Investor Spotlight: Super Capital Co-Founder Corentin Orsini
Super Capital is an early-stage investor that operates a micro-VC fund, organizes follow-on club deals, and advises startups on securing venture debt. The firm grew out of a newsletter started by former tech journalist Corentin Orsini and now has 180 startups in its portfolio and more than 1,000 members participating in its deals.
Bio: Orsini spent several years as a tech journalist for various French publications which allowed him to visit Silicon Valley in the mid-2000s. But with the internet wreaking havoc on the media business, he went back to business school and spent some time working for a firm advising startups on fundraising and M&A. A stint as an entrepreneur gave him enough resources to start angel investing in 2017.
Earning His Wings: With only modest resources, Orsini found it difficult to source deals, especially when he was only writing checks between €3,000 to €5,000. Likewise, he recognized that entrepreneurs faced a big challenge identifying with Business Angels and micro-VCs. So, his journalist instinct kicked in and he launched a monthly newsletter about an interesting company looking for Pre-Seed funding. That newsletter began to attract other people interested in writing small checks as well, and soon he had a community of 30 investors pooling their money in club deals.
Supersizing Super Capital: In 2020, Orsini joined with two business partners who became co-founders of Super Capital:
- Thibaut Ginenez: A startup advisor who founded a startup studio.
- Fréderic Bouleuc: A former Deloitte manager who has made more than 100 angel investments.
In 2021, Frédéric Baecke, a prolific angel investor who had been an entrepreneur and CFO, joined as a fourth co-founder to oversee the new venture debt business, dubbed Super Capital Leverage.
Super Capital now has 12 team members and refers to its strategy as “360° Financing.”