Groupe Arnault seeks foothold in French tech start-ups
Push to invest in promising companies at an earlier stage of development
Groupe Arnault, the family office of billionaire Bernard Arnault that controls luxury goods group LVMH, has invested in a Paris-based start-up accelerator as part of a wider push to invest in early-stage French companies.
Groupe Arnault has launched an early-stage investment programme called Aglaé Ventures that will invest between €100k and €2m at a time in France tech companies, as well as helping them to expand internationally. In total, Groupe Arnault wants to invest up to €40m in the next three years.
In an initial wave of investments, Groupe Arnault will invest in The Family, a group that has helped develop the French tech scene since it launched four years ago, as well as Back Market, an online marketplace for refurbished electronic devices at discounted prices.
The strategy reinforces Groupe Arnault’s commitment to France following a year in which French tech attracted record amounts of investment. It also illustrates how investors are increasingly looking to build a relationship with promising start-ups at an earlier stage in the race to find the next big tech success.
The French tech scene is trying to shake off criticism that it is too parochial, and build more companies that are globally competitive following the success of long-distance carpooling service BlaBlaCar and online advertising company Criteo.
Aglaé plans to invest in sectors such as software, big data and marketplaces that have “asset light” business models and can be scaled up. Entrepreneurs will gain access to Groupe Arnault’s network and have support in marketing, business development and market intelligence. Aglaé will take part in seed and Series A fundraisings.
Groupe Arnault has invested in the tech sector since the 1990s, typically at a later stage which means bigger sums of between €2m and €100m from Series B rounds onwards. Tech companies such as Netflix, Airbnb and sound-technology group Devialet have all been backed by the family office, although it is best known as the majority shareholder in LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group by revenues.
The Family brings entrepreneurs under one roof and supports them with workshops, infrastructure and access to investors. It has helped more than 550 start-ups, and the value of its portfolio companies is more than $1bn. It has recently added offices in London and Berlin to its base in Paris.
“We want to build start-ups at a European level using the best of every country,” said Oussama Ammar, co-founder of The Family.
He added that rather than positioning London, Paris and Berlin as competitors, the European tech industry should work together to challenge Silicon Valley.
“It’s about unifying Paris, London and Berlin. The Trump election is one of the biggest opportunities to put Europe in the front seat against the US.”