NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- White Star
Capital, a multi-stage global technology investment platform,
announced it has secured $360
million* for its third flagship fund, above its original
target of $300 million, to invest in
exceptional entrepreneurs building ambitious, global businesses.
The firm has successfully raised in excess of $500 million over the last 18 months, and now
manages $750 million of assets,
including $50 million from its
recently announced Digital Asset Fund and more than $90 million raised from co-investment vehicles.
The firm also announced it will open an office in Singapore.
Following two funds of $70 million
and $180 million, announced in 2015
and 2018 respectively, White Star Capital plans to deploy initial
investments between $5 million and $15 million in 15 to 20 startups across
North America, Europe and Asia seeking financing at Series A and
beyond. The firm has already made several investments from
Fund III, including finn.auto (Germany), Percent (U.S.A.), Flash Coffee (Singapore), Novisto (Canada), 900.care (France) and Numan (U.K.), and seeks to invest
in emerging technology companies in the A.I., Digital Health,
Fintech, Foodtech, Future of Work, Industrial Technologies,
Mobility and Wellbeing sectors.
The founders, Eric
Martineau-Fortin and Jean-Francois
Marcoux, met as two fellow ski instructors working at a ski
resort in Canada. This initial
connection developed into a friendship, a working relationship and
a first investment by Eric into the video game developer Ludia,
co-founded in 2007 and fully exited in 2013 by Jean-Francois, which
was eventually to lead them to the founding with their team of
global firm White Star Capital in 2014.
The two founded the firm on the belief that entrepreneurialism
is borderless and that innovation will lead to a brighter,
healthier and more inclusive future. Through local investment teams
and a unique international platform, White Star Capital is well
positioned to partner with exceptional founders to create new
companies and business models that will lead the industries and
markets of tomorrow. The firm is also committed to investing in
emerging technology companies building transformative global
businesses at every stage of their growth.
Today the firm is made up of a multinational team of investors
and operational professionals including General and Venture
Partners: Sep Alavi, Christophe
Bourque, Matthieu Lattes, Shun
Nagao, Julie Plouffe,
Patrick Recasens Morente,
Nick Stocks, Joe Quinn Wei, and Nicolas Zylberstein.
Multi-Stage Global Platform Expands Reach
Now with more than 30 team members in nine locations around the
globe, White Star Capital supports investors by taking a
platform approach to investing. This not only includes providing
direct investment through dedicated and specialized funds, but also
offering Limited Partners opportunities to directly co-invest in
the firm's fastest growing portfolio companies.
Limited partners in the new fund include both new and previous
institutional and sovereign investors, which reflects the
international footprint of the firm. These include LP's from
Canada, France, Germany, Guernsey, Japan, Monaco, Poland, South
Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. Also, participating in Fund
III, were many of White Star Capital's current and previous
entrepreneurs including; Andy Tian (Co-Founder and CEO; Asia
Innovations Group), Andrew Graham
(Co-Founder and CEO; Borrowell), Kevin
Glynn and David Nolan
(Co-Founders and Co-CEOs; Butternut Box), Dr. Christopher Oster (Founder and CEO; Clark),
Cherif Habib (Co-Founder and CEO; Dialogue), Max-Josef Meier (Co-Founder and CEO; finn.auto),
Roger Hassan (former CEO; Echo, and
former COO; TIER Mobility), Michael
Wystrach and Carter Comstock
(CEO and Co-Founder, and Co-Founder respectively; Freshly, sold to
Nestle), Frederic Bastien and Aditya
Pendyala (CEO and Co-Founder, respectively; mnubo, sold to Aspen
Tech), Alex Gayer (CFO; TIER
Mobility), Julien Bonneville
(Founder and CEO; TheGuarantors) and Etienne Lacroix (Founder and CEO; Vention)
Proven Track Record
The announcement of Fund III builds upon the firm's significant
momentum since starting seven years ago. This includes the recent
IPO of Dialogue Health Technologies (TSX: CARE), the sale of
Freshly to Nestle for $1.5 billion,
the recent close of its $50 million
Digital Asset Fund with the support of the French public investment
bank bpifrance, and receiving CVCA's 2021 VC Global Dealmaker
Award.
Since its inception, White Star Capital has had 10 exits and two
IPOs, backed five unicorns and has invested in more than 55
companies that have gone on to collectively raise over $2 billion, employ more than 7,300 people and are
generating close to $1.5 billion in
yearly revenue. This includes backing rapidly growing companies
such as; Butternut Box (U.K.), Clark (Germany), Dollar Shave Club (U.S.A), Drop (Canada), The Guarantors (U.S.A), KeyMe (U.S.A.), Meero (France), Mnubo (Canada), Parsley Health (U.S.A.), Red Sift (U.K.), TIER
Mobility (Germany), Uncapped
(U.K.), and Vention (Canada).
"Our philosophy has always been to partner with founders who
have global ambitions and support them through our deep networks
and regional expertise across nine locations in North America, Europe and Asia," said Eric
Martineau-Fortin, Founder and Managing Partner of White Star
Capital. "With the opening of an office in Singapore, the firm has cemented its position
as the partner of choice for founders building truly global
businesses. Our funds are top-decile performers and our growing
global team looks forward to building upon our proven global
platform model."
