The firm has achieved the first close of its latest fund, backed by corporates including Orange, Publicis and Valeo as well as state-owned investment bank Bpifrance.

France-based venture capital firm Iris Capital reached the first close of its latest fund on Wednesday, having raised €250m ($280m) from limited partners including telecommunications firm Orange, advertising company Publicis and automotive parts supplier Valeo.

Bpifrance, the public investment bank of France, has also provided capital, as has financial services firm Bred Banque Populaire. Iris did not reveal a target size for the IrisNext fund, which was launched in 2015 with €75m supplied by each of Orange and Publicis.

IrisNext…