecosystem which is one of the most established in Europe – incubators, associations, foundations, lawyers etc. The potential is there; all they need is financial support”.
