Daphni is a Paris-based early-stage firm founded in 2015, known for pairing its investment team with a community of several hundred operator advisors. It closed its third fund, Daphni Blue, at €260M in January 2026 after a €200M first close in March 2025, and intends to back around 40 companies from it with cheques of €500k to €10M and up to €20M for the strongest performers. The fund is explicitly science-first, targeting physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics-based companies in climate tech, decarbonisation, critical materials, energy and healthcare. Earlier funds produced consumer and marketplace names such as Back Market and Swile, alongside deep tech companies like Pasqal.
Investment thesis
Daphni is a Paris venture capital firm backing technology startups with European DNA and international ambition. It describes its model as human-driven, community-powered and tech-augmented: judgement about people, a community of operators around the fund, and data tooling to sharpen decisions. It argues there are no formulas in venture and positions itself as a learning firm rather than one chasing trends.
Past investments
| Company | Round | Date | Round size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epyr Paris, France | Series A | Oct 2026 | €15M |
| Mallow Paris, France | Seed | Sep 2026 | €11M |
| Quartz London, United Kingdom | Pre-seed | Sep 2026 | €3.2M |
| TerraSpark Luxembourg | Pre-seed | Apr 2026 | €5M |
| Pasqal Palaiseau, France | Series A | Jun 2021 | €25M |
| Back Market Paris, France | - | May 2017 | €7M |
| Swile Montpellier, France | Seed | Jan 2017 | €2.5M |