The young deeptech company AI Verse wants to democratize the use of deep learning (software that simulates a neural network, commonly known as artificial intelligence – AI) for the creation of artificial vision software. To do this, it is tackling the lack of images and more specifically the lack of correctly labelled images, i.e. where each pixel of an important element in an image is identified, which is essential for training an AI. “Only large organisations can afford to rally the resources needed to build a bank of labelled images manually and without being able to predict the final quality,” comments Benoit Morisset, president and founder in 2020. A doctor in robotics and artificial intelligence, he founded Pixmap, a company that integrates 3D mapping systems with robotics. With Arnaud Lamorlette, an expert in 3D animation who has supervised Dreamworks projects (Shrek 2 and 3, etc.), they have developed a solution that automatically generates synthetic images that can feed these digital neural networks. To finalise it, they raised €2.5m from Innovacom, which is involved through its Technocom 3 FPCI and the Digital Venture fund of Bpifrance Investissement. The five current employees (excluding the founder) also hold 20% of the shares.
Sale of image banks
The new cash will enable the software to be taken from the prototype stage to a marketable solution within twelve to sixteen months. It will be available through an online platform and will be aimed at SMEs as well as large accounts in the fields of robotics, virtual and augmented reality, home automation, smart cities and intelligent assistants. IA Verse, based near Nice, promises that each client will be able to obtain in a few hours a bank of computer-generated images representing any situation, on which an AI must be trained, for a price of around ten cents per image. Five to ten tech profiles should thus be recruited. The American companies DataGem and Parallel Domain, which specialises in imaging for autonomous vehicles, are present in the sector. In France, the company Imageens – which raised €1.2m in April (see below) – has developed software that automatically defines the elements present in existing medical images.
The stakeholders in the AI VERSE transaction
Target company: AI VERSE
Buyer or Investor: INNOVACOM, BPIFRANCE INVESTISSEMENT
Corporate Counsel: CONSTELLATION AVOCATS, Pierre Callède
Investor Counsel: JOFFE & ASSOCIES, Thomas Saltiel, Charlotte VIANDAZ
Heroiks acquires the independent media agency Makuity, created in 1985 under the name Promopress Media, and headed by Gérard Kisler. The agency manages 60 million euros of annual investment and has about 20 experts.
For Heroiks, this acquisition also presents the interest of strengthening its position in the management of public tenders managed by Makuity, such as local authorities (City of Paris, Grand Est Region, Burgundy Franche-Comté Region, Vendée Departmental Council, etc.), inter-professional bodies (Nouveau by Beaujolais, Union des Industries de la Protection des Plantes, etc.), public organisations (Caisse Nationale des Allocations Familiales, Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse, Pôle Emploi, etc.). ..).
With Mapwize, ServiceNow will provide indoor mapping features to employees as they book conference rooms and workspaces from their computers or mobile devices, as well as as as they move around the company’s premises.
Mapwize’s features will also help workplace teams manage space plans based on usage trends and changing real estate needs. To support flexible and agile workplaces, ServiceNow intends to integrate Mapwize features into the Now Platform and the Workplace Service Delivery suite. Mapwize’s mapping solutions, product features and engineers will complement and enhance ServiceNow’s existing Workplace Service Delivery services, including Workplace Space Mapping, Workplace Reservation Management, Workplace Space Management, Workplace Visitor Management, Case and Knowledge Management and Safe Workplace Suite.
ServiceNow was primarily advised in this acquisition by Baker McKenzie, led by the Paris-based firm’s team of Guillaume Nataf (Photo) , Partner, Samantha Chavane de Dalmassy, Associate, Paul Nury, Associate, Johanna Federspiel, Counsel, Denise Broussal, Partner, Nadège Dallais, Partner, Lauriane Raux, Associate, Adrien Leberon, Associate, For tax matters, Stéphane Taïeb, Associate, Robin Gaulier, Associate, Nathalie Marchand, Partner, Audrey Bovie, Associate, Magalie Dansac le Clerc, Partner, Bérénice de Wailly, Associate, Léna Sersiron, Associate, Manuella Roblet, Associate, Arnaud Cabanes, Associate, Christophe de Saint-Pern, Associate.
Baker McKenzie’s Santa Clara, California office also participated in the transaction with Derek Liu, Partner and Dominique Manguiat, Associate.
Joffe & Associés advised Mapwize with a team composed of Thomas Saltiel, Partner, Paddy Pascot and Charlotte Viandaz, Associates.
Nomadia symboliss the entrepreneurial dynamics of tech in France and aims to promote local know-how at an international level.
Nomadia is the result of the merger of three renowned French software publishers with complementary expertise in the field of mobility: GEOCONCEPT (route and schedule optimisation, field service management, GIS and geomarketing), DANEM (mobile business applications for sales representatives, delivery drivers and technicians) and B&B Market (CRM SFA, consulting and data for the consumer goods and retail industries).
