Stéphane Paillard
Covering European fundraising, first-time fund managers, and the founders behind the rounds. Previously built event and community products across the French tech ecosystem; now runs Sesamers and hosts the Sesame Summit.
Latest from Stéphane
313 articles
iPronics raises $125M Series B to rewire AI data centres with light
Maverick Silicon and Light Street just led a $125M Series B into Valencia's iPronics, with Nvidia joining - betting optical switching becomes the backbone…
INLEAP Photonics raises €20M seed to scale laser drone defence
Europe's anti-drone market is compounding at 27.5% a year, and a Laser Zentrum Hannover spinout just raised one of Germany's biggest deep tech seeds…
A Japanese Giant Just Led €108 Million Into a Spanish Rocket Company
PLD Space's €108 million Series C extension, led by Mitsubishi Electric, takes the round to €288 million - and turns Spain's launch company into…
A London Startup Just Raised $220 Million to Fix American Imaging
Scan.com's $220 million raise - a $90M Series C led by Noteus Partners plus $130M in debt - is the story of a London…
QuantumLight Closes $500M Fund II – and Algorithmic VC Stops Being an Experiment
Fifteen months after its first fund, Nik Storonsky's QuantumLight has closed an oversubscribed $500M Fund II - deployed by an algorithm, not a partnership.…
The EIF’s €15B ETCI 2 Is Europe’s Biggest Bet Yet on Fixing the Scaleup Gap
The European Investment Fund's ETCI 2 is a €15B fund of funds built to back around 100 growth-stage VC vehicles and unlock up to…
Belfast’s Cloudsmith Raises $72M Series C to Secure the AI-Era Software Supply Chain
Belfast’s Cloudsmith has raised $72M Series C led by TCV, with Insight Partners participating, to expand its artifact management platform and secure the AI-era…
Berlin’s VREY Raises €3.3M Seed to Unlock Rooftop Solar for Multi-Family Buildings
Berlin’s VREY has raised €3.3M seed led by Rubio Impact Ventures to roll out rooftop solar software for Germany’s multi-family buildings.
TheStorage raises €3.6M seed to scale sand-based thermal energy storage
Finland's TheStorage has raised a €3.6M seed round led by Voima Ventures, with Superhero Capital, 2C Ventures and Momentum Partners, to commercialise its sand-in-motion…
Decade Energy Secures €22M to Electrify European Logistics Depots at Scale
Paris-based Decade Energy has secured €22 million — including €16M in project finance from Eiffel Investment Group and venture equity from SET Ventures —…