Revaia aims for EUR 400m - EUR 500m final close for Fund II by year-end

The firm has set the hard-cap for Fund II at close to EUR 500m as the sponsor does not want to grow the fund too much versus its predecessor, said Berrebi. The fund has a moving target due to demand from LPs, she added.

Racine Advisors provided legal advice on both Fund I and Fund II.

The hard-cap of the fund would make it double the size of the firm’s debut vehicle, which closed on EUR 250m in June 2021, as reported.

A first close in mid-April 2022 enabled the GP to secure the first two investments from Fund II, however, Berrebi declined to comment on how much the fund has raised so far. Revaia announced today (1 June 2022) that it has participated via Fund II in a Series D funding round led by Advent and Brighton Park, for Israeli startup Coralogix, a DevOps company headquartered in San Francisco. The fund expects to make another investment in a French company, Berrebi said.

The vehicle will aim to foster the growth of European scale-ups. “We like to invest in companies that are ambitious. We have a good knowledge of public markets and are able to get these companies ready for an IPO,” Berrebi said. It will aim to complete 15 platform investments in total, typically completing three to five investments a year depending on market conditions, said Berrebi. According to Berrebi, pipelines are being reduced as many companies are not looking to IPO at the moment.

Revaia was founded in 2018 by Elina Berrebi and Alice Albizzati, both of whom hail from FSI France, and have collectively worked at various PE houses including Eurazeo and Verlinvest. The investment team has 15 staff with nine full-time employees and seven operating partners.

Building the LP base
Berrebi said that the sponsor wants to internationalize its LP base for Fund II to reflect its own expansion; the firm intends to open an office in London next year. “We want to have boots on the ground as our competitors are non-European investors operating remotely,” Berrebi told Unquote. “This enables us to develop relationships with companies, identify trends and stay connected to the VC space.” It currently has offices in Paris and Berlin, with operating partners in New York and Toronto, according to Berrebi.

The GP will contribute 2% and the minimum subscription for institutional investors including family offices is EUR 2m, according to Berrebi.

Berrebi declined to disclose the names of the fund’s LPs but said that 90% are institutional investors. There are currently 12 LPs, the majority of which are European, with a few North American names.

Berrebi said 2022 has been a “jammed” year for many GPs as LPs have been prioritising re-ups. The GP was able to secure re-ups, she said: “All our LPs from Fund I are around and remain happy.”

The sponsor intends to add two to four new LPs before the final close, which will be a mix of regional public investors and funds of funds, according to Berrebi.

Fund I received backing from 50 institutional and private investors including Assicurazioni Generali, which was its cornerstone investor. Further LPs in the fund included Allianz, Bpifrance Investissement, Mutuelle Assurance Des Instituteurs De France, and the Sycomore Family office, according to Unquote Data.

Thematic approach
Fund II will invest in companies with an enterprise value of EUR 50m to more than EUR 2bn across Series C through to lower mid-cap buyouts. It will provide average initial cheques in the EUR 10m - EUR 50m range but can go higher with reserves, Berrebi said.

Much like its predecessor vehicle, Fund II will invest in technology hubs including the DACH region, France, the UK, and the Nordics, although it will also invest in Israel.

The size of the stake that it will take in its portfolio companies is not important for the GP and it is willing to reinvest in portfolio companies. “We like to structure rounds and proactively look for co-investors so we can co-lead rounds,” Berrebi said.

Fund II will prioritise banking as a service, health, education technology, food and agricultural technology, Web3, property technology, DevOps & cybersecurity, climate technology, SaaS, and B2B marketplaces, according to Berrebi.

However, SaaS businesses will represent the majority of the fund. “We are actively monitoring 10 themes,” Berrebi said, noting that the firm evaluates the underlying business model of each potential target. “We like cash efficient companies.”

Berrebi explained that the firm takes a thematic approach to investing in diversified long-term fundamental trends. The portfolio of Fund I can be classified into 6 topics: digitising SMEs, improving the workplace, next-generation responsible consumption, powering innovators, purpose-driven fintech, and climate tech, she said.

Fund II will reserve about 30% for follow-on investment, whereas Fund I reserved about 20%, Berrebi said.

The sponsor will focus on growing the geographical presence of its portfolio companies via acquisitions as this “acts as a shortcut” to expanding to another geography organically, Berrebi said. Most of Revaia’s portfolio companies are happy to acquire smaller companies to expand their product range and add complementary features, she added.


[Editor's note: Subsequent to publication, the article has been updated to include details of Revaia's investment in Coralogix. The first paragraph has also been amended to describe the company as a growth equity investor.]

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