PSL Innovation Fund

PSL has teamed up with Elaia Partners to create a seed capital fund dedicated to start-ups in its ecosystem. PSL and Elaia have raised €76 million from public and private investors, far exceeding their initial target. They work together to detect, evaluate and support high-potential projects that will become tomorrow's champions.

 

Managed by Elaia Partners, the PSL Innovation Fund is developing a strategy of seed investment in all PSL's areas of excellence, in particular biomedical engineering and life sciences, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, energy and the environment, materials, cognitive sciences, etc. It is open to all projects led by PSL students or researchers, and focuses particularly on projects with a high technological content, supported by PSL research teams. It is open to all projects led by PSL students or researchers, with a particular focus on projects with high technological content, supported by research teams within the perimeter. The PSL innovation Fund develops a close relationship with project leaders, right from the upstream phase of their development, and positions itself as a full-fledged player in the PSL ecosystem.

Launched in autumn 2017, the fundraising rapidly attracted investor interest, enabling the fund to be deployed and its first investments made in June 2018. This fundraising brings together, alongside Bpifrance (Fonds National d'Amorçage), industrial leaders from various sectors: banking, insurance, digital and telecoms, marine industries, life sciences. The final closing raised €76 million, well above the initial target of €50 million, a strong sign of the attractiveness of the PSL ecosystem. Already partly invested, the PSL Innovation Fund has financed 10 companies, including Aqemia, Cosmian, Gleamer, Minos, Newsbridge, Pili, Pocketstudio, QantEv, Sancare, SeqOne and Transaction Connect.) At the end of the investment period, the PSL Innovation Fund portfolio will comprise between 25 and 30 lines.

PSL Valorisation's specific model, recognized by the government as part of an experiment in innovative models for the valorization of research, focuses on the exploitation of disruptive technologies and the creation of start-ups. The decision to create an investment fund dedicated to the PSL area was taken with a view to strengthening support for these start-ups. After consulting a number of venture capitalists, PSL chose to collaborate with Elaia Partners, a seed capital player recognized for the quality of its track record and its affinity with the world of research.

The success of this fund-raising carries an important message: major industrial companies and other investors have decided to invest several tens of millions of euros in PSL's technologies and start-ups. Their support and confidence, a sign that things are changing in France, compels us to go even further.

PSL Valorisation's actions cover the entire innovation chain: awareness and detection, intellectual property, maturation, transfer and support for start-ups.The creation of the PSL Innovation Fund completes and reinforces the financing chain that supports innovative projects at every stage of their development.So, after the maturation phase, projects born in PSL research teams will be able to benefit from the new PSL Tech Seed scheme at the next stage of their development, before gaining privileged access to seed capital through the PSL Innovation Fund. These new mechanisms will enable us to develop our capacity to support innovative projects, and provide access to new financing tools.

Christian Allouche, CEO et cofondateur de Gleamer

Pour nous le choix du PSL Innovation Fund, c’est le choix d’une équipe qui sait accompagner des projets deep tech long terme, comme est Gleamer, plus une relation privilégiée avec l’écosystème PSL et son excellence scientifique.

Christian Allouche, CEO et cofondateur de Gleamer, ancien étudiant-entrepreneur PSL