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France’s startup ecosystem has grown significantly over the past decade, thanks to public support and private investment. However, capital is not Evenly distributed. Most venture-backed startups are based in Paris, and their founders come from the same set of universities and schools.
This is what a VC firm does Daphne The company hopes to change that with Time4, a fund aiming to raise €100 million dedicated to investing in French founders from diverse backgrounds and rural areas – which began fundraising in September. She’s not doing it out of charity — one motivation is “the certainty that there’s economic potential that’s underutilized at this point,” Daphne’s project partner, Anita de Voisin, told TechCrunch.
According to Daphne’s team, reversing this trend requires a different approach. That’s why I launched this fund in partnership with HEC Paris Business School and two non-profit organizations. Selections and Live for good. (Ironically, many founders of venture capital-backed startups graduated from HEC Paris.)
These partnerships are key to the fund’s investment strategy as they will help Time4 go beyond the usual Paris-centric approach to venture investing, while providing more practical support to founders who lack mentors. It will also write slightly larger checks than other funds might at that point, recognizing that the entrepreneurs it supports have less “love of money” to fall back on.
This is one reason why Time4 aims to create a “relatively large fund,” but not the only reason: it also wants a large portfolio to diversify its risks. “(We will invest) in a hundred projects or so, so that we can eventually have dozens of entrepreneurial success stories emerge,” De Voisin said.
Part of Time4’s efforts will be dedicated to inspiring more people to start companies with ambitious goals, regardless of their background. This is also the vision of the co-promoter Moses Kamarawhose non-profit organization Les Déterminés advocates entrepreneurship that thwarts social determinism—the organization’s name is a play on words with the phrase “to be determined.”
As for Live for Good, it focuses on impact entrepreneurship, but has experience backing founders who fit Time4’s criteria, de Voisin said. This was also the case for her as former Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Central Subelec College of Engineering – a prestigious institution that selects its students through a highly competitive examination. This is why not all CentraleSupélec students come from wealthy families.
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In addition to potential founders coming from a socio-economic background, Time4 will also consider supporting entrepreneurs from remote or underserved areas, job seekers, as well as individuals with disabilities, few or no degrees, or unusual career paths. As a reminder, affirmative action based on race is not permitted in France.
As Article 9 boxTime4 is also committed to funding projects “whose mission is to improve social connections and facilitate access to products and services (access to work; increased purchasing power; mobility and reduced isolation of regions; access to housing, education, health, finance and digital inclusion),” according to a press release shared with TechCrunch.
According to Time4, its members have already identified nearly 800 projects that align with this dual investment strategy. However, it will not start distributing financing until at least the middle of next year, which is the date it is targeting for its first closing, de Voisin said.
While fundraising may take until 2026, the roadshow has already begun, with the initiative being presented on stage today at Bpifrance’s Quartier Général event About entrepreneurship in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, is well aware of the disparities in venture capital investments. In 2023, it launched the “Entrepreneuriat Quartiers 2030” programme. Promoting entrepreneurship in priority urban policy districts. In a similar context, French Tech Tremplin It is an initiative that supports entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds in the French tech ecosystem.
French Tech Tremplin recently appointed a new ambassador, Paul Lê. Grocery delivery startup La Belle Vie often comes up as an example of a success story – De Voisins and her team want to see more amazing successes like this one, and are confident there are more to come.
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