Paris-based early-stage VC Elaia is today announcing a €200m final close of its fourth generalist fund, DV4.
The fundraise follows a €77m deeptech fund closed last year focused on things like AI, data science and digital health care.
Where will the money be spent?
Elaia will invest between €1m-15m in 25-30 European companies, between pre-seed and Series B.
The fund will be looking to invest in B2B startups, particularly in sectors like cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, digital life sciences, fintech and insurtech.
The VC has its sights set on growing its international footprint. It says up to 40% of the fund will be deployed abroad, up from 27% of Elaia's previous generalist growth fund — DV3.
It’s already made 15 investments, including:
- Cybersecurity startup HarfangLab
- Insurtech Seyna
- Clinical data platform for doctors LynxCare
- AI powered investment analysis startup SESAMm
- B2B ecommerce platform Djust
Where’s the money coming from?
- BNP Paribas
- Bpifrance
- BRED Banque Populaire
- CNP Assurances
- European Investment Fund
- MGEN
- SWEN Capital Partners
- A number of family offices
Journey to closing
The final close of Elaia’s fourth generalist fund comes nearly two years after it announced its first close of €120m, and said it could raise the remainder of the cash by the end of 2021. The fact we’re well into 2023 now shows just how much the market has shifted over the past 12 months, as LPs have become stingier with their funds.
“The fundraising environment changed since last summer and got tougher,” an Elaia spokesperson tells Sifted.
Since launching nearly 20 years ago, the VC has backed more than 100 startups, including three from seed to unicorn — advertising platform Criteo, marketplace SaaS platform Mirakl and insurtech Shift Technology — and has €700m under management, according to the firm.