Operating in a market that is growing by 15% per year and is expected to exceed 30 billion euros by 2026, Nomadia responds to the growing need of companies to manage the activities of their professionals in the field in real time. These professionals, who spend an average of 30% of their working time on the road, share the need to optimise the management of their interventions to gain operational efficiency and improve customer satisfaction. This need has increased since the beginning of the pandemic, with a hybrid work organisation and, above all, new requirements for connectivity to access data everywhere and at all times.
Operational gains and a CSR asset
Through advanced optimisation algorithms, mobile business applications, sales cycle automation capabilities, and data and consulting offerings, Nomadia’s solutions help companies address their key operational performance and profitability challenges with a promise of 20% productivity gains.
In addition, Nomadia’s solutions address the increasing attention companies are paying to their environmental footprint (with a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 30% for users of route optimisation solutions) and employee well-being (scheduling optimisation tools that take into account employee constraints in the distribution of missions).
The Nomadia group’s 1,500 customers have already been able to take advantage of all these benefits, whether in logistics with Colis Privé or Cdiscount, in energy with Engie, GRDF, Dalkia or Suez, in healthcare with Johnson&Johnson or Pfizer, in industry with Otis or Veolia, and in all other sectors with mobile professionals, from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations.
Growth ambitions in France and internationally
By establishing itself as a new French champion of mobility with a rich catalog of complementary solutions for mobile professionals, Nomadia enjoys a unique positioning, industry recognition (in 2021 hailed for the 4th time in a row by Gartner in its FSM Magic Quadrant) and a first-rate customer portfolio that will enable it to win new market share in France and accelerate its growth at an international scale, particularly in Europe and the United States.
Reunited since the beginning of the summer, the three companies have already initiated the first steps of their integration in order to rapidly leverage their commercial and technological synergies. In September 2021, the brands of the three combined players will change. They will be complemented by the words “by Nomadia” to gradually become a single commercial brand: Nomadia.
“The creation of a new leader is excellent news and a strength for our customers. We are now offering them a common and enhanced platform to benefit from leading solutions for the management of their critical missions in the field. This combination of three technological gems is also a vector for the dissemination of French know-how as well as an innovation gas pedal, leading to an offer capable of competing with solutions that until now have only been offered by major international publishers. With Nomadia, mobility becomes an asset and no longer a constraint.”
Fabien Bréget, CEO and founder of Nomadia
Nomadia has 170 employees, more than a third of whom are dedicated to research and development. The group is clearly committed to innovation, with many projects coming, particularly in the fields of electro-mobility, IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, augmented reality and Industry 4.0 (augmented technician).
About GEOCONCEPT by Nomadia
For 30 years, GEOCONCEPT, a French publisher of geographic optimisation software solutions for professionals, has been a world leader in field service planning and route optimisation. Recognised as a major player in Field Service Management and Vehicle Routing & Scheduling by Gartner, GEOCONCEPT optimises the daily movements of 155,000 resources worldwide.
GEOCONCEPT has offices in Paris, Grenoble and Caen, and offices in the United States, China, India and Switzerland. GEOCONCEPT’s solutions are also resold by strategic partners in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.
About Danem by Nomadia
Since 1996, Danem has been the specialist in nomadic business solutions and applications. A true French pioneer in IT mobility, the publisher designs and markets mobility solutions for mobile staff to optimise relations with customers, field teams and headquarters. More than 300 companies and more than 12,000 people use the complete software and hardware solutions of the Ile-de-France-based company every day. Through its business applications, Danem offers solutions for taking orders, distributing and tracking packages, managing and planning technicians’ interventions, and even selling on a drop-off basis.
Danem is based in France, but also distributes its solutions in French-speaking African countries and in Europe (Belgium, Italy, etc.).
About B&B Market by Nomadia
Since 1991, B&B Market has been a key Frenchactor, a specialised publisher of CRM SFA solutions and customised services dedicated to the consumer goods and distribution sector: Audit, Consulting (Sales organisation and optimisation, business data supply, etc.). More than 100 companies and 2,300 sales representatives use its solutions every day.
Structured around a double expertise, Consulting/Data and CRM SFA, B&B Market accompanies and advises Sales Departments in the processing and analysis of their commercial data, in the rationalisation of their sales force and in the improvement of operational productivity with powerful tools and Business Intelligence.
Joffe & Associés advised BPI France with a team composed of Thomas Saltiel, partner, and Johann Mendez, associate.
