Category: Deals

Saas.group, a company specializing in the development and acquisition of software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups, announced in May 2023 its acquisition of Beekast, a French collaborative platform that helps companies create, run and monitor meetings and training sessions on a daily basis. This acquisition is designed to strengthen Saas.group’s presence on the French market.

The acquisition of Beekast follows that of Crosstalent in France, a provider of HR tools for medium-sized and large companies, and is part of the group’s drive to strengthen its presence on the French market, where the company now has almost 40 employees. Beekast, a company founded in 2015 by Yassine Chabli, the start-up’s founder and CEO, today boasts over a million active users across nearly 1,000 partner companies (including Google, ESSEC and Action Logement Services).

Thanks to this acquisition, Beekast will continue to be an independent French company, strengthening Saas.group’s presence on the French market. Saas.group has acquired fourteen companies to date, incluing Beekast, Crosstalent, Tower, Rewardful, Prerender, Juicer, Seobility and others. With almost 180 employees in some twenty different countries, the group aims to develop and offer online development and e-commerce solutions to companies specializing in marketing, human resources and e-learning.

Joffe & Associés (Christophe Joffe, Charlotte Viandaz and Oriana Castelli) acted for Beekast’s shareholders in this transaction.

• Investors : SAAS.GROUP
• Seller : M CAPITAL PARTNERS , BRIGHTEYE VENTURES , SOFIMAC IM , PARIS BUSINESS ANGELS (PBA) , VAL’ANGELS , FONDATEUR(S) , Yassine Chabli , Said El Haddati , Quentin Georget
• Company Investment banker / M&A advisor : NFINANCE , Guy Cohen , Adrien Rousseau
• Corporate Lawyers : JOFFE & ASSOCIES , Christophe Joffe, Charlotte Viandaz et Oriana Castelli
• Financial society : MARSH , Audrey Levy-Corcos
• Purchaser Corporate lawyer : ORRICK , Gergana Rodriguez-Bacarreza

Find the original post from Pony’s Linkedin account right here.

The company Pony, which offers high-end self-service electric bikes and scooters available for rent directly from a smartphone, has announced the raising of nearly 6 million euros with the aim of offering smart and innovative solutions, to avoid the mistakes that some cities have experienced.

Founded in 2017 in Oxford by a French couple (Clara Vaisse and Paul-Adrien Cormerais), this start-up quickly relocated to France (more precisely to Angers), and is now the only French company to offer free-floating electric bikes and scooters (Free-floating is a form of shared mobility that consists of leaving a vehicle at the disposal of the public without it being attached to a station or terminal).

For its second round of financing, and as part of the development of its solution, the Angevine company (advised by Joffe & Associés) announces a fundraising of nearly 6 million euros. The company has raised €4.5 million from new investors: Épopée Gestion and Aquiti Gestion. They are accompanied by their historical investors Demeter Investment Managers, who arrived during the first seed round of €2.2M in 2019. The amount is now up to €6 million, through debt subscribed with a pool of banking partners composed of BNP Paribas, CIC and BPRI.

Paul-Adrien Cormerais, co-founder of Pony, explains that “in our market, we estimate that we can cross the €100 million turnover mark after the 2026 municipal elections”. Currently, the company has about thirty employees, allowing it to provide more than 15 partner cities for over 500,000 users in France.

• Acquéreur ou Investisseur : EPOPEE GESTION , Vladimir Bolze , Camille Le Roux Larsabal , DEMETER , Eric Marty , AQUITI GESTION , Maxime Lambert
• Société Avocat d’Affaires : Corporate : Joffe & Associés, Thomas Saltiel, Océane Christmann
• DD Financial Corporation : 2CFINANCE , Jacques Haccoun , Claire Jacinto , Justine Golka

Read the original article from “L’usine Digitale” here.

