360 Capital Partners announces today the launch of ‘360 Square’, a 35M€ fund dedicated to seed stage startups.
With investors including national insurer MAIF, French bank Société Générale, Groupe Rocher, Thuasne, BPI France (FNA) as well as business angels and mentors from Europe and the US, this latest fund reinforces 360 Capital Partners’ ambition to invest in the best startups regardless of the stage.
360 Capital Partners will invest amounts between 300k€ to 1M€ towards seed stage startups in France and the rest of Europe.The team has already selected several first investments, all of which will be made public in early 2016. Paul Degueuse, General Partner at 360 Capital Partners will be responsible for leading the new fund’s investments, and was recently joined by François Collet as Partner coming from CM-CIC Capital Privé VC fund.
“‘360 Square’ aims at growing young businesses from seed stage onwards in France and across Europe,” says Paul Degueuse. “Seed investment requires a local expertise, and it’s essential to have a presence on the grounds. With this new fund, 360 Capital Partners is allocating additional resources to very early stage startups and adapting our offering, our responsiveness, and our investment terms to the needs and requirements of a new generation of budding entrepreneurs.”
“The vision for 360 Square is to find and help grow disruptive businesses that are actively contributing to the digital economy in the region,” says Emanuele Levi, co-Founder and General Partner at 360 Capital Partners. “With ‘360 Square’, we’re adding leading investors from a variety of verticals, offering diverse and deep expertise to our existing and future investments,” he adds.
360 Capital Partners has been an active seed investor for over 15 years. The firm wants to sustain disruptive new technologies by supporting and growing innovative and ambitious young businesses from their very start. Europe’s digital ecosystem is growing at an incredibly rapid pace, and 360 Capital Partners has seen its deal flow more than double in the past five years.
Since its creation in 1997, and with over 300M€ in total funds under management, 360 Capital Partners made over 80 investments in Europe including more than 25% in seed stage, with notable success stories such as MutuiOnline, Yoox, YellowKorner and Leetchi.