France-based venture capital firm Frst achieved a first close of its inaugural fund at €60m ($70m) today with limited partners including Axa Venture Partners, the corporate venturing subsidiary of insurance provider Axa.
The fund, which has a target size of $90m, also secured the backing of the EU-owned European Investment Fund, French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance and private investors such as Ilkka Paananen, Mikko Kodisoja, Michaël Benabou and Stanislas de Quercize.
Frst was spun out of Otium Venture, a venture capital firm launched four years ago with close links to the family office of Pierre-Edouard Stérin.
Frst will operate wholly independently of Stérin, but will be headed by Otium’s leadership Pierre Entremont and Bruno Raillard. Judith Tripard and Gabriel de Vinzelles have also chosen to join Frst.
The new firm has however put a consultancy agreement in place with Stérin to be able to provide follow-on funding to Otium’s portfolio companies.
Frst will focus on early-stage, France-based startups and invest between $585,000 and $3.5m in funding.
The firm will also seek to support entrepreneurs through the stress associated with getting a company off the ground during the first 18 to 24 months before connecting them with external investors for follow-on funding.
