From Sifted.eu, November 9:
The Paris-based VC is targeting companies building the software needed to create popular consumer apps
Paris-based VC Serena, an early backer of French unicorn and data management platform Dataiku, has closed a new €100m early-stage fund to back startups developing the “invisible” tools, platforms and infrastructure needed to create the apps we use every day.
The fund is Serena’s second — its first closed at €70m in 2017 — and is backed largely by institutional LPs including Bpifrance and the European Investment Fund. More than 90% of the fund comes from LP re-ups, which occur when investors commit money to their existing GPs’ next fund.
It will back over 20 pre-seed and seed startups with tickets from €500k-3.5m. Up to 40% of the fund will be dedicated to follow-on investments.
The invisible infrastructure behind apps
The new fund will focus on what the VC describes as “infrastructure software” — the less visible technologies behind consumer-facing applications like ride-hailing apps, AI chatbots and crypto wallets.For example, companies like Uber use data platforms such as Snowflake to store and process data — and wouldn’t exist without this infrastructure, says Bertrand Diard, partner at Serena.
“The real beauty of Uber is that it is able to infinitely scale its platform and deploy at a high pace, and that happened thanks to infrastructure software,” he says. “And the same can be said of Lyft, Airbnb and so on.”
“Everybody sees the tip of the iceberg — apps,” says Diard. “But the reality is that apps rely on technology. We want to invest in these technologies.”
Specifically, the VC will be looking at three verticals: AI models and data management, blockchain technologies and quantum computing software....
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Mini-bio for the writer:
Daphné Leprince-RinguetDaphné Leprince-Ringuet is a reporter for Sifted based in Paris and covering French tech. You can find her on X and LinkedIn
