[EN] Elaia Partners announces two successful exits with the acquisition of Agnitio by Nuance and Teads by Altice
Elaia Partners, a leading early stage digital VC based in Paris, has announced its successful exit from two of its portfolio companies, Agnitio and Teads, proving the strong dynamism of the European digital market and the great value that can be taken from deep technological innovations.
Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: NUAN) recently acquired Agnitio. Elaia Partners had invested in Madrid based voice biometry software vendor Agnitio for the first time in 2009, using its own investments funds, 123Venture co-managed funds and Neotec Co-Inversion, a Spanish co-investment program.
« We found in Agnitio a fantastic leading voice recognition technology, which has been very successfully deployed in many markets, such as the defence and law enforcement sector, or the corporate market. Backing them has provided our funds a great return”, said Xavier Lazarus, partner at Elaia Partners.
Altice N.V. (Euronext: ATC, ATCB) announced last week it has entered into an agreement to acquire Teads, the world’s #1 online video advertising marketplace with an audience of more than 1.2 billion unique visitors including 720 million via mobile.
« The convergence of the telecoms, content and advertising space is currently a real driver for M&A opportunities. Our strong expertise in these spaces has helped us to assess very early the massive potential of the new video advertising technology developed by Teads. This has been a great investment, providing the first major return for our 2012 fund.” said Philippe Gire, partner at Elaia Partners.
These two successes are clear examples of Elaia Partners’ investment strategy: engage early in very technological start-ups with the ambition of becoming a global leader, follow-on on high performers and eventually deliver significant financial return for their funds’ investors.
About Elaia Partners: Elaia Partners is an independent VC fund focused on Digital Economy. Elaia Partners manages over €135m and invests in high-growth startups offering ground-breaking technologies, products and services. The fund focuses on early-stage investments, from the initial financing rounds to their emergence as global leaders. The investment team brings together 50y+ of expertise in both VC and digital technologies and aims at playing an active role alongside entrepreneurs.
Elaia Partners diversified portfolio includes companies such as Sigfox, Mirakl, Criteo, Teads, Marfeel, adomik, Talent.io, ZenChef, Easyrecrue, Shift Technology, Agriconomie, Tinyclues, Orchestra Networks, Agnitio, etc.
More information on http://www.elaia.com
Twitter: @Elaia_Partners
Originally published on March 30, 2017.
