Axeleo Capital (AXC)

Axeleo Capital’s B2B tech fund hits €73M for the final closing 🚀 Excited to share that AXC2, our fund dedicated to B2B Tech startups, has successfully reached a final closing of €73 million! Since its launch in July 2022, AXC2 focuses on funding the next generation of B2B software, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, new use of data, blockchain & Fintech.    Here are some key highlights: ✨ AXC2 already boasts 14 portfolio companies and a successful exit within a short timeframe, showcasing the strength of our early-stage investment strategy. ✨ Our portfolio includes innovative startups such as Kestra, Zygon, Cohort, Sopht, Formance, Triver, and the recently acquired Husprey, now part of Collibra. ✨ More than 150 investors, including Axeleo Capital’s historical LPs (with a large number of tech entrepreneurs) and new supporters like Tikehau Capital, leading family offices, founders of various French unicorns, and corporates, have demonstrated their trust in our vision. ✨ Our success is not just about the numbers. We are reinforcing our position as a long-term partner and growth catalyst for founders, supporting them from seed funding to Series B. ✨ We are proud to announce that we have doubled our size compared to our first fund. We're not just investors; we are growth catalysts, supporting startups through their development.    All the Axeleo Capital team’s are grateful for the continued support of our LPs, Entrepreneurs who have supported us for years, and the vibrant tech community. Together, we are shaping the future of B2B tech startups. 🚀🌐

📈 🌇 Discover our brand new #Proptech and #Contech Index covering Q2 2024, published in partnership with our friends Salon RENT 👇 

🛡 Axeleo Capital (AXC) 8th Edition of the Cybersecurity Index 🛡 Here are the key takeaways from our Q2 2024 Cybersecurity Index: 📈 Funding Trends Thrive In Q2 2024, the total funds raised remained consistent with the previous quarter but were nearly 40% lower than the levels seen in 2023. 🐳 Fewer Rounds, Larger Deals Q2 2024 saw fewer rounds than the previous quarter 40 vs 17 but an increase in average deal size. Leading the quarter, the Irish no-code automation startup Tines raised €47M in a Series B round. PQShield, the company specializing in post-quantum cryptography (PQC), followed with a nearly €35M Series B. In third place, Onum secured €20M in a Series A round for its data observability and orchestration platform. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom's Dominance The United Kingdom stands out by leading with eight deals and securing €64M in funding. Notably, PQShield, just mentioned, raised €34.5M in a Series B round, while Cynomi raised €18.7M in a Series A round. 🐣 Early-Stage Startups Decline Although the total number of deals has significantly declined, the sharpest drop occurred in early-stage rounds (Pre-seed and Seed), decreasing from 31 to 9. These early-stage deals now account for 59% of the total, which is 32% less than the average early-stage deals over the past three quarters. 🚀 Active Sectors in Q2 The most active sector this quarter was Threat & Actor Intelligence, accounting for 22% of the deals. Key investments included Lunio, BforeAI (Series A - €14M), WhiteBridge.ai (Seed) and OnSecurity (Series A - €6.5M). Following closely, the Blockchain/Web 3 Security sector represented 17% of the deals, featuring Cavero Quantum (Seed - €2.6M), PQShield (Series B - €34.5M) and Q*BIRD B.V. (€2.5M). 🔗 To explore the full "Cybersecurity Index" report and gain deeper insights, click here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dm986sB4 For further discussion or inquiries, don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected], Alix François-Poncet, Brice L., Eric Burdier, Mathieu Viallard! #cybersecurity #startups #b2b #europe #cyber #VC

🔥 Discover our new #Proptech and #Contech Unicorn report! In collaboration with Victoria Safar from Plug and Play Tech Center, we’ve studied the 53 active Proptech and Contech unicorns to better understand their positioning, factors of success and current challenges. Key Trends : 🇺🇸 75% of active unicorns are based in North America  💸 $1.27B raised on average 💰 $3.7B average valuation  ⏳ 6.3 years average time to become a unicorn A report full of insights written by Justine Gounel and Dimitri Kremp Eric Burdier ; Mathieu Viallard ; Virginie Lucchini Accessible here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eTqJ47Ms

Last week, at Axeleo Capital (AXC), we organized a breakfast focused on gender parity! 🥐  Gender parity is a crucial issue, especially in tech where, according to our 2023 annual survey at Axeleo Capital, only 27% of the workforce of our portfolio companies is female 💻    The goal was to share best practices and tips to improve the rate of female representation, thanks to the inspiring intervention by Have you met Simone 👏 This was an opportunity to remind ourselves of our objectives and reaffirm our commitment: to reach 40% female representation by 2024 in our participations 🎯 A big thank you to Sopht, an Axeleo portfolio startup, for hosting us. cc Clémence Thomin Virginie Lucchini #Axeleo #Diversity #Tech #Entrepreneurship #Inclusion #Startups

