Serena was founded in 2008 upon a resolute eagerness to be the VC our team members dreamed of when they were entrepreneurs.
A huge part of our approach hinges on our understanding of founders’ top priorities and on our willingness to offer them compelling value. That’s why they can leverage extensive entrepreneurial know-how across all sectors and geographies thanks to our experienced team of Partners such as Bertrand Diard (founder of Talend) or Amélie Faure (founder of Generix, CEO of multiple SaaS companies), and reuse what they have already learned.
A portfolio of fostered excellence
Over the course of ten years, we’ve been very particular about the deals we close. It has translated into a steady commitment to selective standards at the assumed expense of quantity.
As a result, we have carried out 5 exits valued at over €100 million and witnessed many success stories out of Europe such as Aramis (acquired by PSA), The Fork (acquired by Tripadvisor), Cheerz (acquired by Cewe), Selectron, RSI Video Technologies and more recently, Dataiku, that have reached unicorn-status in 2019.
Your team at its fullest potential
Our portfolio’s C-levels are active members of the Serena Squad, the largest and most active peer-to-peer community in Europe. They are handed access to exclusive templates, playbooks (D&I, Recruitment), best practices sharing, on-demand workshops (US Go to Market, scaling through M&A, sales process…), and a network of experts thoroughly selected, so they can tackle their daily challenges as smoothly as possible.
Our portfolio can also tap into the steady stream of qualified candidates to recruit key people thanks to our talent pool and achieve your diversity objectives.
Serena in essence
We back bold entrepreneurs who think big and are committed to becoming the next major tech players.
Investment strategy
We handpick on average four to five teams per year and focus on helping them reach their maximum potential. We are not looking for early exits. We back Europe-based entrepreneurs willing to build continental or worldwide category leaders. We strongly prefer to lead or co-lead rounds.
Stage
Pre-Seed to Series A, with check size ranging from €100K to €15 million for our first ticket.
Industry
We are not industry-specific as long as your business model is scalable and your product is digital. We have a special affection for DeepTech, enterprise software, marketplaces, and entertainment.
Location
Our focus is primarily in France, although we are able to invest (and have already done so) in exceptional teams from Europe and the US.