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Welcome to Seed Scout which takes you inside France’s early-stage startup scene. As a reminder, this newsletter is free. Upgrade to a paid membership to get full access to all the articles.
In this week's edition:
- Seed Of The Week: Pimento CEO Florent Facq takes us behind the scenes of the GenAI startup which has raised a €3 million Seed Round to develop a platform designed to reinvent the way creatives brainstorm new projects.
- Investor Spotlight: Agrilife Studio co-founders Priscilla Rozé-Pagès and Antoine Coutant discuss the mission of the AgTech startup studio that just raised €25 million.
- Hot Seed Deals: Guided Energy, Geev, LiveMeUp & more!
Chris O'Brien & Helen O'Reilly-Durand
The French Tech Journal
Seed Of The Week: Pimento
Generative AI is impacting the creative process across a wide range of industries. Just how radical this transformation will be remains to be seen. But even as companies large and small grapple with how to harness this tool, the founders of Pimento believe they can use it to build a powerful brainstorming platform that reinvents the very first part of the creative process: idea generation.
Pimento co-founder and CEO Florent Facq said the guiding mission of the company is to boost creativity by enabling more rapid ideation that allows for serendipity and creative accidents at a stage when a team is effectively working with a blank slate. At the same time, the platform still gives control to the designer and the creative director.
"If the iteration and creation process is much more efficient, it allows you to go after different creative paths," he said. "The more you explore, the better your project will be, and the more ideas you will have. That's the world we're looking for."
Investor Spotlight:
Agrilife Studio Co-Founders
Priscilla Rozé Pages
and Antoine Coutant
The new AgTech studio aims to identify ideas that can be catalyzed into high-impact startups. Co-founders Priscilla Rozé-Pagès and Antoine Coutant just raised €25 million from partners Bpifrance, Crédit Mutuel Arkea, and Fond Révolution to accelerate the studio's official launch.
Agrilife Studio's goal is to create at least a dozen startups over the next 7 years to address issues in the agriculture, agri-food, and bio-economy sectors.
"I think we both share a sense of urgency that it is time to really accelerate these solutions," Coutant said. "We feel the startup studio is the best possible way to have the biggest impact."
Hot Seed Deals 🔥
What: Guided Energy, a SaaS platform that automates electric vehicle fleet operations.
Why: To help commercial vehicle fleets optimize fleet management, from charge management and dispatch through reporting and expense management.
Funding: €4.8 million
Who: Co-Founders Anant Kapoor & Eric Daoud
Investors: Sequoia Capital, Dynamo Ventures, Business Angels
What's Next: The capital will be used to further fuel growth, with plans to onboard and expand a client roster that already includes Sixt and Addison Lee.
What: Geev, an App for peer-to-peer donations.
Why: To help build a world in which sharing reinvents individuals' relationships with consumption.
Funding: €4.5 million
Who: Co-Founders Florian Blanc & Hakim Baka
Investors: Daphni, Omnes, BNP Paribas Developpement, NACO, Team for the Planet & various Business Angels.
What's Next: The new money will be used to accelerate the startup's growth, launch new features, enhance the user experience and the Geev+ subscription offering, and develop "Geev Pro," its professional offer.
What: Hymag'In, a manufacturer of ferrites.
Why: To eliminate electromagnetic interference in electronic devices.
Funding: €2.2 million
Who: Co-Founders Camille Crouzet & Philippe Le Bouteiller
Investors: Badge, Défense Angels, Paris Business Angels, Arts et Métiers Business Angels, Grenoble Angels, Itera Invest
What's Next: The funding will be used to continue the industrialization of its production and accelerate its commercial development in France and internationally.
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