Sofimac closes new fund on €33m

Cornerstone investor BPI France backed the vehicle, which launched in 2012, via its €600m Fonds National d'Amorçage fund-of-funds, providing a €20m investment, representing 60% of the total amount raised.

Several regional governments also subscribed to the fund, namely the Centre region, providing €3m; the Languedoc-Roussillon region, supplying €2m; the Poitou-Charentes region, which provided €1m; and the Auvergne region, providing €1m. Collectively, regional governments provided approximately 27.5% of the total amount invested in the fund.

Caisses Régionales du Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas and the Auvergne-Limousin and Languedoc regional departments of Caisse d'Epargne are also investors in the fund. The banks provided slightly more than 12% of total commitments.

Investments
The fund will make investments of between €300,000-1.35m in early-stage technology companies located in the Auvergne, Centre, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Rhône-Alpes regions, as well as the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean sea.

The vehicle will invest in technology across a broad range of industries such as healthcare (biotechnology), industrial robotics, security and pharmaceuticals.

The fund has already invested a total of €5.93m in eight companies. In February, Sofimac took part in a €2m funding round for Microphyt, a French biotech specialising in microalgae-based bioactive products.

The vehicle also participated in a €7m funding round for Ideol, a French developer of foundations for offshore wind farms, in April last year.

People
Pascal Voulton is the president of Sofimac, while Cécile Thebault is an investment director for technology at the firm.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• France
• Technology
• Venture
• France
• Sofimac