The intermediary close of PSL's deep tech-oriented fund comes after additional contributions from the EIF, Bpifrance and Vilmorin & Cie.
PSL Innovation Fund, the deep tech-focused vehicle aligned with Université PSL’s innovation ecosystem, has reached an intermediary close of €65m ($72.3m) with additional contributions from limited partners including the EU-owned European Investment Fund (EIF).
The fund, which has a ceiling of $83.9m and is managed by venture capital firm Elaia Partners, has also secured additional contributions from government-owned investment bank Bpifrance and plant seed supplier Vilmorin & Cie.
Vilmorin & Cie became an investor in PSL Innovation Fund’s in March 2019, joining financial services firm BNP Paribas, marine defence and energy systems supplier Naval Group and insurance provider MGEN.
Fonds National d’Amorçage 2, an early-stage vehicle managed by state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, has also supplied funding together with Famille C, part of cosmetics manufacturer Clarins Group, and KPN Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms firm KPN.
PSL Innovation Fund focuses on commercialising deep technologies like artificial intelligence in areas including IT, agriculture, biotechnology and life sciences.
Since launching in July 2018, the vehicle has made six investments. These include a $1.7m commitment to AI-powered trauma radiology platform Gleamer, as well as contributions to rounds for healthcare software developer Sancare, genetic analysis platform Seqone and private data intelligence platform Cosmian.
Alain Fuchs, president of Université PSL, said: “We are pleased with the successful fundraising of the PSL Innovation Fund, which confirms our choice to trust Elaia and positions PSL as a university that is close to startups. We have already achieved a remarkable amount, above our original goal.”
Anne-Sophie Carrese, partner at Elaia, said: “We are delighted with this closing at €65m, which exceeds our initial fundraising goal of €50m ($56m). We have always been convinced by the relevance of positioning PSL Innovation Fund as an early-stage, deep-tech, multi-sector investment fund.”
