Future Positive Capital, an early-stage VC agency co-founded by ex-Index Ventures affiliate Sofia Hmich, breaks cowl right now. The new $57.1 million pan-European fund will spend money on “deep tech” startups proper throughout the area which can be making an attempt to unravel “the world’s most pressing problems”.
Specifically, Hmich and her co-founders Alexandre Terrien and Michael Rosen are in search of entrepreneurs utilizing advances in synthetic intelligence, robotics, artificial biology, genetics, and different deep applied sciences to handle world issues reminiscent of methods to feed the rising inhabitants sustainably, methods to deal with local weather change, and the way society will deal with an ageing inhabitants.
More broadly, the Paris and London-based VC agency is working from an funding thesis which argues that an excessive amount of enterprise capital stays extremely concentrated in a handful of sectors, reminiscent of client, fintech, and advertising and marketing, and focuses on internet and cell applied sciences that focus on primarily “upper class demographic groups”. And due to this there’s a “long tail” of funding alternatives for traders keen to again a brand new technology of entrepreneurs constructing companies that need to clear up world issues which can be in want of options, quick.
Coupled with this, Hmich says we’re seeing quite a lot of modifications — such because the acceleration of superior applied sciences, new aspirations from the workforce and customers, enormous macro demographic shifts and stronger regulation — which has led to a “tipping point” within the world economic system that’s creating the situations for these new sorts of corporations to thrive.
Of course, it may be argued that the Future Positive Capital thesis broadly accommodates concepts that many enterprise capital companies at the moment are leaning extra in the direction of, not least as a result of a variety of the decrease hanging fruit has already been picked. However, Hmich insists that in Europe not less than, having an early-stage VC solely devoted to a lot of these startups is sort of uncommon if not distinctive.
Out of this primary fund, Future Positive Capital says it should construct a portfolio of 20 to 25 investments at seed and Series A, and has a powerful capability to follow-on at Series B. Investments will vary between round €300,000 and €5 million.
Backers of the fund embody institutional traders reminiscent of Bpifrance, Draper Esprit, the European Investment Fund and Isomer Capital. It additionally counts quite a lot of particular person traders together with Walter Butler, Henri de Castries, Marie Eriksson, Robin Klein and Francois Lemarchand.
Meanwhile, Future Positive Capital has quietly achieved two investments. They are BioBeats, an AI firm centered on delivering preventative psychological well being, and Meatable, which is growing the “next-generation” of lab-grown meat (I used to be unaware the primary technology of lab-grown meat was achieved but, however I digress…).
Below follows an e mail Q&A with Future Positive Capital co-founder and General Partner Sofia Hmich, the place we talk about the brand new fund’s remit, why Future Positive Capital says it’s completely different from different European funds when it comes to the businesses it needs to again, her criticism of the established order in enterprise capital, and why now could be the time for a brand new VC fund like Future Positive.
Future Positive Capital plans to spend money on startups at seed and Series A, with capability to follow-on at Series B. Investments will vary between ~€300,000 and ~€5m. Can you be extra particular relating to the sorts of corporations, applied sciences, enterprise fashions or sectors you might be focussing on?
The factor that basically units Future Positive Capital in movement is the brand new wave of entrepreneurs we’re seeing throughout Europe. These are people who find themselves daring, long run thinkers, and who’re utilizing advances in deep tech fields like synthetic intelligence, robotics, artificial biology, and genetics, to construct companies geared toward fixing massive systemic challenges.
At the identical time, whereas the options we spend money on are various, we search for a typical spine in all our goal corporations – one which we really feel…
