Iris leads €14m round for iAdvize

José Rojo
23 September 2015

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Iris Capital has led a €14m round for French software-as-a-service (SaaS) specialist iAdvize alongside BPI France and existing backer Alven Capital.

BPI France drew equity from its Digital Ambition Fund; the vehicle was recently used for several sizable rounds in the French tech startup space, including the $45m series-D for Scality and the €10m series-B for Lengow.

The fresh capital will assist iAdvize as it looks to expand outside France. The strategy will see the company first develop a presence in the UK, Germany and Spain, to then move towards the US market.

There are plans to add 100 new professionals to the company's existing 120-strong workforce by 2016 to sustain the activity boost. In addition, a new offering will be launched during the same year.

Previous funding
Also supporting the current €14m round for iAdvize, Alven was the sole institutional backer behind a first €1m injection into the business in October 2012.

The VC, which drew equity from its €100m third fund, told unquote" last week it aims to enter startups at an early stage and then let other VCs take over in subsequent rounds, a rationale mirroring its strategy with iAdvize.

Company
Established in 2010, iAdvize develops a SaaS platform allowing clients such as Rue du Commerce, BMW and Numericable to engage with users via click-to-chat, click-to-video and click-to-community functions, among other real-time actions.

With headquarters in Nantes, the business works with 2,000 brands and employs 120 professionals. According to its figures, the last few years have seen it grow at more than 100% per year.

People
Iris Capital's work on the deal was led by partner Sophie Dingreville, who will sit on iAdvize's executive board post-transaction. BPI France was represented by investment director Marion Aubry and Alven by partner Jeremy Uzan.

Advisers
Equity – Chammas & Marcheteau (Legal); Brocard Avocats (Legal).
Company – Cornet Vincent Segurel (Legal); Clipperton Finance (Financial & commercial due diligence); Ader Finance (Financial & commercial due diligence).