PSL Innovation Fund graduates with $83.2m

PSL Innovation Fund, the deep tech-focused venture fund of Université PSL, has achieved a final close of €76m ($83.2m) with contributions from investors including Institut Pasteur.
The Foundation of the School of Mines – also known as Mines ParisTech, an engineering school that forms part of Université PSL – is also among the limited partners (LPs).
LPs further include public investment bank Bpifrance, financial services firm BNP Paribas and its Opera Tech vehicle,  microscopy technology firm FEI and Famille C, part of cosmetics manufacturer Clarins Group.
Telecoms firm KPN, insurance provider MGEN, manufacturing quality control services firm Transvalor, plant seed supplier Vilmorin & Cie, and health insurance and care provider Vyv Group are also among the fund’s backers.
PSL Innovation Fund was publicly unveiled in March 2019 before an intermediary close of $72.3m two months later.
Bpifrance, FEI and BNP Paribas are all billed as “main” investors for the fund, which has surpassed its original ceiling of $54.8m. The vehicle is managed by venture capital firm Elaia Partners.
PSL Innovation Fund principally invests at seed-stage in deep technologies arising from PSL’s innovation ecosystem around industries such as IT, agriculture, biotechnology and life sciences.
The vehicle will back a total of 25 to 30 companies. It has already made 10 investments – of which it has publicly disclosed nine – and has negotiated term sheets with  another two businesses.
PSL Innovation Fund’s portfolio includes drug discovery company Aqemia, private data intelligence platform Cosmian, trauma radiology platform Gleamer and media content production business Newsbridge.
The vehicle has also backed dye and pigments manufacturer Pili, media content collaboration platform PocketStudio, patient billing management platform Sancare, genetic analysis platform creator SeqOne and customer loyalty scheme technology developer Transaction Connect.