Founded in 2015, Addworking had only raised around €1.5m through two rounds of funding. The publisher of a platform for managing freelancerhas now raised nearly €6m, following a process led by Cambon Partners. It is iXO Private Equity, a fund based in Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon (see below), which takes the lead in this new operation, by investing a ticket of €2.9M in the Savoyard company, managed by Julien Pérona and Charles Liénart. Edenred Capital Partners, present since the seed round in 2017, as well as the Seed4Soft entrepreneurs’ club and Club Holnest, launched by Holnest, Jean-Michel Aulas’ FO, complete the operation. The latter would also include a bit of secondary, with the purchase of some business angels.
Annual growth to double
As a reminder, Addworking has built up experience in connecting companies with subcontractors, service providers and freelancers. The platform, sold on a Saas model, aims to facilitate the creation and distribution of job offers in various sectors such as construction, transport, logistics, IT services and industry. It also handles the management and publication of contracts and the processing of invoices. The Savoy-based publisher, which is keeping quiet about the new features that should enrich its solution, claims nearly 2,500 customers, including mainly SMEs and large groups. Addworking is not very forthcoming about its turnover, but it has doubled its annual growth in recent years. With a staff of nearly 25, the company is expected to double its workforce by the end of the year.
The stakeholders in the ADDWORKING transaction
Target company : ADDWORKING
Buyer or Investor: IXO PRIVATE EQUITY, Nicolas Iordanov , EDENRED CAPITAL PARTNERS, SEED4SOFT, CLUB HOLNEST
Buyers’ Corporate lawyer: VIGUIE SCHMIDT & ASSOCIES (EX SLVF), Louis Chenard
Company Investment Banker / M&A Advisor: CAMBON PARTNERS, Romain Dehaussy , Robin Beaudot
Corporate Law Firm: JOFFE & ASSOCIES, Virginie Belle, Antoine Lamy
Since September, French investors have been showing a strong interest in corporate catering as seen in the Frenchtech ecosystem. Foodles, a corporate catering service and connected fridges, recently raised €31 million (see below). One of its young competitors, I-Lunch, specialised in online ordering and delivery of meals for companies, created in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Victoria Benhaim, raised just over €4 million for its first round. A series A round in which the Banque des Territoires de la Caisse des Dépôts participated, following a process led by the fundraising consultancy Paris Business Consulting. The Paris Région Venture Fund, managed by Karista, as well as Financière Tuileries, Guy Rico’s family office, and the service company Noveo, which entered directly, complete the package.
10 M€ of targeted revenues in 2022
The 40-Parisian startup offers several digital catering services tailored to different company sizes, such as online delivery of meals for employees on the Btob ordering platform. For large groups, I-lunch offers services such as the creation of catering facilities, on-site cafeterias, in particular to ensure the sale of meals, or the installation of connected fridges. The start-up has 60 clients, including Thales, L’Oréal, Total and Geodis, and expects to generate just under €5 million in revenues in the current financial year. Victoria Benhaim explains about this company: “We operate like a classic corporate restaurant. For each of our clients, we charge them a subscription fee, the amount of which differs according to the offer chosen. In addition, the guest pays directly on the platform or in cafeterias his meal which is partly subsidised by the company”. I-Lunch’s ambition is now to exceed €10 million in sales by 2022, including the opening of its platform in two major cities in France, kept secret for the moment, and the doubling of its workforce. Other projects could be announced in the second half of next year.
The stakeholders of the I-LUNCH operation
Target company: I-LUNCH
Buyer or Investor : BANQUE DES TERRITOIRES, Christophe Genter , KARISTA (EX CAPDECISIF MANAGEMENT), Benjamin Zerbib , Yvan-Michel Ehkirch , FINANCIERE TUILERIES DEVELOPPEMENT, NOVEO GROUP
Law Firm and its corporate lawyers: JOFFE & ASSOCIES, Thomas Saltiel, Johann Mendez
Fund raising Consulting / Agent : PARIS BUSINESS CONSULTING, Noameine Piron
French people are rushing to second homes. In 2020, there were 3.6 million second homes, according to Insee. A record. It is in this favorable context that the start-up Prello has just launched, pushed by a fundraising of 1.75 million euros from business angels and the fund Axeleo Capital.
“It’s a trend that’s been going on for several years, and which has accelerated with the health crisis, the rise of nomadism and the boom in teleworking,” says Ludovic de Jouvancourt, the founder of the start-up with Sébastien Gal. In concrete terms, Prello offers to buy a second home for up to eight people. They can be complete strangers that the start-up will recruit for you or friends who want to invest together.
“Smart calendar”
They are grouped together in an SCI (Société civile immobilière) and each owns one eighth of a house, or even more if the same person buys more shares. Each share is equivalent to 44 nights of occupancy.
This is the average time spent in second homes,” says the entrepreneur, who is also a real estate investor. Knowing that the average investment of each co-owner is 200,000 euros, if we manage to aggregate eight people, the value of the house is around 1.6 million euros.” In other words, a very nice house.
