CEA Investissement
CEA Investissement was created in 1999 as CEA Valorisation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CEA, to support its policy of creating businesses. In 2008, it became CEA Investissement with the objective of taking direct stakes in companies leveraging CEA technologies, targeting patent valorization and investments in start-ups. Their specific aims include investing during the start-up creation phase (taking founder shares) based on innovations linked to CEA research, supporting the scientific and commercial development of young companies originating from the CEA's spin-off policy or connected through research contracts, benefiting from financial returns in case of success, and maintaining control, even indirectly, over technologies originating from CEA laboratories. Beyond participating in creation, CEA Investissement has developed an investment activity in the best projects in its portfolio, supporting the initial rounds of many companies. In 2013, with the implementation of new state support mechanisms for start-up seed funding (Fonds National d’Amorçage), CEA Investissement initiated the raising of its first seed fund, ATI (Amorçage Technologique Investissement). CEA Investissement is the primary subscriber to this fund, alongside Bpifrance and several industrial partners, providing CEA-related start-ups with enhanced support opportunities in their initial development phases. In partnership with Amundi (Groupe Crédit Agricole), and leveraging its investment team's expertise, CEA Investissement created Supernova Invest in 2017, an AMF-approved management company. This was done to develop its fund-of-funds activity and expand its intervention capabilities towards deeptech start-ups originating from the CEA or the best French laboratories, at all development stages. CEA Investissement invests in the Supernova 2 (75 M€), Supernova Innovation 3 (74 M€) seed funds, and the Supernova Ambition Industrie growth fund which closed in 2023 at 204 M€. Through these "fund of funds" interventions, CEA Investissement has the capacity to support start-ups valorizing CEA technologies, from their creation to growth capital, including seed and private equity stages. Since 1999, CEA Investissement has financed and supported around a hundred start-ups, following the CEA's innovation policy across life sciences, energy, microelectronics, materials, and industrial equipment.
Golden Egg Check
Golden Egg Check invests in the best early-stage founders in frontier AI, software, and deeptech, supporting them from founder community to venture capital fund.
Nordic Science Investments (NSI)
Nordic Science Investments (NSI) partners with founders to transform groundbreaking university research into successful startups. They focus on early-stage, science-based startups and university spinouts in the New Nordics, particularly in deeptech, healthtech, and life sciences. NSI aims to bridge the gap between academia and commercialization, derisking teams for further investment and co-investing with others. Their mission is to turn hidden scientific discoveries into groundbreaking innovations that redefine industries and improve lives. They partner with founders and universities who share a vision of promoting global sustainability and well-being. By fueling growth in disruptive sectors such as advanced materials, AI-driven technologies, and synthetic biology, they empower innovative solutions that address global challenges. NSI's value extends beyond capital, offering synergistic deals and a partner network managing similar vehicles in the UK and North America. They strengthen Tech Transfer Offices’ commercialization efforts by partnering with universities, generating deal flow through their IP screening expertise. They also attract top spinout CEOs who value their specialist approach, helping mitigate early-phase investment risks.
Positron Ventures
Positron Ventures focuses on helping and funding Europe-based scientist-entrepreneurs who are pursuing moonshots for planetary health. They invest in scientist-entrepreneurs working on breakthroughs across the natural sciences, backing teams from day one in their pursuit of solving major global challenges. The firm often acts as the first believer and investor, offering support across all aspects of building a company. They proactively conduct deep dives in scientific niches to thoroughly understand the state of science in a given field before investing. Their investment strategy appears to be focused on early-stage, pre-seed deeptech companies. Positron Ventures aims to turn breakthrough research into successful companies by investing at the frontier of science and building systems that help deeptech founders succeed. This includes support across operations, people, communications, and LP engagement. Positron Ventures invests in deeptech funds in Europe and the US, and is launching the Positron Foundation to support high-risk, pre-commercial research.
Riceberg Ventures
Riceberg Ventures is a global early-stage deep-tech fund focused on supporting mission-driven entrepreneurs developing breakthrough technologies to solve humanity’s most complex, large-scale challenges. As a team of scientists and engineers turned entrepreneurs, they are passionate about empowering the next wave of scientific innovators shaping the future of humanity. The firm has firsthand experience as deeptech entrepreneurs, giving them the ability to deliver value from technical problem-solving to business strategy, team building, capital access, and global networks. Their on-ground presence across major global innovation hubs allows them to meet exceptional talent even before they become founders, enabling them to work alongside them from inception through scale. Riceberg Ventures invests in sectors such as Spacetech, Medtech/Lifesciences, Cleantech, Cybersecurity, Future of Energy, Future of Compute, and Foundational AI/Robotics, reflecting a commitment to backing companies with the potential for significant global impact.
