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
314 articles
DiappyMed Raises €5M to Scale Digital Diabetes Therapy Across France
The digital therapeutics market for diabetes management is experiencing rapid growth across Europe, as healthcare systems increasingly recognise the potential of software-based interventions to…
Photoncycle Raises €15M to Scale Seasonal Hydrogen Energy Storage Across Europe
Europe’s residential energy landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation as households seek alternatives to volatile grid prices and fossil fuel dependence. At the heart…
Rivia raises €13M to bring agentic AI to clinical trials
The application of AI in clinical trials is rapidly reshaping the pharmaceutical development landscape, as biotech companies and contract research organisations grapple with spiralling…
Oxa Raises $103M in Series D to Scale Autonomous Vehicle Technology Across Industrial Sites
The autonomous vehicle sector is undergoing a strategic recalibration across Europe, as investors increasingly back companies focused on controlled industrial environments rather than the…
Startup Equity and Dilution: What Every Founder Must Know
Equity and dilution are the twin forces that shape every founder’s economic outcome. From the moment a startup issues its first shares to the…
Startup Runway: How to Calculate, Manage, and Extend It
Runway — the number of months a startup can operate before it runs out of cash — is the most fundamental metric in startup…
Startup Valuation: Methods, Benchmarks, and How to Negotiate
Startup valuation is one of the most debated and least understood aspects of the fundraising process. Unlike mature companies that can be valued based…
Venture Debt for Startups: When and How to Use It
Venture debt has emerged as one of the most important complementary financing tools in the European startup ecosystem. Unlike equity funding, which requires founders…
Cap Table Management: The Complete Guide for Startup Founders
A cap table — short for capitalisation table — is the single most important financial document a startup founder will maintain from day one…
SAFE Notes, Convertible Notes & Term Sheets: A Founder’s Guide
Early-stage fundraising rarely begins with a traditional priced equity round. Instead, most pre-seed and seed investments are structured using one of two instruments: SAFE…