France’s startup ecosystem has grown significantly over the last decade, thanks to public support and private investment. However, capital isn’t evenly distributed. Most venture-backed startups are Paris-based, with founders who come from the same handful of universities and schools.
This is what VC firm Daphni is hoping to change with Time4, a fund with a target of €100 million and a mandate to invest in French founders from diverse backgrounds and rural areas — fundraising started in September. It isn’t doing that out of charity — one motivation is “the certainty that there is an economic potential that is under-exploited at this stage,” Daphni venture partner Anita de Voisins told TechCrunch.
According to the Daphni team, reversing this trend requires a different approach. That’s why it launched this fund in partnership with business school HEC Paris and two nonprofits, Les Déterminés and Live for Good. (Ironically, many VC-backed startup founders graduated from HEC Paris.)
Those partnerships are key to the fund’s investment strategy as they will help Time4 go beyond the usual inbound-first, Paris-centric approach of venture investment, while also providing more hands-on support to founders lacking mentors. It will also write slightly larger checks than other funds might at that stage, with the understanding that the entrepreneurs they back have way less “love money” to rely on.
This is one reason why Time4 is aiming for “a relatively large fund,” but not the only one: It also wants a large portfolio to diversify its risk. “[We’ll] invest in a hundred or so projects, so that by the end we can have several dozen entrepreneurial success stories emerging,” de Voisins said.
Part of Time4’s effort will be dedicated to inspiring more people to start companies with ambitious goals in mind, regardless of their background. That’s also the vision of co-promoter Moussa Camara, whose nonprofit Les Déterminés advocates for entrepreneurship that thwarts social determinism — the organization’s name is a play on words with “being determined”.
As for Live for Good, it is focused on impact entrepreneurship, but has experience in supporting founders that fit Time4’s criteria, de Voisins said. That was also her case as the former head of entrepreneurship and innovation at engineering school CentraleSupélec — a prestigious institution that selects its students with a highly competitive exam. That’s why not all CentraleSupélec students come from wealthy families.
Backing the next Paul Lê
In addition to potential founders coming from a socio-economic background, Time4 will also consider backing entrepreneurs from remote or underprivileged areas, jobseekers, as well as individuals with disabilities, few or no diplomas, or unusual career paths. As a reminder, ethnic-based affirmative action is not allowed in France.
As an Article 9 fund, Time4 is making a commitment to also fund projects “whose mission is to improve social ties and facilitate access to products and services (access to employment; increased purchasing power; mobility and reducing isolation of territories; access to housing, education, health; financial and digital inclusion),” according to a press release shared with TechCrunch.
According to Time4, its members have already identified almost 800 projects that match this double investment strategy. However, it won’t start deploying funding until at least mid-next year, which is the date it’s targeting for its first closing, de Voisins said.
While fundraising may take until 2026 to be completed, the roadshow has already started, with the initiative being presented on stage today at Bpifrance’s Quartier Général event on entrepreneurship in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Bpifrance, France’s public investment bank, is well aware of the VC investment disparities. In 2023, it launched the “Entrepreneuriat Quartiers 2030” program to boost entrepreneurship in priority urban policy neighborhoods. In a similar vein, the French Tech Tremplin is an initiative that supports entrepreneurs from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the French tech ecosystem.
French Tech Tremplin’s recently appointed a new ambassador, Paul Lê. His grocery delivery startup La Belle Vie often comes up as an example of a success story — de Voisins and her team would like to see more breakthrough successes like that one, and she’s confident there’s more to come.
