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
523 articles
Nexos.ai raises €30M in enterprise AI funding round
Vilnius-based nexos.ai secures €30M in enterprise AI funding co-led by Index and Evantic to scale its secure AI orchestration platform, valuing the company at…
Etalytics raises €16M in AI energy funding round
Darmstadt-based etalytics secures €16M in AI energy funding led by M12 to scale industrial energy optimization globally, with customers achieving 50% cost reductions.
Chipmind exits stealth with €2.3M for AI chip design agents
Zurich-based Chipmind secures €2.3M in AI chip design funding from Founderful to launch design-aware agents that save semiconductor engineers 40% of their time.
Yaga raises €4M in sustainable fashion funding
Tallinn-based Yaga secures €4M in sustainable fashion funding led by Specialist VC and H&M Group to expand its second-hand marketplace across emerging markets.
HotGreen Solutions raises €1.4M in industrial heat pump funding
UK-based HotGreen Solutions secures €1.4M in industrial heat pump funding led by Empirical Ventures to decarbonise process heat with ultra-efficient technology.
Certificall raises seed funding of €1M to fight Europe’s surging AI-powered insurance fraud
Insurance fraud in France jumped 30% in a single year, climbing from €695 million in 2023 to €902 million in 2024, according to the…
Best Startup Events for B2B SaaS Founders (Not the Obvious Ones)
TechCrunch Disrupt? Overrated. Web Summit? A $4,700 mistake I’ll never make again. I’ve burned $18K learning which startup events actually matter for B2B SaaS…
Startup Event Networking: 7 Tactics That Get You Remembered
At SaaStr 2023, I had a 12-minute conversation with a VP of Partnerships at a Series C company. No pitch. No business cards. Just…
How to Find Startup Events That Don’t Waste Your Time
Last year I spent 11 hours scrolling through Eventbrite, LinkedIn Events, and random newsletters trying to find startup events worth attending. Found 47 “amazing…
Startup Event: The Founder’s No-BS Guide to Events That Actually Matter
I dropped $4,700 on my first startup event trip to London. Flight, hotel, conference pass. Know what I got? Three business cards from people…