Cathay Innovation

📍Today, we’re celebrating a huge milestone with the official launch of Cathay Innovation Fund III. This €1B global venture capital fund will be one of the largest multi-stage venture funds which we’ve dedicated to the transformation of industries & society 💫  Cathay’s Denis Barrier digs in to the vision behind Fund III, our evolution as a global firm and what we see as the next-gen VC playbook. Highlights: 💥 $2B+ AUM, 5 continents, 120+ startups, 19 unicorns — since starting in 2015 ⚙️ Activating the sustainable transformation flywheel with: - A global team & platform - A corporate ecosystem as investors & strategic partners - A sustainable investment framework 🚀 The next-gen VC playbook incorporates purpose & returns in a new phase that takes us from open innovation to transformation More here: https://lnkd.in/g2h-MJjX  CC: Cathay Capital Ming-Po Cai Sanofi TotalEnergies Valeo BNP Paribas Cardif Groupe SEB Groupe ADP #venturecapital #digitaltransformation #technology #startups #globaleconomy #investing #frenchtech

Had a blast chatting with Brian Bell on the Ignite podcast! We spilled some tea on how venture dealmaking keeps evolving to keep us humble, the inside baseball of building a platform that gives founders what they actually care about—real support, not just capital—and what it takes to punch above our weight in a land of VC giants. We took a stroll down memory lane, from meeting Denis at a coffee shop a decade ago to building Cathay Innovation SF brick by brick, and partnering with standout teams like Chime, Ghost, and Range. Fun convo—still more 🍵 to spill.

Check out Brian Schwarzbach's latest article in Crunchbase News on the #FutureofRetail — exploring the new era of AI-powered #personalization💡 Covering all things consumer / commerce from our SF office, Brian discusses the evolution from basic recommendation systems to the possibilities of agentic AI, ultimately aiming to create "magical, joyful, frictionless" experiences for consumers. How can companies create a "pull" rather than a "push" in engagement? What's clear 👉 "today’s advancements in #AI have us on the precipice of entering a new era of personalization — far more targeted, tailored and timely" 📖 Read on here: https://lnkd.in/gKS3aySx CC: Denis Barrier Simon Wu Elijah Yi Jonathan Healy Daniela Caserotto-Leibert Matthieu Soulé Arnaud Auger Jaclyn Hartnett #commerce #ecommerce #venturecapital #startups #AIagents

Finally getting settled back in after a week of travel between SXSW and Human[x] - what a whirlwind! I had to take some time to digest the full effect of Human[x] given the flashy nature of the first time conference. While there is no shortage of takeaways mass published online, I felt the view from the ground was a bit different and, frankly more practical: Thoughts expressed throughout: ➕ ROI is still unclear - for example, Arsalan Tavakoli of Databricks sees data consolidation as a clear cut case but funding for AI comes from moving spend from other areas within enterprise ➕ Value will accrue to applications - while inverted today, the pendulum is swinging in this direction with every passing day ➕ AI enabling next generation of robotics - Brad Porter of Cobotics made the point of automated pin-setting replacing the need for humans in bowling which led to an explosion of people playing the game and better economics - the same will happen across other manual labor tasks today ➕ AI regulation still hampering sentiment in EU - Index Ventures' Martin Mignot's work on "Scaling through Chaos" among many insights further reaffirmed the point that Europeans think more people will be needed to handle AI in Europe than the US given impact from the EU AI regulation Nothing above is particularly revolutionary nor should it have been expected otherwise. The technological paradigm moment of AI has come, now we are filling in the implementation steps, which takes time. More generally - it was clear that this was a first-time conference with some quirks to work out here and there (e.g., lack of verticalizations catering to a wider audience, relatively thin show floor, overweighting on account reps selling enterprise solutions). But, much like any startup it only leaves room for improvement on the next iteration - looking forward to next year's rendition in San Francisco! CC: Cathay Innovation #AI #Enterprise #Robotics #ConferenceSeason

  🎉 Congratulations to Entalpic and Bioptimus for making this year's "We Innovate 500" ranking, a well-deserved recognition among some of the most dynamic startups in the French tech ecosystem! 💡 Both companies are shining beacons of our digital health vertical, bringing positive change by putting innovation at the service of a better future: 💊 Entalpic leverages generative AI to accelerate the discovery of materials and molecules for multiple chemical applications, all with a clear goal: the identification of more sustainable alternatives that push for a decarbonized industry. 🩺 Bioptimus is behind the "GPT of biology", the world's first AI foundation model with a unique multi-modal, multi-scale approach that provides a holistic understanding of biology, away from the siloed traditional methods of scientific research. More details below on FRENCHWEB.FR ⤵️