Chairman of the Board, Chief Catalyst Officer and Chief
Technology Officer Appointed to Expand Expertise
White Star Capital also announced the appointment of Patricia
Barbizet as Chairman of the Board, Cristina
Ventura as Chief Catalyst Officer and Alberto Lopez Toledo as Chief Technology
Officer.
Based in Paris, Patricia
Barbizet served as the first female Chief Executive Officer of
Christie's, Executive Director of Groupe Artémis from 1992 until
2017; and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Kering SA and Chairman of
the Supervisory Board of Christie's. She is now her own investment
and advisory firm, Temaris & Associes.
Singapore-based, Cristina Ventura has worked in retail and
technology roles for over 20 years helping brands like Prada,
Gucci, LVMH, and Apple. NY-based Alberto
Lopez Toledo is the CTO and Technical Co-Founder of Freshly.
Both will also serve as Venture Partners and together bring years
of experience in strategic planning, leadership, creativity, and
innovation to the firm's partners and ecosystem.
Learn more about White Star Capital Fund III on LinkedIn,
Twitter, Facebook, Medium and watch a video on Vimeo.
QUOTES FROM PARTNERS AND INVESTORS
Asia Innovations Group (AIG)
"As one of our very first investors back in 2014 as well as
continuing to support us in the last round, White Star Capital has
truly been with us every step of the journey. We want to
congratulate White Star on raising
their latest fund, and encourage all the future global unicorn
builders to seek out Eric and the team, they will be your champions
all the way."
—Andy Tian, Co-Founder and CEO
Butternut Box
"Partnering with White Star Capital has been critical to our
success from the first day. Not only did they bring great
experience from working with direct-to-consumer brands companies
like Freshly and Dollar Shave Club, but they also brought the same
kind of passion we have for the space to our working relationship.
We look forward to our continuing partnership with White Star
Capital as we continue on our journey to bring healthy meals to
pets everywhere."
— Kevin Glynn and
David Nolan, Founders and
Co-CEO's
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)
"This investment in White Star Capital' Fund III is in line with
our strategy to support innovative tech companies as they expand
internationally. We are delighted to pursue our commitment to their
team, here in Québec and around the world, and to continue
evaluating co-investment opportunities with White Star
Capital."
— Mario Therrien, Head of
Investment Funds and External Management
Dialogue
"White Star Capital was instrumental in guiding us from Series A
funding to IPO. They partnered with us on everything from our
go-to-market strategy to our mission and vision for our integrated
B2B Virtual Care Platform. Early on, the team recognized our
potential to bring telehealth to Canada and they went out of their way to help
us achieve that goal. We congratulate them in this new fund to
support entrepreneurs building ambitious, global
businesses."
— Cherif Habib, Co-Founder and CEO
Freshly
When White Star Capital originally invested in Freshly, they
promised the check was only a small portion of the value they would
add. Since that day, they have delivered on that promise,
from introductions to top-notch investors and talent to helping
guide strategy and international expansion. White Star Capital is
uniquely skilled at investing in exceptional entrepreneurs and
excited to see the successful, innovative companies that they
nurture through their latest fund."
— Michael Wystrach, Co-Founder
and CEO
Kensington Capital Partners
"White Star Capital has a proven track record of backing start-ups
that have changed markets and redefined industries while bringing
fantastic returns to their investors. They're also able to provide
us with direct co-investment opportunities in many of their
portfolio companies, which enables us to expand our
investment reach while yielding greater returns."
— Win Bear, Managing Director
Meero
"White Star Capital was one of the most obvious investor choices we
made when raising Meero's Series A. Through the close of the new
fund, the firm once again is bringing its strong blend of business
and tech acumen to the fortunate founders who have the opportunity
to partner with them as they grow their businesses across
markets."
—Thomas Rebaud, Co-Founder and CEO
Mizuho Securities
"White Star Capital is among the most internationalized venture
capital funds across the globe. Their exceptional multinational
background and footprint provides unique value within the world's
leading startups ecosystems. We are very grateful to play a
meaningful role in their journey, serving as a lighthouse in
Asia including Japan."
— Norifumi Akiyama,
Operating Officer, Head of Principal Investment
Parsley Health
White Star Capital has been a fantastic investor and partner from
the very first day. The team is always active, engaged and always
available to help as we scale a new model of medical care that
helps patients with chronic illness lead healthier and happier
lives.
—Robin Berzin, Founder and CEO
SWEN Capital Partners
"We've been tracking and investing alongside the White Star Capital
team since the closing of its first fund in 2014, into its second
fund, and now its third. We've been really impressed by the
partnership's performance and success. It is one of the most
professional teams in its segment when it comes to
internationalization."
— Jerome Delmas, CEO
TIER Mobility
"We are extremely pleased to have chosen White Star Capital to
accompany us through our journey to disrupt the mobility sector.
White Star Capital's unique combination of worldwide connections
and ability to scale companies has proven instrumental in
accelerating our growth and expanding our international footprint.
This new fund will pave the way for other founders who will benefit
tremendously from White Star Capital's resources and
expertise."
— Lawrence Leuschner, Co-Founder
and CEO
About White Star Capital
White Star Capital is a global multi-stage technology investment
platform that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs building
ambitious, international businesses. Operating out of Guernsey, New
York, Paris, London, Montreal, Toronto, Singapore, and Hong
Kong, our presence, perspective, and people enable us to
partner closely with our founders to help them scale
internationally from Series A onwards.
*All financial figures are denoted in USD.
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SOURCE White Star Capital
