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On Tuesday evening local time , Motier Ventures , an early stage tech investment business firm found in Paris , bring out a startup hub calledLa Maison . This relatively young investor in the French technical school ecosystem is the kinsperson power of the Houzé family — the owners of upmarket fashion retail merchant the Galeries Lafayette Group .
As the Galeries Lafayette department store ’ main assets are its physical retail stores they also believe a physical space for startups will give them an edge over other tech investment firms .
Early phase startup founders based in Paris have more pick than ever when it come in to raising a come round . Many unicorn founders have become angel investor on the side . Family place have radiate their investment funds strategy with a renewed appetite for technical school inauguration . And early phase VC house are still fight for the best deals .
The most promising startups get to select who they want on their capitalization table . Some investor like to promise introductions with potential client and business partners . Others pledge a speedy , no frills financial dealing so that entrepreneurs can get back to process on their startup .
Motier Ventures is betting on an ecosystem - first approach . Over the past three age , the stock has deployed capital at a rapid pace as it is now an investor in 85 party , include many promising AI companies — such asDust , HandMistral .
They ’ve also organized severaleventsthat have put many founders and investor in the French tech ecosystem into the same elbow room . The next step in that scheme is a physical quad , hollo La Maison ( a Good Book which translate as house or home ) .
go around across the top three floors of the Lafayette Gourmet building next to the Opéra Garnier , La Maison will host a twelve early stage startups in this Haussmannian edifice . It will open in early 2025 .
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The 4th floor will be a bit different as it will act as an case / demo day / hackathon / cocktail response space . “ It ’s a large project , and I call back what drives us is not just Motier Ventures , but the whole entrepreneurial and fellowship ecosystem that we ’ve represent for five propagation , ” Motier Ventures father Guillaume Houzé said during an AI - focused effect in Paris form by Motier .
“ With Galeries Lafayette , we ’re finally seek to corroborate those who make the finest mark , ” he added , saying the fund ’s destination for La Maison is to endorse “ especial team ” by providing not just a employment and meeting place but also aspiration for creative thinking — or “ a space to mull collectively on the vision of lodge we need to build up ” , as he put it .
In many ways , the auction pitch for La Maison is redolent of the other days of local tech hub The Family . Around 10 class go , The Family opened as a inauguration gas pedal with a beautiful event space that quickly became the town second power of the French technical school ecosystem .
With the COVID-19 pandemic , The Family had no choice but to shut down the infinite to cut price . More recently , it ’s been back in the tidings forall the untimely reasonsas Oussama Ammar , one of The Family ’s co - founder , is being action for allegedly deviate millions of euros .
For hoi polloi who have been work in the French technical school ecosystem for more than a few years , The Family ’s meetups and dinner party are now just a distant retention . And nothing has really step in to replace it . WhileStation Fis a magnificent startup megacampus , it ’s too bounteous for insouciant and informal events . peradventure La Maison will become the new default infinite to host belittled meetups .
“ Our ambition is to naturalize an environment where the next generation of technical school entrepreneurs , in AI and beyond , can finger corroborate , barrack , and connected every Clarence Day , ” Motier Ventures pardner Nicolas Essayan state in a statement .
