Vulog raises €8.4m from BPI France et al.

Factoring in the latest round, Vulog has received €11m in funding since being founded in 2006, according to unquote" sources.

A breakdown of the round was not provided but BPI France deployed capital via its €150m Ecotechnologies FPCI fund. Launched in 2012, the vehicle invests €1-10m per transaction and seeks minority stakes in environment-focused SMEs.

Meanwhile, London-headquartered ETF drew equity from its second fund, which writes £5-15m equity cheques for every company it backs, both in single and follow-up investments.

Investing alongside BPI France and ETF were Vulog's existing backers, which entered its capital structure via a €1.2m round in 2013. These include Paca Investissement, a co-investment fund overseen by French VC Turenne Capital Partenaires that typically deploys €150,000-1.5m per deal.

Financial services firm Opus and real estate-focused investor CPG – shareholders in Vulog since 2013 – also contributed during the round.

The fresh funds come as Vulog looks to continue the global expansion undertaken over the past few years. Having reportedly doubled size during 2014, the technology firm added offices in Paris and Vancouver to its existing headquarters in Nice that same year.

Amid predictions that car-sharing will grow to service 30 million users worldwide by 2020, Vulog will prioritise Asia as it sets up a new office on the continent in 2016. The company is looking to double its 30-strong workforce by next year, with a focus on its business development and R&D teams.

Company
Founded in 2006, Vulog develops technology used by clients from the car-sharing industry such as Transdev, City of Paris and Communauto. The business currently employs 30 professionals – its engineers work from the Nice headquarters, while the commercial and marketing team is based at the Paris office. The company's turnover is understood to sit below the €10m mark.

People
BPI France's work was coordinated by senior investment manager Gilles Schang and investment manager Edouard Combette, while investment director Fabrice Bienfait led the deal for ETF.

Paca, CPG and Opus were represented by associate director Marie Desportes, manager Olivier Marrot and CEO Michel Gondolo, respectively. Georges Gallais co-founded Vulog and is the company's current CEO.

Advisers
Equity – Jones Day, Jean-Gabriel Griboul, Alexandre Wibaux (Legal).
Company – Ventury Avocats, Nicolas Ivaldi, Cécilia Nervo (Legal).

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• Topics
• France
• Expansion
• Technology
• France
• BPI France
• Turenne Capital Partenaires