The Paris-based investment firm Daphni has completed the first closing of its third fund, called "Daphni Blue." The company has raised 200 million euros so far and aims to increase this amount to 250 million euros by the end of the year.
Since 2015, Daphni has invested in notable startups such as Back Market, Swile, Hubcycle, and Pasqal, supporting a total of 70 European-based startups. With the new fund, Daphni plans to invest in 40 additional startups. The firm has announced that its limited partners include major names such as Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, Bpifrance, the European Investment Fund, PRO BTP, and Swen Capital Partners.
Pierre-Eric Leibovici, the founding partner of Daphni, discussed how they aim to make a difference with their new investments while also supporting sustainable technologies. As investments in artificial intelligence continue to rise, Daphni views fundamental sciences as the new wave of innovation.
The firm plans to focus on supporting science-based startups in fields such as life sciences, biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. According to Leibovici, quantum computing, the combination of fundamental physics with software and hardware, and large language models are also part of a mathematical revolution. As a result, Daphni has expanded its investment team by adding a PhD graduate and a PhD student.
Leibovici also highlighted that scientists are becoming more open to entrepreneurship, stating, "The new generation of researchers, seeing their friends start ventures around them, is more inclined to commercialize their own work." He pointed out that Daphni's focus on fundamental sciences is not coincidental, especially as French universities allocate budgets to attract American researchers. The firm is open to investing in American researchers who are starting ventures in Europe.
In the future, Daphni's main focus will be to manage this new fund effectively and provide strong returns to its investors through successful exits. As Leibovici put it: "Raising an investment fund is not the goal. The main goal is to deliver profitable exits for our investors."
