5
STARTUP
STORIES
Notes
from
Founders:
Elaia
Partners
Elaia Partners was founded in 2002 by Xavier Lazarus and
Philippe Gire. The firm specializes in the digital economy and
currently manages more than €250 million ($300 million)
of investments. Partner Pauline Roux manages investments
across a range of startups, including Tinyclues, Criteo,
Agriconomie and talent.io.
Pauline
Roux
joined
venture
capital
fund
Elaia
Partners
in
2014,
after
spending
almost
a
decade
working
in
investment
banking.
She's
one
of
six
partners
at
the
firm
and
lives
near
Elaia's
headquarters
in
Paris.
Pauline
Roux
Partner
at
Elaia
Partners
'We invest in game-changing
technology'
Elaia Partners has a very narrow focus.
We mainly invest in disruptive tech
startups, including software, big data,
AI and complex technology companies
that we feel have the potential to make
a huge difference to the world. We
invest in pre-seed, seed and Series A
fundraising rounds, as well as some very
early stage companies such as spin-offs
from academic research or laboratories.
Typically, we'll invest from €500,000
($600,000) to €4 million ($5 million) as a
first ticket, then we'll support companies
along the road with reserves that we've
kept aside for investing in Series A, Series
B and so on.
'We'll never be the driver of a company,
but we can help with navigation'
We're the person in the passenger seat
helping to read the map. We're not the
driver, but we can offer advice. We avoid
telling businesses what they should be
doing and instead help them understand
every challenge and figure out how to
overcome obstacles.
When you've helped 50 or 60 companies
like we have, you get a lot of experience
in different areas. For example, if one of
our portfolio businesses asked us whether
they should sell through direct distribution
channels or indirect distribution channels,
we'd be able to advise them. We're a bit
like a mentor.
Backing
disruptive
tech
startups
