Venture Capital, Early Stage, and Tech with Founders Future

In this episode of the Private Market Square podcast, Yann Charraire welcomes Marc Ménasé, founder of Founders Future, a company specializing in investment in technology startups and venture capital funds.The conversation provides a deeper understanding of the mechanics of early-stage and growth venture capital, as well as Founders Future’s unique approach, which combines financial support with operational guidance to maximize value creation in innovative companies.

The goal of this episode is to offer an educational perspective on how venture capital funds operate, their selection methodology, and how data and artificial intelligence are used to identify the future tech champions.

What is early-stage and growth investing with Founders Future?

Early-stage investing involves funding companies at the very beginning of their development, when their business model is still being built.Growth investing targets companies that have reached profitability or breakeven and need capital to accelerate their growth, particularly internationally.

Founders Future’s methodology is based on:

• Rigorous selection of high-potential companies

• Comprehensive operational support: marketing, HR, finance, corporate development

• Investment diversification to reduce risk

• Data-driven and AI approach to optimize investment decisions

This approach combines financial performance with active support for entrepreneurs, creating the conditions to generate long-term value.

The Conviction Entrepreneur Fund Strategy

The Founders Future Conviction Entrepreneur Fund is structured to invest in 40 to 50 portfolio companies, with a balanced allocation:

• 50% early stage to support companies in the creation and initial development phase

• 50% growth to back expanding market leaders

  
  

Geographical allocation: approximately 40% in France, 60% in Europe

The fund primarily invests in high-impact technology companies in the following areas:

• Artificial intelligence and advanced technologies

• Health and HealthTech

• Energy transition

• Education and learning technologies

  
  

Diversification, co-investment, and risk management

The fund relies on several key principles to optimize risk and performance:

• Primary investments: subscribing to new innovative companies

• Co-investments: participating alongside other funds and institutional investors

• Sectoral and geographical diversification: reducing risks specific to a company or sector

This combination smooths portfolio performance and spreads risk across the entire portfolio.

Operational support and ESG impact

Founders Future stands out for its operational support:

• Legal and financial structuring

• Business development and marketing

• Access to financing and co-investor relations

• Monitoring KPIs, customer satisfaction, and retention

The fund also integrates ESG and impact criteria, aiming to:

• Support responsible and sustainable companies

• Promote inclusion and female entrepreneurship

• Deploy business models with a positive impact on society and the environment

  
  

Concrete examples of supported companies

• Yuka: a health and nutrition app now used by tens of millions of people worldwide.

• Vision: an AI startup applied to in-store security, detecting theft in real time via gesture recognition.

• Ezra: an American HealthTech company using AI for early disease detection through body scans.

These examples illustrate the fund’s ability to identify and support companies that become leaders in their markets. #PrivateMarketSquare #FoundersFuture #CapitalInvestissement #EarlyStage #GrowthCapital #VentureCapital #TechStartups #IntelligenceArtificielle #HealthTech #ImpactInvesting #Yuka #Ezra #Vision