OSO-AI, a company based in Brest, France, has raised nearly 10 million euros to develop its augmented ear, which alerts caregivers to disturbing noises in a patient’s room. Through this new operation, the Brest-based start-up intends to accelerate the commercial deployment of its solution, in France and abroad.

In order to meet the strong demand, the company announces a fundraising of nearly 10 million euros, with historical shareholders advised by Joffe & Associés, which are Innocavom, Novinvest Partners and Breizh-up, joined by Cemag Invest Partners. This operation follows a first round of financing of 4 million euros, dated September 2020.

Oso-Ai has developed a prevention system, based on algorithms with the ability to recognize more than a hundred sounds and class noises, (falls, groans, shocks, breathing, footsteps …). Equipped with microphones and sensors, this wall-mounted box analyzes the sound environment of a vulnerable person and generates a notification on a mobile application, with which the care staff is equipped, if this box shows an abnormal or worrying situation.

More than twenty EHPAD and health establishments are now equipped with the OSO-AI device. Olivier Menut, co-president and co-founder of Oso-Ai, expresses that: “We are in a positive dynamic that we will have to support. We have nearly 1000 devices installed in France and expect nearly 3000 by the end of this year”. But the company also intends to open up to a new market: fragile people living at home, in B2B2C via partners.

“To make emerge on the territory, strong and ambitious actors who will have an economic and social impact for the Brittany of tomorrow is one of the objectives of Breizh Up. Through the strength of its breakthrough solution in the field of AI for sound analysis, the quality of its teams, the depth of its market, the responsible scope of its solution that allows an improvement in the quality of care, and the quality of work of the nursing staff, by reducing their stress and allowing them to focus on their job, We are very proud to support the development of this emblematic Finistère startup, which has been supported since its creation by the dynamism of a whole local ecosystem,” says Stéphane Lefevre-Sauli, investment director of UI Investissement and in charge of managing Breizh Up.

• Target company : OSO-AI
• Buyer or Investor : INNOVACOM , CEMAG INVEST , Vincent Deltrieu , NOVINVEST PARTNERS , Catherine Dunand , UI INVESTISSEMENT , Stéphane Lefèvre-Sauli
• Purchaser Lawyer Corporate : JOFFE & ASSOCIES (Thomas Saltiel, Camille Malbezin et Oriana Castelli)

Read the original article here.

The Toulouse-based start-up Hinfact, which offers an advanced analysis solution to airline pilots’ training centers, has completed its first round of financing of nearly 4 million euros, as part of the acceleration of the marketing of its solutions, and to extend them to new sectors such as the military, nuclear or health.

After validating its technology and convincing its first customers, Hinfact announces, on April 12, 2023, a first fundraising of 4 million euros. A mix of debt and equity in which the venture capital company Innovacom, advised by Joffe & Associés, has participated with 1.5 million euros, mobilizing its “early-stage” fund Technocom 3, as well as several business angels. The objective is simple: to accelerate the industrial and commercial development of its solutions, and to extend its technology to other diversified sectors.

Hinfact works with airline training centers around the world. Its technology, at the forefront of neuroscience research, is based on neurotransmitters and stimulators applied to pilots, which aim at improving flight safety through three axes: pilot training, aircraft design and flight operations. Thus, the Toulouse-based start-up proposes a tool to retrieve, analyze and interpret pilots’ piloting and eye data within the stimulators in order to objectively detect areas for improvement. This solution has been offered and marketed since March 2022, and should accelerate in 2023, with the doubling of the company’s workforce, which currently consists of about ten employees.

• Buyer or Investor :  INNOVACOM , Alban Nénert , Jérôme Faul , BUSINESS ANGEL(S)
• Company Corporate Lawyer : CABINET THEMIS CONSEILS , Catherine Youssoupov
• Purchaser Corporate Counsel : JOFFE & ASSOCIES (Thomas Saltiel, Camille Malbezin, Rudy Diamant) 
• Fundraising Consulting / Agent : EQUIDEALS , Marc Nougué

Paris-based Pricemoov announced Wednesday that it has raised $10 million (about €9.1 million) in a Series A funding round led by ISAI and Bpifrance Digital Venture.

