France-based venture capital firm Elaia Partners reached the first close of its latest fund yesterday, having raised €115m ($125m) from limited partners including energy utility EDF and real estate services provider Nexity.
Elaia Delta Fund’s other LPs include airport operator Groupe ADP, insurance firm Mgen and financial services firms Bred Banque Populaire and BNP Paribas, as well as state-owned investment bank Bpifrance and the multilateral European Investment Fund.
The LP list was rounded out by Sabadell Asset Management, Financière Saint-James and Cepac Investissement & Développement.
The fund is Elaia Partners’ fourth, and will focus on Europe-based, early-stage companies developing digital technologies in the business-to-business or business-to-business-to-consumer spaces.
Elaia Delta Fund has invested in five companies so far, including open-source telecom communication startup Containo.us, freight logistics platform FretLink and advertising technology provider Realytics, as well as an undisclosed robotics technology startup and adtech developer.
Philippe Gire, partner at Elaia Partners, said: “This highly successful fundraising is essentially due to the quality of our investment strategy and the consistent performance delivered since inception 15 years ago.
“It leads to compelling net cash returns for our existing investors, with close to €300m already returned from our previous funds, representing net returns above three times.”