Seraphim Accelerator
Seraphim VC is a global leader in SpaceTech investment, focusing on companies solving the world’s greatest problems. They invest in the brightest minds and smartest ideas to provide trailblazing, high-value solutions that disrupt, transform, and improve life. Their mission is to accelerate humanity’s next giant leap by transforming science fiction into science fact. They support space entrepreneurship from inception to exit, providing capital, expertise, and global partners. Seraphim backs pioneering space and deeptech ventures at the forefront of global security, sustainability, and resilience. Their portfolio companies redefine how critical infrastructure is protected, defense capabilities are strengthened, and pressing global challenges are tackled, including real-time Earth observation, secure communications, and climate intelligence. They aim to harness the power of space to build the next generation of game-changing companies. Their interconnected model is designed to identify, support, and grow early-stage SpaceTech companies across the full lifecycle, from inception to exit. They are backed by leading space corporations and international space agencies across their activities, including investors in their funds like Airbus, SES, Teledyne, and Telespazio, SSTL MDA. They also have accelerator partnerships with the UK and European Space Agency. Their approach generates co-investment opportunities for their LPs at Series B and beyond. Seraphim identifies as “mission control” for Spacetech founders.
Seraphim Space
Seraphim Space is a venture capital firm focused exclusively on investing in SpaceTech companies. They aim to accelerate humanity's next giant leap by transforming science fiction into science fact, backing visionary space entrepreneurs and providing them with the capital, expertise, and global partnerships to achieve escape velocity. Seraphim invests across the full innovation lifecycle, from inception to exit, and supports companies that address global security, enable resilient infrastructure, and tackle the planet's most urgent challenges. They are particularly interested in companies involved in real-time Earth observation, secure communications, and climate intelligence. Seraphim Space operates multiple investment vehicles, including the Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC (a growth-stage listed fund), Seraphim Space Venture Fund II (an early-stage venture capital fund), and the Seraphim Space Accelerator (the world’s first and largest accelerator dedicated to SpaceTech). This allows them to support SpaceTech companies from the earliest stages of development through to IPO. Seraphim’s interconnected model identifies, supports, and grows early-stage SpaceTech companies, leveraging a network of leading space corporates and international space agencies. They see a future where space technology addresses some of the world's most pressing problems and build the next generation of game-changing companies. Their investment thesis centers around supporting pioneers charting a course to a better future on Earth by harnessing the power of space. They actively seek out companies at the forefront of global security, sustainability, and resilience, believing these areas represent significant opportunities for growth and impact.
Galileo Ventures
Galileo Ventures is an Australian pre-seed to seed VC firm that invests in emerging founders building new technology for global markets. They focus on backing exceptional, unproven, and often overlooked entrepreneurs who are leveraging new technologies to build market-leading companies. The firm believes a revolution in entrepreneurship is underway, where anyone with an internet connection and an idea can build a global business. They aim to be the first investor in these founders, providing capital and hands-on support to help them succeed. Galileo co-invests with leading global VCs and provides follow-on funding support.
Technofounders
Technofounders is a Startup Studio focused on investing in technology to build impactful ventures, specifically in the DeepTech ecosystem. They aim to multiply the impact of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs by funding and orienting technological innovation towards practical solutions that address major global challenges. Their strategy involves identifying disruptive technologies, primarily stemming from research institutions, and structuring investment vehicles to fund and develop innovative projects into successful industrial companies. They have a comprehensive team-based approach, ensuring startups have access to the right expertise at the right time, from pre-seed to exit, including Venture Partners for initial evaluation and interim CEO roles, Operating Partners for operational and strategic support, and Managing Partners for strategic guidance and board participation. Technofounders aims to drive positive impact through deeptech innovation across various sectors. Their investment approach is stage-specific. In the feasibility phase, Venture Partners assess technologies and commercialization paths. During the pre-seed phase, Venture Partners act as interim CEOs, building initial products and teams. Seed acceleration involves Operating Partners providing operational support and Support Services handling administrative tasks. Finally, in the growth phase, Managing Partners offer strategic guidance through board participation, focusing on strategic priorities, funding strategies, and exit planning. Technofounders emphasizes collaboration with academic institutions and industry partners to transform research projects into viable businesses. They actively engage with major research institutions in France, such as CEA and CNRS, to identify and commercialize innovative technologies. Their team structure is designed to provide comprehensive support throughout the startup lifecycle, from initial technology assessment to successful market entry and growth. They prioritize investments with the potential to address pressing societal challenges and create sustainable solutions.