Seventure Partners, provider of financing in life sciences and associated industries, has launched Sport & Performance Capital, a new fund dedicated to supporting innovation in the sport and wellness industries.
With a final target of EUR80 million, the venture fund will invest in startup companies and growing SMEs furthering physical activity to help promote health and physical fitness.
The Fund will help to provide a legacy from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which is supported by Groupe BPCE, Seventure Partners’ ultimate parent group. At first close, Caisse d’Epargne, also part of Groupe BPCE, is a cornerstone investor, alongside other French banks and LPs. Caisse d’Epargne is a major bank player in the field of sports, with a sustainable commitment either to finance companies involved in sports and wellness or to facilitate professional retraining of former athletes with strong expertise in supporting local companies, with both debt and private equity financing.
Created by Seventure Partners, the Sport & Performance Capital fund aims to raise EUR80 million at final close to invest in companies with high growth potential across Europe, with an initial focus on France, selected for their innovation or their specific know-how in the fields of sports and wellness. The Seventure Partners investment team will identify and finance companies developing and providing products or services connected to sports, such as: innovative clothing, new materials for sports practice, equipment, specific food or nutrition products, connected devices, performance tracking tools, physical parameters measurement devices, digital innovations, coaching, development of areas, equipment or events promoting the practice of sports.
With 20 years’ experience financing innovative companies, Seventure Partners has built strong relationships with entrepreneurs and industrial world leaders. Through its innovative Health for Life Capital™ microbiome focused-funds and AVF, its animal health, feed and nutrition fund, the Company has developed a world-wide network in the fields of health, food and nutrition, and digital technologies, key adjacent sectors for the economics of sport.
With the first close, the new fund is ready to start investing, with the ambition of investing in around 15 companies by the start of the Paris Olympic Games in July 2024. It has a 10-year investment horizon to support its portfolio companies through to 2029.
An Advisory Investment Committee will be created, that will consist of Caisses d’Epargne managers, athletes or former athletes, and Seventure Partners’ investment professionals.
The fund was formally launched at a Press Conference in Paris on 3 July. Speaking at the launch, Isabelle de Crémoux, Seventure Partners CEO and Managing Partner, stated: “Since 1997, Seventure Partners has been actively funding innovative European companies, especially within the evolving fields of health, food and nutrition, and digital technologies. The sports industry is being deeply disrupted by innovation and we will work side-by-side with entrepreneurs selected by the fund, providing them full access to our team of investors and their expertise, networks and know-how.”
Alexis Mathieu, CEO and founder of Paris-based Feetme, a Seventure Partners portfolio company, speaking at the fund launch provided an example of the difference the new fund could make, saying: “Our smart wearables technology is proven in the area of physiotherapy and medical applications, but has the potential to provide performance enhancement in many sporting areas such as running and cycling. This exciting new fund provides a potential new source of financial support for entrepreneurs seeking to bring innovation in many aspects of science to the sports and wellness industries.”
