Genopole and investors
3 questions for...
Élodie Panier
Founder and head of Calyseed
The investment company headed by Élodie Panier finances the development of innovative life sciences start-ups at the seed level then accompanies them up to their next series of funding.
What are your ties with the Genopole teams?
Élodie Panier: Our biocluster contacts maintain relations with an ecosystem that includes actors in start-up funding, acting at its earliest stages.
The Genopole teams ease relationship-building during the initial encounters with founders of start-ups we're considering investing in. They help us by supplying a knowing view on the project and/or by explaining the accompaniment already provided in the past.
We verify that the life sciences or health start-ups that we invest in correspond well to Calyseed's positioning, that is, interventions very early in the project via seed or pre-seed funding. Our minimum is around €100,000 and we intervene in rounds usually from €400,000 to €1 million in association with other co-investors. We are veritable investor partners: we are active in governance, share strategic ideas, participate in roadmap deployment, provide counseling and associate our network and ecosystem within which we have been active for more than 25 years.
Genopole teams ease relationship-building with the founders of start-ups.
Which Genopole start-ups have drawn your attention?
É. P.: We've invested in CGenetix, currently at the biocluster's incubator. The company develops Class C in vitro diagnostic tests to quantify post-transplant organ lesions via a blood sample. We also took an equity stake in STH Biotech, a company developing the therapeutic and cosmetic potential of rare cannabinoids through a plant-based biotechnology.
And any other long-term projects?
É. P.: By keeping an eye on the deployment of the strategic roadmaps of start-ups, we help them overcome obstacles and make sure they reach key mile markers defined for future funding rounds (seed or Series A). For each start-up in our portfolio, we define a period during which it may interest an industrial either to purchase or to establish a key partnership, which gives us an "exit ramp" in the jargon.
