Fundraising, Acquisitions, Crowdfunding... ESSEC Entrepreneurs Are In High Demand

A unicorn that’s on an acquisition spree, scale-ups taking on the international market, and a serial start-upper teaming up with the biggest names in sport... Here’s an overview of the biggest deals completed by ESSEC entrepreneurs these past few weeks.

Co-founded by Guillaume Luscan (E17), Cajoo, the on-demand delivery service, raised $40m to consolidate its operations in 10 French cities where it already has a presence, and to launch its international expansion. With the new funds, the company is also welcoming Carrefour group onto its board of directors, enabling it to take advantage of their central purchasing and logistics. A major new asset!

Co-founded by Clément Bonhomme (E11), Foodles raised €31m to become the European leader in next-gen company canteens, with its phygital cafeteria service. It’s strategy? To roll out its model in other European countries by recruiting local teams to tailor its culinary offering to local tastes, all while consolidating its direct partnerships with producers so that it can keep supporting environmentally friendly industries. (To check out the ESSEC Alumni article on Foodles, click here)

Co-founded by Arnaud Gangloff (E92), the consulting firm Kea & Partners raised €23m to fund its external growth, as announced in its 2019 strategic plan, Darewin. The aim? To make two or three acquisitions every year between now and 2025, so that it can double its turnover to €100m and grow its workforce to 400 staff. And it will leverage these boosted resources to serve a fresh vision of the profession: indeed, the firm is the first in Europe to have committed to becoming a company with a purpose, and has also obtained B Corp certification. 

Co-founded by Mehdi Oudghiri (BBA 08), eyewa raised $21m in Series B financing to consolidate its leadership of the opticians sector in the Middle East. The brand, which now boasts more than 100 staff, plans to move into new destinations, open more stores, and consolidate the development of its own brand of glasses. 

Co-founded by Augustin Derville (E19), Electra, the manufacturer of ultra-fast charging terminals for electric cars, raised €15m to roll out 50 terminals in France within the next year – and 1000 by 2030. “Our network will enable users to never be further than ten minutes away from a charge terminal, and let them recharge their battery just as quick as filling a fuel tank takes today, thanks to our on-demand reservation system.”  

Founded by Jonathan Cherki (E11), Contentsquare analyses browsing habits of e-commerce users and has just acquired Hotjar, one of its main competitors. This is the sixth acquisition from the Franco-American unicorn (and the second in three months), made possible by its recent $500m fundraising round. Their stated target: “to build the biggest software company in the world in the next ten years.”  

Blueground, the short-term apartment rental solution, raised $140m to fund a presence in 50 major cities around the world by 2025, compared to just 15 today. The people responsible for this growth include: Amine Housni (M10), there from the start and heading up the EMEA subsidiary. 

Specialising in optimising search engine organic listings, the scale-up Botify raised $55m in Series C financing to recruit 300 staff and conquer the Asia-Pacific region. This task will be entrusted to Ghislain Le Chatelier (E98), their APAC president.

Launched by Thomas Laurent (E07), Micropep Technologies designs solutions using natural micro-proteins to help plants grow. It raised €8.5m to revolutionise the American and European herbicide and fungicide markets, which alone are worth $28bn. Fun fact: the innovation developed by the company uses a none other than messenger RNA... a technique which is also used to strengthen our immune systems. (To check out the ESSEC Alumni article on Micropep, click here)

Co-founded by Arnaud Lanier (E06), Colizey is a sales platform for sporting goods. It raised €8m to finance its European expansion and hit its target of 500 partners and 1 million items listed in its catalogue by 2022.  

Co-founded by David Ringrave (E92), the media agency Heroiks has acquired its competitor, Makuity, to consolidate its in-house strategic and operational skills, and to cement its position as the sixth biggest agency on the French market, with annual investments of €1.75bn.

Co-founded by Arnaud Delubac (M20), Greenly was 2020 fintech company of the year and included in the French Tech Green20. It raised €2.5m to recruit new talent, consolidate its position as leader of the French market, and accelerate its international growth. The start-up has taken up the cause of making carbon footprint tracking the norm for small businesses, so that everyone can do their bit to fight against global warming. “We leverage the data sources that can be collected and analysed automatically (accounting, banking, invoices for digital services, etc.) to accelerate the compilation of greenhouse gas reports so that companies can focus their efforts on engaging their teams and suppliers to bring about a sustainable reduction in their emissions.”  

Co-founded by Tristan Maurel (E20), Umiami is a start-up that makes 100% plant-based products that mimic the texture of meat. It has just obtained a seed fund of €2.3m. “Our technology enables us to mimic whole cuts of meat and fish using peas and soy.” The fledgling company plans to open its first production site in early 2022 in Ile-de-France, to recruit 30+ staff by 2023, and generate a turnover in excess of €20m in its very first year of business. 

The Life360 app, which lets you know where your family members are and if they are safe in real time, raised $2.1m from a panel of wealthy investors including Kobe Bryant and Michael Phelps. Faces behind the scenes in this transaction include: Jonathan Benassaya (E06), the start-up’s CPO, who has a track record of 15 years in successful entrepreneurial ventures, including Deezer. 

Last but not least, many ESSEC start-ups are making good use of crowdfunding. Co-founded by Maxime Friess (IMHI 09) and Laurent Lacourt (IMHI 10), Emerald Stay, the network of short-stay holiday rentals, has amassed more than €1.4m from 350 investors on Seedrs. Founded by Olivier Cotinat (E08), MoHo is a space where scientists, businesses, start-ups, artists, intellectuals, and the wider community can work together. It raised 265% of its target on Ulule, to set up a fund for positive impact projects for young people aged 8-27. Co-founded by Léa Philippot (E19), the Mindology brand has registered more than 2431 presales – exceeding its target of 100 – for its natural CBD oils used to ease stress and insomnia. Co-founded by Martin Pellet (E10), Youssef Chraibi (E18) and Marc Charpentier (E12), the artisan brewery L.B.F. has doubled its initial target on Kiss Kiss Bank Bank to open two new craft beer bars in Paris, following the success of its first bar, which has proved a success despite the difficulties encountered by the sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Launched by Hélène Boulet-Supau (E88), Educawa is a platform that helps parents and grandparents support their children’s education. It has just completed a Ulule campaign that will enable it to bring its services to market. Co-founded by Pierre-Olivier Martin-Boban (E20), Pastel used an Ulule campaign to enable it to launch its first electric bike model. We wish the same success for Les Petites Épopées, the Made in France fashion brand launched by Valérie Jacob-Hoarau (E11) “for adventurous boys and girls aged 3-6”, which is now on the home straight of its Ulule campaign: you can support them yourself by clicking here!

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