French Partners wants to boost French expat startuppeurs

This platform will raise funds for French entrepreneurs abroad. The co-founders, Emilie Loyer Buttiaux and Nicolas Macquin, will also invest in each selected project.

The diaspora of French entrepreneurs sometimes needs a helping hand, and above all a little money to undertake. It is to finance quickly and simply these French who have decided to set up their start-up outside France that Emilie Loyer Buttiaux and Nicolas Macquin, accompanied by some entrepreneurs, launch French Partners: a fintech platform that allows One side to select the most credible business projects and investments and, on the other hand, to offer wealthy investors to capitalize on these opportunities by entering their capital in just a few clicks.

"As an individual, I have made about twenty investments in companies created by French expatriates for ten years. Some, like AsiaInspection (quality certification) or DRcom (digital marketing) in Hong Kong, as well as CrossKnowledge (e-learning) or Bandsintown (platform for artists) in New York, have seen very impressive developments. There have been inconsistencies in the form of an exodus of certain talents and today there are more and more French entrepreneurs who find themselves far from their bases but who have very good ideas of companies in some Countries. For them, it is often difficult to raise the first funds, "said the former business banker Morgan Stanley then investor for the fund Alpha for fifteen years.

The OurCrowd model

Like the OurCrowd platform, which allows Israeli investors to invest in young shoots set up by Israelis who have gone abroad to try their luck, French Partners is strong to accompany contractors from all over the world The continents and in all sectors of activity. From the purely technological start-up to companies in services like catering or tourism, as well as even some innovative or real estate investment funds.

To credibilize this "top-of-the-range" participatory financing platform, the French Partners team will initially validate about twenty investment opportunities per year that will be presented on its private site. The co-founders of the French Partners team will invest individually in each of the companies by taking at least 10% of the fundraising done via the site and in the form of a club deal.

"Expatriates are a highly skilled population, and they often have an excellent knowledge of the environment in which they embark. After the initial stages, their companies are sometimes more profitable than identical projects launched in France, "says Emilie Loyer Buttiaux, CEO with more than ten years of investment experience and who will draw on the expertise Of French entrepreneurs who have already proved themselves on the international stage to select the right investments and to accompany the best teams.

50,000 euros minimum

The minimum investment fee is now € 50,000 per private investor per project, in line with the average amount invested annually by a majority of business angels. The platform is financed mainly by transaction costs to cover its expenses or by pocketing a share of the surplus value at the exit. The amounts raised are generally between 1 and 5 million euros, for 10 to 40% of the capital, alongside the founding teams in the case of start-ups and SME-ETI.

The site is already supported by dozens of investors and family offices and can also draw on the various French communities abroad, such as chambers of commerce, French Tech international hubs, or even some Social networks dedicated to expatriate French managers and entrepreneurs in the United States or Asia.

Source (in FRENCH): https://business.lesechos.fr/entrepreneurs/financer-sa-creation/0212087220909-french-partners-veut-booster-les-startuppeurs-tricolores-expatries-309648.php