Venture capital firm Daphni, in partnership with Les Déterminés, Live for Good, and HEC Paris, has announced the $58 Million first closing of its Time4 fund. This new vehicle aims to address a significant gap in the market by financing entrepreneurs from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. With a final target of €100 million, Time4 is positioned to cultivate a new generation of business leaders across France.
A Strategic Alliance for Inclusive Investment
The fund is the result of a unique alliance combining Daphni's venture expertise with the extensive networks of its partners in underserved communities. This initial closing attracted prominent institutional investors, including MGEN, Bpifrance, Covéa, and BNP Paribas, alongside notable private backers. Their collective support underscores a growing commitment within the French financial ecosystem to foster greater entrepreneurial diversity and inclusion.
Tapping into an Underfunded Talent Pool
Time4's core thesis posits that homogeneity is the greatest risk in venture capital, leaving a vast reservoir of talent underfunded. Pierre-Éric Leibovici, a partner at Daphni, describes the fund not as a social initiative but as a lucid strategy to uncover future economic champions. The initiative seeks to dismantle the glass ceiling that often hinders founders from atypical backgrounds when they seek institutional capital.
Positioned for pre-seed and seed stages, the fund plans to invest in approximately 60 startups over the next five years. Investment tickets will range from $116.000 to $1.16 million, with the goal of acting as the first institutional investor to catalyze subsequent funding rounds. This approach is designed to provide the crucial initial capital that enables promising ventures to gain traction and attract further investment.
Inaugural Investments Showcase Diverse Potential
To illustrate its strategy, Time4 has already backed several companies that embody its mission of geographic and social diversity. Among them is Leviathan Dynamics, an industrial decarbonization deeptech firm based in La Courneuve, a suburb of Paris. Another portfolio company, Wish One, designs and manufactures high-performance gravel bikes from its headquarters in the rural town of Millau.
The initial portfolio also includes Flotte, a responsible rainwear brand founded by a self-taught entrepreneur from Seine-Saint-Denis, and Cominty, an AI platform. These investments highlight the fund's commitment to backing founders with deep, firsthand understanding of their markets, regardless of their academic or professional pedigrees. They demonstrate that world-class innovation can emerge from any territory, far from the traditional tech hubs.
Forging a New Generation of Role Models
Beyond financial performance, Time4 carries a broader ambition to cultivate new entrepreneurial role models for France. Leibovici emphasizes the need for inspirational figures who can motivate the next wave of founders, much like pioneers such as Xavier Niel did for a previous generation. The fund's success will be measured by its ability to elevate founders who can inspire others, irrespective of their origins.
The launch of the Time4 fund marks a pivotal moment for the French venture capital landscape, championing diversity as a strategic advantage. By combining financial backing with a powerful support network, the initiative is set to unlock significant untapped potential across the country. Ultimately, Time4 aims to prove that a more inclusive investment approach can generate both strong returns and a more resilient, innovative economy.