Hi Inov holds first close for Hi Inov 2 on €90m

The fund, with a hard-cap set at €120m, is significantly larger than its predecessor, which closed on €70m in 2015.

Similarly to Hi Inov's maiden fund, Hi Inov 2 includes a co-investment compartment backed by French state railway company SNCF, named SNCF Digital Ventures 2.

SNCF has allocate up to €30m to the compartment. The VC has previously used both its main vehicle as well as SNCF Digital Ventures 2 for an investment, for example when investing in Platform.sh. 

Hi Inov, founded in 2012, is the venture capital arm of investment firm Dentressangle Initiatives and has provided capital to 16 startups since inception. The VC recently opened an office in Munich, led by Wolfgang Krause, in order to facilitate investments in the region.  

Investors
Around 80% of the backers of Hi Inov’s maiden fund have recommitted to the second generation vehicle. The cornerstone investor, the Dentressangle family, doubled its original investment, injecting up to €30m.

Institutional investors such as the Caisse d'Epargne Rhône Alpes and Edmond de Rothschild have made commitments so far. 

Investments
The VC specialises in backing European B2B businesses that provide services for companies going through digitalisation processes. The fund will mostly back series-A rounds but also take part in series-B rounds, providing up to €15m per business.

The VC also intends to start providing seed funding and it has therefore set up a partnership with Axeleo Capital, a French VC. Axeleo will be in charge of deploying up to €10m in seed capital from both Hi Inov 2 and SNCF Digital Ventures 2 across around twenty companies.

Hi Inov 2 has already completed two deals: the image and video recognition software firm  Deepomatic and insurance technology business Zelros.  

People
Hi Inov – Valérie Gombart (CEO); Pierre-Henri Dentressangle (president).

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