France-based corporates Orange and Groupe Publicis agreed yesterday to jointly commit €150m ($166m) to a venture capital fund called IrisNext that will also look to secure additional corporates as limited partners.
Telecommunications company Orange and marketing and public relations firm Publicis will each invest €75m in IrisNext. The fund also aims to lure major international corporates based in nations including France and Germany, as well as institutional investors.
IrisNext will be managed by Iris Capital, the France-based venture capital firm already backed by Orange and Publicis, with assistance from Capnamic Ventures, the VC firm spun out from media group DuMont Shauberg.
The fund will invest in Europe-based startups developing technology focused on corporate digital transformation at early and growth stage. That brief will include pure-play companies as well as those working on big data, cloud technology, artificial intelligence, innovative digital offerings or robotics technology.
Orange and Publicis previously collaborated on the €300m Orange Publicis Ventures funds, which are managed by Iris Capital, and which have provided funding for more than 60 startups so far.
The companies will look to harness their networks to secure additional corporate LPs for the fund, and will also look to raise funding from German and French public bodies involved in corporate financing. IrisNext expects to reach an initial close in 2016.