A company on the rise

Today, with inflation, supply chain disruptions and cost volatility, customers and consumers expect transparency from companies across all channels; companies need to carefully examine their pricing strategies to ensure they remain competitive, while making a profit. That’s where Pricemoov comes in.

In 2018, Pricemoov had already raised nearly €2M from Global Founders Capital, Kima Ventures and Financière Saint James. At that time, this publisher of a multi-sector dynamic pricing solution claimed about ten customers. Although the company remains discreet today about the number of users, including SMEs and ETIs, “it has been able to attract good references, particularly in the United States, where it has been established for nearly two years, the director Pierre Hébrard having moved there,” says François Collet, partner at Isai.

Strong investors

ISAI Gestion, an AMF-approved management company with over €500 million under management, aims to finance and support high-potential technology companies in the seed/post-seed phase or when they have already reached break-even. “We are impressed with Pricemoov’s pricing expertise and platform capabilities, and believe the company is well positioned to accelerate its growth in this promising market,” said François Collet. “We look forward to working closely with Pricemoov’s management team to continue to push the boundaries of pricing,” he adds.

Bpifrance Digital Venture finances companies at all stages of their development with loans, guarantees and equity. In addition to investment, the venture capital firm also offers consulting, training, networking and an acceleration program for startups, SMEs and mid-sized companies.

“We believe Pricemoov has the opportunity to bring smart pricing to companies at any stage of their pricing maturity with an intuitive and easy-to-use platform,” said Adrien Neel, Investment Director at Bpifrance Digital Venture.

Between 5 and 10 million in revenue

Pricemoov combines several sources of company data, such as product catalogs, inventories, and transactional data, by connecting to ERP and CRM systems, and adapts in real time to the company’s needs. The tool allows the user to simulate the impact of price changes on its revenues, but also to compare the different scenarios considered, before making a decision. The French company achieves this by leveraging data science, end-to-end automation and an intuitive user experience.

Pricemoov claims a 150% annual increase in revenue and a 200% increase in its customer base, including new customers Jokr, Recommerce, Samkaup et Audi.

The biggest source of revenue for the company, estimated at between €5 and €10 million, remains the sale of the solution, according to a source close to the case, which also relies on services such as the configuration of the pricing architecture. The company currently has a staff of more than 40 employees.

• Buyer or Investor : ISAI , François Collet , BPIFRANCE INVESTISSEMENT , Adrien Neel , SOCIETE FINANCIERE SAINT JAMES
• Company Corporate Lawyer : GIDE , Pierre Karpik
• Purchaser Lawyer Corporate : JOFFE & ASSOCIES (Thomas Saltiel et Rudy Diamant)
• Acq. DD Financial : CFINANCE , Jacques Haccoun , Julien Solyjan , Lucas Gauthier
• Acq. Environmental consulting, DD ESG : COLLECTIVELY.LIFE
• Fundraising Consulting / Agent : ALPHA CAPITAL PARTNERS

Read the original Boursier.com article here.

Pontine Groupe, advised by Joffe & Associée, announces on Tuesday March 7, 2023 the acquisition by Société de la Tour Eiffel of a real estate complex located in the 12th district of Paris.

The Société de la Tour Eiffel, advised by Joffe & Associés, is acquiring a new building of nearly 3,000 sq.m. at 10 Bastille. The building, which benefits from excellent transport links in the immediate vicinity of the Gare de Lyon and the Place de la Bastille, is also known for its dynamism and its strong mix of international company headquarters, restaurants, shops, housing, services, living areas and tourism…

The property is leased to Team To, an independent French producer and animation studio for television and film, on a firm 9-year lease.

