Paris-based Yotta Capital Partners held the first closing of its Yotta Smart Industry fund at EUR101 million at the end of July, targeting a final amount in excess of EUR120 million.
Institutional investors, including Bpifrance and the European Investment Fund, are the main investors in the fund, as well as private investors from the field of industry and finance. Nathalie Balland at Syperus Finances acted as advisor on the fundraise.
The fund will focus on French industrial SMEs to assist them in their transition towards the so-called fourth industrial revolution megatrend, becoming “more competitive, more international and more carbon efficient,” according to the French private equity firm.
The firm’s three founding partners will aim to support job creation in France by putting human capital and ecological footprint at the center of their investments.
The aim is to create industrial SMEs 4.0 engaged in growth projects that create economic, social, environmental and financial value, by investing between EUR1 and EUR10 million in equity in SMEs with revenues between EUR5 and EUR50 million.
Yotta intends to reconcile its financial return objective with an extra-financial objective of reducing the CO2 emissions of its portfolio companies, backed by its partnership with the energy transition consulting firm Carbone 4.
Pierre Dejoux, Xavier Herrmann and Benoît Perrot, founding partners of Yotta Capital Partners, commented that they will support the managers of SMEs, both in terms of investment and on the operational level, as they engage in the 4th industrial revolution, or the ‘smart’ industrial revolution.
“The current crisis shows the need to accelerate the local reindustrialisation of our territories to create jobs in our regions, ensure our sovereignty and preserve the climate,” they said.
“As part of their industrial transformation, Yotta will help to create value through external growth or international development, particularly through digitalisation, decarbonisation, the development of a circular economy and the shift towards a service-oriented business model,” added the partners.