The start-up ensures equality between co-owners thanks to a “smart calendar”. Everyone benefits from both “classic” and “tense” nights (Bank Holidays, August, Christmas, New Year’s). The company is remunerated up to 8% on the value of the house, including the price of the property but also the renovation work and the furnishings that it takes care of.
Turnkey
The start-up is developing two acquisition models: connecting buyers with a real estate agency, or buying properties itself and reselling the shares. It is planning to raise debt to finance the acquisition of properties that will be put up for sale in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The start-up then takes care of the maintenance (cleaning, gardening, etc.), billed at cost price, and administrative tasks. It also provides assistance with financing through partnerships with a broker and banks. The service is designed to be “turnkey” and requires a monthly subscription of 99 euros per month from each co-owner.
Prello is not the only one to launch itself on this niche. French start-up Altacasa announced its arrival last week with a €2 million fundraising round. On the other side of the Atlantic, Pacaso launched in 2020 and became a unicorn within five months. “A lot of startups have tackled the primary residence and rental investment market. The second home had remained a poor relation. The dynamics around improving the quality of life helped put it back in the center of the game,” analyses the entrepreneur, who plans to recruit a dozen employees by the end of the year to expand his team of eight people.
La PME bretonne Coriolis Composites veut surfer sur l’utilisation croissante de panneaux en matériaux composites dans l’aéronautique, l’automobile et les énergies renouvelables.
Concevant des équipements et des logiciels utilisés dans la fabrication de telles structures, elle convie ACE Management (qui lui avait déjà livré des OC dans le passé) et Bpifrance – lesquels misent ensemble 15 M€ dans le cadre d’un OBO.
Leur arrivée entraîne la sortie de personnes physiques et le retrait partiel de Société Financière Lorient Développement.
La fondatrice et son mari demeurent « actionnaires de référence ». Pour 2015, Coriolis Composites table sur 20 M€ de chiffre d’affaires, dont 80 % à l’étranger. Et elle ne compte pas s’en tenir là. « Le recours aux matériaux composites dans les avions et les voitures permet de limiter la consommation en carburant, selon
Pierre Morisseau, chez ACE Management. Ces structures sont, par exemple, utilisées dans les dernières générations d’Airbus 350 et de Boeing 787. Mais aussi par des constructeurs automobiles haut de gamme tels que BMW. »
Des applications dans les pales d’hydroliennes constituent aussi des débouchés de développement.
Conseil juridique (investisseurs): Christophe Joffe, Virginie Belle
Soutenue par Capital Grand Est et Fa Dièse depuis 2016, Medsenic refait appel à ses VCs historiques dans le cadre d’une augmentation de capital de 2M€.
Valorisée 15 M€ post-money, la biopharma strasbourgeoise entend devenir l’un des principaux acteurs dans le traitement des maladies auto-immunes, en s’appuyant sur des dérivés d’arsenic.
Créée en 2010 par François Rieger et Véronique Pomi (détenteurs de 52% du capital), elle exploite une licence exclusive du CNRS, qui a préalablement établi le potentiel de l’arsenic lors d’un essai clinique de phase IIa dans le lupus érythémateux systémique sévère. Au même titre que le diabète de type 1 ou que la sclérose en plaques, cette maladie se caractérise par le dysfonctionnement du système immunitaire.
Avec cette levée de fonds, la start-up poursuivra le développement clinique du trioxyde d’arsenic, actuellement en phase II dans plusieurs centres hospitaliers de France. A terme, l’objectif est de trouver une solution à la maladie chronique du greffon contre l’hôte, qui provoque une réaction des cellules immunocompétentes du donneur contre les tissus de l’hôte.
En 2016, l’Union européenne a accordé à Medsenic le statut de médicament orphelin pour l’utilisation du trioxyde d’arsenic dans le traitement de cette maladie.
Co-fondé par quatre personnes en 2007, ConvictionsRH s’était jusque-là développé grâce à l’association de nouveaux managers. Désirant franchir un nouveau palier, le conseil en ressources humaines fait ses premiers pas dans le microcosme du private equity : il offre une minorité de ses parts à Bpifrance et à Rives Croissance, en échange d’un investissement total compris entre 3 et M€. En parallèle, il s’initie au levier avec la levée d’une dette senior apportée par Banque Populaire Rive de Paris et Caisse d’Epargne Ile-de-France.
Cet OBO permet d’associer au capital trois nouveaux cadres – désormais au nombre de 9.
Ensemble, ils comptent alimenter la croissance des revenus du groupe, qui a bondi l’an dernier de 35 %, à 17 M€.
Fort de 140 collaborateurs, il dispose de trois bureaux en France et de deux implantations au Royaume-Uni et au Portugal.
De nouvelles ouvertures devraient intervenir à l’international.
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