On Tuesday night native time, Motier Ventures, an early stage tech funding agency primarily based in Paris, unveiled a startup hub known as La Maison. This comparatively new investor within the French tech ecosystem is the household workplace of the Houzé household — the house owners of upmarket style retailer the Galeries Lafayette Group.
Because the Galeries Lafayette malls’ major property are its bodily retail shops in addition they consider a bodily house for startups will give them an edge over different tech funding companies.
Early stage startup founders primarily based in Paris have extra choices than ever in terms of elevating a seed spherical. Many unicorn founders have change into angel traders on the aspect. Household places of work have diversified their funding methods with a renewed urge for food for tech startups. And early stage VC companies are nonetheless combating for the very best offers.
Essentially the most promising startups get to decide on who they need on their capitalization desk. Some traders like to vow introductions with potential shoppers and enterprise companions. Others pledge a speedy, no frills monetary transaction in order that entrepreneurs can get again to work on their startup.
Motier Ventures is betting on an ecosystem-first method. Over the previous three years, the fund has deployed capital at a fast tempo as it’s now an investor in 85 firms, together with many promising AI firms — reminiscent of Mud, H and Mistral.
They’ve additionally organized a number of occasions which have put many founders and traders within the French tech ecosystem into the identical room. The following step in that technique is a bodily house, known as La Maison (a phrase which interprets as home or residence).
Unfold throughout the highest three flooring of the Lafayette Connoisseur constructing subsequent to the Opéra Garnier, La Maison will host a dozen early stage startups on this Haussmannian constructing. It should open in early 2025.
The fourth flooring will probably be a bit totally different as it is going to act as an occasion/demo day/hackathon/cocktail reception house. “It’s an enormous mission, and I believe what drives us isn’t just Motier Ventures, however the entire entrepreneurial and household ecosystem that we’ve represented for 5 generations,” Motier Ventures accomplice Guillaume Houzé mentioned throughout an AI-focused occasion in Paris organized by Motier.
“With Galeries Lafayette, we’re finally making an attempt to assist those that make the best manufacturers,” he added, saying the fund’s purpose for La Maison is to assist “distinctive groups” by offering not only a work and assembly place but in addition inspiration for creativity — or “an area to mirror collectively on the imaginative and prescient of society we need to construct”, as he put it.
In some ways, the pitch for La Maison is paying homage to the early days of native tech hub The Household. Round 10 years go, The Household opened as a startup accelerator with a good looking occasion house that rapidly grew to become the city sq. of the French tech ecosystem.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, The Household had no alternative however to close down the house to chop prices. Extra not too long ago, it’s been again within the information for all of the flawed causes as Oussama Ammar, one in all The Household’s co-founder, is being sued for allegedly diverting thousands and thousands of euros.
For individuals who have been working within the French tech ecosystem for quite a lot of years, The Household’s meetups and dinners at the moment are only a distant reminiscence. And nothing has actually stepped in to exchange it. Whereas Station F is an impressive startup megacampus, it’s too huge for informal and casual occasions. Possibly La Maison will change into the brand new default house to host small meetups.
“Our ambition is to domesticate an setting the place the subsequent era of tech entrepreneurs, in AI and past, can really feel supported, impressed, and related day by day,” Motier Ventures accomplice Nicolas Essayan mentioned in an announcement.
