France's startup ecosystem has grown significantly over the past decade, thanks to public support and private investment. However, capital is not distributed equally. Most venture-backed startups are based in Paris and their founders come from the same few universities and schools.
That's what VC firm Daphni wants to change with Time4. Time4, a fund with a target of €100 million and a mandate to invest in French founders from diverse backgrounds and regional origins, began fundraising in September. I'm not doing this out of charity. One of the motivations was “a belief that there is economic potential that is currently untapped,” Anita de Voisin, a venture partner at Daphne, told TechCrunch.
According to the Daphni team, reversing this trend requires a different approach. That's why the company launched this fund in partnership with business school HEC Paris and two non-profit organizations, Les Déterminés and Live for Good. (Ironically, many venture capital-backed startup founders graduated from HEC Paris.)
These partnerships are key to the fund's investment strategy as they allow Time4 to go beyond its usual inbound-first, Paris-centric venture investment approach and provide more hands-on support to founders who lack mentors. They also write slightly larger checks than other funds at that stage, knowing that the entrepreneurs they support have far fewer funds of love to rely on.
This is one reason why Time4 aims to be a “relatively large fund,” but it's not the only reason. You also want a large portfolio to diversify your risk. “[We’ll] We will be able to invest in around 100 projects and ultimately create dozens of entrepreneurial success stories,” said de Voisin.
Part of Time4's work goes toward inspiring more people, regardless of their background, to start businesses with ambitious goals in mind. That's the vision of Moussa Camara, co-founder of Les Déterminés, a nonprofit that advocates entrepreneurship to counter social determinism. The group's name is a play on the word “determined.”
As for Live for Good, which focuses on impact entrepreneurship, de Voisin said he has experience supporting founders who meet Time4's criteria. This was also the case for the former Head of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the engineering school Centrale Supélec, a prestigious university that selects students through highly competitive exams. Therefore, not all students at Centrale Supélec come from wealthy families.
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In addition to potential founders from socio-economic backgrounds, Time4 targets entrepreneurs from remote and disadvantaged areas, job seekers, and even people with disabilities, few or no degrees, or special We will also consider supporting people with different career paths. As a reminder, affirmative action based on ethnicity is not allowed in France.
As part of the Article 9 Fund, Time4 aims to “improve social bonds, access to products and services (access to jobs, increase purchasing power, reduce mobility and regional isolation, access to housing, According to the press release,
According to Time4, its members have already identified around 800 projects that fit this dual investment strategy. However, financing will not begin until at least the middle of next year, which is the target date for the initial closing, de Voisin said.
Although funding could take until 2026 to complete, the roadshow has already begun, with the initiative being announced today on stage at Bpifrance's Quartier General event on entrepreneurship in disadvantaged regions. Ta.
Bpifrance, France's public investment bank, is well aware of the VC investment gap. In 2023, we launched the “Entrepreneuriat Quartiers 2030” program to promote entrepreneurship in priority areas of urban policy. Similarly, French Tech Tremplin is an initiative to support entrepreneurs from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the French tech ecosystem.
French Tech Tremplin recently appointed Paul Lê as its new ambassador. His grocery delivery startup, La Belle Vie, is often cited as an example of a success story. De Voisin and her team would like to see more breakthrough successes like this one, and are confident there will be more to come.