🌉 Our SF team is headed to Monterey this week for Global Corporate Venturing's GCVI Summit 2025 ✨ At Cathay Innovation, we back startups transforming industries and society—but in the AI era, startup-corporate collaboration isn’t just valuable, it’s essential. That’s why we built our platform to bridge corporates and startups, helping industry leaders tap into innovation that drives real-world impact. 🤝 We’re looking forward to insightful discussions with leading corporations on how they’re investing in AI, innovation, and the transformation of their industries. If you’re attending, let’s connect! Our US Partner Simon Wu, Head of US ecosystem Daniela Caserotto-Leibert and Head of C.Lab (Corp Advisory) Matthieu Soulé are on the ground and would love to chat. See you there! #GCVI2025 #VentureCapital #CorporateVenturing #AI #Innovation

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of bringing together inspiring startups during the "Energy Tech dinner" in Berlin—on the menu: tomorrow's energy sector in the age of AI 💡 The event reunited several leading companies, all contributing to the shift toward a more disruptive and innovative approach to energy transformation, each one in their own special way: ENAPI, suena, terralayr, Voltfang, Rabot Energy, Green Fusion, Podero, Caeli Wind 🎤 Later on at Merantix AI Campus, Ivan Albino from E.ON One and Green Fusion's Nina Germanus joined in for a panel around particularly apropos themes, sharing their thoughts with 100+ listeners on: ⚡ The implementation of a fast, durable energy transformation ↗️ The tackling of challenges surrounding the scaling of AI systems 🧑💻 The access to relevant, reliable, and impactful data 🔒 The preservation of data privacy within the industry and the insurance of compliance 🙏 Huge thanks to all our guests for yet another successful gathering! cc Costanza Carissimo Adélaïde Renié Charlie NAUDY

🚨 Hinge Health’s S-1 is here – a long awaited movement in digital health public markets. The company made a significant shift towards profitability in 2024, while maintaining growth, retention, and strong margins – a notable feat in digital health. The numbers in the images below tell the story: • Revenue Growth: $390m in 2024, up 33% YoY • Gross Margins: 82% in Q4'24, up from 57% in Q1'23 • Margin Expansion: Net income swung from $(108M) in 2023 to a $27M profit in Q4 2024 • Customer Stickiness: 117% NRR and 98% enterprise client retention Some additional reflections for the broader digital health market: • AI's Impact: AI seems to be a requirement for building scalable and efficient digital health companies. Hinge leverages AI-powered motion tracking and an AI-assistant to support the care team with administrative tasks. It seems like a natural next-step to provide AI coaching to users, creating scalable and personalized care. • Recent Healthtech IPOs: It's worth looking at how this compares to Waystar and Tempus AI IPOs in 2024. Unlike these companies which focus on RCM and diagnostics/RWE respectively, Hinge brings a tech-enabled services approach. The IPO can potentially reshape market sentiment for similar startups looking to go public. Will be interesting to see how this plays out, especially with the way markets have been moving recently.

📢 Reporting live from #SXSW in Austin 📢 🎤 Arnaud Auger, Deputy Head of C.Lab at Cathay Innovation, was BFM Business' guest to break down the event's trends—spoiler alert: France made quite the impression once again! 🚀 SXSW celebrates all things innovation by bringing together key opinion leaders and thinkers to share novel ideas and experiences that are redefining the future of tech across all industries. Some of our major partners came in strong this year: 🇫🇷 Bpifrance brought back "La French Touch Rendez-Vous" featuring 50+ of some of the most creative French innovators 🚗 Valeo, one of the world's leading automative suppliers, showcased Panovision, a unique display system that revolutionizes the driver experience and unlocks new entertainment and personalization possibilities, all combined with cutting-edge safety features ✨ Excited to closely witness what's next for our French gems—onwards and upwards always! Watch Arnaud's interview ⤵️

🔥 🔥 Well deserved recognition for Sidecar Health — making Fierce Healthcare's 2025 "Fierce 15" list for their work towards making quality healthcare in the US affordable & accessible for all 🙌