Galeries Lafayette owner sets up fund to invest in tech start-ups
The Moulin-Houzé family, owner of French department store group Galeries Lafayette, is keen to work more closely with new technologies. Its newly created family office, called Motier Ventures, has been set up to invest in tech start-ups.
Motier Ventures is presided by Guillaume Houzé, image and communication director of the Galeries Lafayette group, and aims to fund new companies “that are tapping technology to generate ultra-high growth.” Motier Ventures will act as business angel, providing initial funding of up to €300,000, and is prepared to invest up to €3 million as companies develop further.
The family office was set up at the end of 2021 and was first promoted in early 2022. It said it will prioritise investment in e-marketplaces and start-ups operating in finance and insurance, as well as software developers and other web3 players like blockchain solution developers. Motier Ventures has ambitious plans. It hopes to support between 20 and 25 start-ups annually in France and across Europe, and is said to have already acquired stakes in several companies.
Motier Ventures’s latest undertaking was to take part in the $10 million funding round held a few days ago for La Collection, a French company specialised in NFTs for the art sector that was founded less than a year ago by Jean-Sébastien Beaucamps.
In the past, the Moulin-Houzé family, through its old holding company, called simply Motier, made sizeable investments in the retail distribution sector, notably with Carrefour and La Redoute.
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