The property, formerly occupied by the emblematic contemporary art center “La Maison Rouge“, has been entirely renovated to meet the needs of new uses and employees in terms of comfort and flexibility. There are also over 300m(2) of terraces and outdoor spaces available. All of them are seeking to obtain the “Breeam Very Good” label.

Pontine Groupe has entrusted the complete realization of these restructuring, extension and change of target operations to its subsidiary Active Promotion as part of its delegated project management mission.

Joffe & Associés’s team in charge of the operation : David TAVERNIER, Virginie DAVION, Irina RATSIMANDRESY et Clément PEILLET.

Read the original CF News article here.

Joffe & Associés advises Inarix for a fund raising. The company, which specializes in agricultural crop imaging analysis solutions based on artificial intelligence, is accelerating its development in Europe and the United States with the help of a €3.1 million round of financing.

The technology developed by Inarix aims to simplify agricultural harvesting by monitoring production quality through a smartphone application. It allows “to get results instantly, on the go, and without having to use bulky and complex machines,” states Inarix founder and CEO Pierre Chapelle. He adds that “These analyses are usually done by machines. And we manage to have the same reliability rate as them”.

After developing independently for over four years, Inarix is opening up its capital for the first time. Among other things, the CEO in 2018 self-funded the development of its agricultural crop analysis software, until the signing of a first customer in 2019.

Now with a team of more than thirty employees, 400 agricultural user sites as well as a flourishing marketing, the company is raising €3.1 million from Ankaa Ventures, followed by the Spanish company Label Investment, which specializes in innovation in agriculture, Newfund, Alliance for impact, a vehicle managed by Ventech, and ResiliAnce, an investment structure.

“The vast majority of imaging solutions for agriculture are dedicated to unharvested crops. Inarix’s solution is unique in this sense,” confirms Jonathan Cohen-Sabban, co-founder of Ankaa Ventures.

With this round of financing, Inarix hopes to position itself as a leader in the American and European markets. Investments in R&D will also be made, notably in order to be able to analyze corn, soybean and coffee crops, in addition to strengthening the core technology

• Target company : INARIX
• Acquéreur ou Investisseur : ANKAA VENTURES , Jonathan Cohen-Sabban , LABEL INVESTMENTS , Alexandre Pierron-Darbonne , RESILIANCE (RESILIANCE.IO) , NEWFUND , VENTECH 
•  Corporate Lawyers society : JOFFE & ASSOCIES , Océane Christmann
•  Associate Corporate Lawyers : CHARLES RUSSELL SPEECHLYS , Renaud Ferry
• Acq. DD Financial : DAFINITY , Dimitri Speyer

As part of the industrialization of its engines for minisatellites, Exotrail raised nearly 54 million euros on Tuesday, February 8, 2023.

After winning a series of contracts for its electric motors and space bus, the “NewSpace” nugget has announced a €54 million fundraising round, with the aim of becoming a global player in in-orbit services. The Toulouse-based startup plans to double its workforce by 2023, while starting to industrialize its products.

At the same time, it is also developing a software offer to differentiate itself from the competition. In other words, Exotrail has miniaturized the Hall effect technology (very popular on geostationary orbit satellites) multiplying the thrust 5 to 6 times higher than other electric propulsion technologies, to implement it on small satellites in low orbit.

Among the investors of this operation, we can mention Bpifrance, SPI (the fund Société de projets industriels), the Defense Innovation Fund of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, as well as private investors like Eurazeo and the software engineering company Celad.

In addition to these investors, there are also historical investors, well known to Exotrail (360 Capital, Karista, Innovacom, iXO Private Equity, BNP Paribas…). This operation brings to more than 70 million euros of financing raised by Exotrail, since its launch in 2017.

J&A (Thomas Saltiel, Charlotte Viandaz) acted as advisor to Bpifrance (Bpifrance Innovation – Compartment Venture and Ambition Amorçage Angels Fund) in this fundraising.