🚀 Exciting Team Update at Axeleo Capital (AXC)! 🚀 We are thrilled to announce some great developments within our team that will strengthen our commitment to supporting early-stage European tech startups. Firstly, the well deserved promotion of Brice L. to Partner! Please join us in congratulating him on this remarkable achievement! Since joining our team in 2021, Brice has been an invaluable part of our Enterprise software strategy (with a focus on cybersecurity, infrastructure, devtools, AI, data and fintech) with great achievements : first checks in TRIVER, Zygon, Picsellia, some other unannounced golden nuggets, and recent exits like Husprey (acq. by Collibra) and Kadiska (acquired by Netskope). We are excited to see him continue to drive our mission forward in this new chapter of his career. We are also delighted to welcome two talented VC Analysts to our team: Alix François-Poncet and Victor Chamfeuil. Alix and Victor bring fresh perspectives and energy, and we are confident they will play crucial roles in identifying and supporting the next wave of tech innovators. Passionate about sport (golf, skydiving & extreme skiing), Alix began her VC career in 2022 and joined us in mid-spring to develop our Enterprise Software strategy. Freshly arrived from Berkeley, Victor, who previously interned at Axeleo Capital, is now focusing on promising sectors driving impactful changes such as DeepTech, ConTech, Energy, Mobility, New Materials, and Decarbonization. This dynamic team expansion reinforces our dedication to being at the forefront of the European early-stage tech ecosystem. We can't wait to see what we will achieve together! Join us in celebrating these exciting changes and stay tuned for more updates from Axeleo Capital. #TeamAxeleo #EarlyStage #VentureCapital #Tech

Building on Axeleo Capital (AXC)'s DNA of support and operational guidance provided to digital startups since 2017, we are pleased to share our Climate Playbook, designed to help tech startups design their environmental strategy. Our guide focuses on three main areas: 1. Measure 📊 > Evaluate your carbon footprint and digital life cycle assessment (LCA) while getting tips on disclosure and reporting through Apiday. 2. Reduce 🌱 > Develop and prioritize your sustainability roadmap with an emphasis on Green IT, and track your progress through Apiday. 3. Communicate & Engage 📢 > Access training resources to involve your team and learn best practices for internal and external communication. This guide is a pathway to a sustainable future. Let's take action and lead the change in your industry. Download: https://lnkd.in/dtVpAhVW

At Axeleo Capital (AXC), we are thrilled to unveil our 2024 sustainability Report! 🎉 This is the second consecutive year we've published this report, and we are excited to share our commitments and achievements in ESG topics. Our aim? To fully incorporate ESG issues into our investment process and tackle the 3 main challenges we've set for our portfolio startups: 1️⃣ Increasing the number of companies measuring their carbon footprint and raising employee awareness by 50%. 2️⃣ Tackling the significant challenge of improving gender diversity in tech, aiming for a 40% female representation (currently we are at 28%). 3️⃣ Continuing to promote the appointment of independent board members to our non-executive bodies. Committing to a more sustainable world is both necessary and exciting - it's everyone's business. Ready to dive in? Check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dNjehUqm Together, let's shape a more sustainable tech world. 💪 cc Clémence Thomin Virginie Lucchini Mathieu Viallard Eric Burdier

🌱 New seed round 🌱 We are thrilled to share that Sopht, one of our Axeleo Capital (AXC) portfolio companies, has raised €3.3 million in seed funding! 🚀 Congrats Jérémie VEG Julien Rouzé Gautier Levert! Sopht is on a mission to decarbonize corporate IT, tackling the significant environmental impact of digital infrastructure. Their cutting-edge solutions help companies reduce their carbon footprint while staying competitive in a rapidly evolving market. This fresh funding will accelerate their growth across Europe, aiming to triple their client base and manage 1 million tons of CO2 in the next four years. We couldn't be more proud to support their journey towards becoming Europe’s leading Green ITOps solution by 2026. Check out our latest blog post for more details on Sopht's promising path: https://lnkd.in/g5drZgpj Join us in celebrating this milestone and looking forward to a greener future! 🌍💚 #SustainableTech #GreenIT #ITDecarbonization #SeedFunding #AxeleoCapital #frenchtech #B2B #SaaS

🛡 Axeleo Capital (AXC)'s 7th Edition of the "Cybersecurity Index" 🛡 📉 A Decreasing Funding Trend In Q1 2024, the European cybersecurity sector secured €227 million in funding, marking a a slight increase from the previous quarter (€224 million). However, this is still a 45% decrease compared to Q1 2023. 🇬🇧 Geographic Dominance 🇫🇷 The United Kingdom and France shines, leading with 10 deals for the UK and, France securing €106.7 million in funding with Zama or Filigran. 🐣 Early-Stage Startups Keep Thriving Early-stage startups continue to thrive, representing 78% of all deals. simplyblock stands out, raising a €3 million Seed Round, specializing low-latency high-performance storage software for IO-intensive workloads 👏. 🚀 Active Sectors in Q1 The European cybersecurity landscape saw an increasing activity in the sub-segments of Data Security, Cloud Security as well as Identity & Access management that are leading the way this quarter. 🔗 Link in comments 👇 For further discussion or inquiries, don't hesitate to ping us in DM! #cybersecurity #startups #b2b #europe #cyber