Iris Capital announces the €250M first closing of its new VC fund IrisNext

This is what they said

Iris Capital, a leading pan-European venture capital firm, announces today the launch of IrisNext, its new fund focusing on digital transformation opportunities, with a first €250M closing. IrisNext will invest in startups from seed to growth stage, from €1m up to €30m, giving Iris Capital the leverage to accelerate and sustain the growth of ambitious European companies at various stages.

Corporates investing in IrisNext’s first closing include industry leaders such as Orange, Publicis and Valeo. They are joined by financial investors and institutions such as Bpifrance and BRED Banque Populaire. IrisNext is the firm’s second generation multi-corporate vehicle, and combines strategic corporates, financial investors, individuals and institutions under a fully independent management.

IrisNext invests in fast growing companies that are reshaping entire industries: from Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things, Cybersecurity and 5G networks, to Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing and Software Design.

Pierre de Fouquet, managing partner and co-founder at Iris Capital, said: “In the last five years, together with Orange and Publicis Groupe, we’ve successfully co-created what we call the multi-corporate VC model. We would like to thank Orange and Publicis Groupe for their renewed trust and we are looking forward to expanding the success of this model with our new corporate partners”

Antoine Garrigues, managing partner and co-founder at Iris Capital, said: “Our mission at Iris Capital is to identify and fuel promising entrepreneurs to help them grow and scale their businesses across Europe and beyond, notably thanks to our corporates network.

“We are delighted at the renewed trust from the original backers and look forward to welcoming new contributors.”

IrisNext will be mainly invested in Europe, with a focus on France and Germany. The fund will also include an investment strategy outside of Europe, primarily focusing on the US, where Iris Capital can bring added value to start-up companies through its network of corporate backers and strong European anchorage.

Erkan Kilicaslan and Erik de la Rivière, managing partners at Iris Capital, said: “With this new fund, we look forward to fueling many more ambitious and innovative success stories.”

“IrisNext attracted some of Europe’s leading corporates as investors in the fund, which is a testimony to our model, our track record and legacy in the venture capital industry.

“The several success stories from our portfolio, with companies such as Talend, Adjust, Netatmo or Scality, as well as Iris Capital’s global experience and performance were key in the closing of IrisNext´s first round.”