Kerala Ventures is a VC firm investing in early-stage tech startups (SaaS, marketplaces, AI, data, tech-enabled services …) based in France. Their first investment ranges from €100K to €1.5M and their portfolio includes 10 companies (+ 1 successful exit). They are insanely focused on creating a unique value proposition for early-stage founders: - A strong operational support on hiring (93 recruitments for their portfolio since 2015 thanks to their private hiring network first20.club) - Actionable expertise in supporting growth (Doctolib, Lafourchette, Evaneos, ...) with hundreds of employees & tens of millions of Euros of revenue - Hands-on approach thanks to their operational background & their personal financial commitment in the deals they make

Kerala Ventures

Isai is a tech entrepreneurs' fund that focuses on early-stage internet startups and small capital tech private equity deals. It seeks to invest in companies operating in the software, information technology, media, and industrial sectors. It brings together more than 300 tech entrepreneurs who have decided to invest their money and their experience in order to allow the emergence of new French Tech champions. Founded in 2010, Isai is headquartered in Paris, France.

Isai

Serena invests in bold ventures and provides them with an unrivaled level of expertise and operational resources.  In ten years, the firm has already contributed to the emergence of many success stories (Aramisauto - Acquired by PSA, The Fork - acquired by TripAdvisor, Cheerz -acquired by Cewe), and has currently 80 handpicked startups in its portfolio such as Dataiku, Evaneos, Malt, iBanFirst, CybelAngel, or Lifen.

Serena

Idinvest Partners is a pan-European private equity manager focused on the low and middle-market segments. With over 6 billion euros under management, the company has developed several complementary areas of expertise, including equity investments in buyout deals focusing on both mid-size as well as young innovative European companies; primary investments in European private equity funds focusing primarily on the middle market segment; secondary investments; mezzanine investments in Europe; and private equity consulting.  Idinvest Partners’ recent success stories include Criteo, Clear2Pay, Meetic, Prosensa, Converteam, Kwik Fit, Lastminute.com, Dailymotion, Deezer, Talend, Synthesio, Menlook, Vestiaire Collective, Pretty Simple, Curse.com, Withings, Kantox, Secret Escapes, Happn, Peakon, Dayuse, Botify, Financefox, Azalead and many more.

Idinvest Partners

Eurazeo is a private equity and venture capital firm that invests in SMEs and manages a diversified portfolio of assets. With its expertise in private equity, real estate, and private debt, the group supports companies of all sizes in their development commitment through the commitment of its 235 professionals. It provides companies with the necessary investments needed to realize their growth potential. The firm was founded in 1969 and is based in Paris, Ile-de-France, France.

Eurazeo

As part of the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, GS Growth is the firm’s investment platform dedicated to providing preferred equity and mezzanine capital to high-growth companies. As of June 2019, Goldman Sachs' investing groups (Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, Principal Strategic Investments, and Private Capital Investing) have combined to form the GS Growth team. The team targets investments of $20-250 million.

GS Growth

Bpifrance provides financial solutions for companies that are booting up the listing on the stock exchange and credit equity. It includes OSEO, CDC Entreprises, FSI, and FSI Regions to offer in your area of financial solutions at every stage of the life of your business. Bpifrance was founded in 2012 and is based in Maisons-alfort, Ile-de-France, France.

Bpifrance

Malt

Malt is connecting available freelancers and customers with an easy-to-use search engine. Freelancers display their experience, work, and previous customer comments on a profile page, which let customers contact them. Malt then provides services to both parties to make it easy to pay, accept contracts, leave a comment, and be automatically insured (with AXA) while the work is being done. Malt is available in France and Spain and will expand its operations to other European countries in 2018. Already, customers are replacing IT staffing companies or agencies with Malt to find developers, designers, and other freelancers.

<div><p>Malt (previously known as Hopwork) is a French startup platform connecting businesses of all sizes to freelancers specializing in areas such as tech, design, marketing, communications, and business consulting. The company currently has offices in France (Paris, Lyon), Germany (Munich- launched in September 2019), and Spain (Madrid- launched in September 2017).&nbsp;</p></div>

The on-demand economy has finally reached white collar work.

Online Freelancing Platforms

<div>
  <p>
    Malt (previously known as Hopwork) is a French startup platform connecting businesses of all sizes to freelancers specializing in areas such as tech, design, marketing, communications, and business consulting. The company currently has offices in France (Paris, Lyon), Germany (Munich- launched in September 2019), and Spain (Madrid- launched in September 2017).&nbsp;
  </p>
  <p>
    As of March 2022, the platform has more than 340,000 freelancers, and the company reports a client base of over 40,000. The platform takes a 5%-7% cut of the service value from clients, compared to peers Upwork and Fiverr, who charge 3%-5%. Some of its clients include Unilever, Lufthansa, Bosch, BlaBlaCar, L&rsquo;Oreal, and Allianz. The company also partners with consulting firms such as McKinsey to help its clients source freelancers. Since its inception, the company has processed EUR 300 million (approximately USD 367 million).
  </p>
  <p>
    The company acquired Comatch (
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9385">
      <u>March 2022</u>
    </a>
    ), a German freelancer marketplace offering management consultancy and industry-specific expertise, with ~15,000 freelancers across 9 markets. The acquisition aimed to expand Malt&rsquo;s presence in Germany and expand its scope to serve the business consultancy vertical. Following the acquisition, Malt expects to hire 150 new employees by the end of 2022 and reach EUR 1 billion (approx. USD 1.1 billion) in revenue by 2024.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Key customers and partnerships</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    In 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21396">
      <u>August 2023,</u>
    </a>
     Malt partnered with Dynamic Freelancer to enhance the freelance talent acquisition landscape by simplifying the process of connecting freelancers with businesses.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Funding and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    In June 2021, the company announced that it raised EUR 80 million (approximately USD 97 million) in a funding round led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity and Eurazeo. The round values the company at EUR 400 million (approximately USD 489 million), with the fresh financing being funneled toward expanding its operations across Europe, including Benelux, the UK,&nbsp; Italy, and the US.&nbsp;
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    Tempo is a UK-based platform connecting businesses to local freelancers. The company is currently based in London and Manchester.
  </p>
  <p>
    The company claims it can significantly lower hiring lead time and cut recruitment costs by 65%. As of February 2022, the platform has worked with 2,500+ clients in sectors such as financial services, software, and e-commerce. The platform has a pool of 80,000 candidates up for permanent and temporary roles.
  </p>
  <p>
    The platform’s most recent funding came in June 2020 when it raised its Series A extension worth USD 6.4 million led by industry incumbent  The Adecco Group. The fresh capital will be used to fuel its expansion across the UK and boost hiring from 35 to 50 team members in 2020.
  </p>
</div>


Tempo

<div>
  <p>
    Textbroker is a platform for creative writing freelancers to connect with businesses. Textbroker freelancers work on projects such as social media posts, news stories, and blog posts. The platform provides content in over 35 languages, while connecting businesses with freelancers in the target country.
  </p>
  <p>
    As of October 2020, the platform served over 80,000 clients and has processed over 10 million orders. The platform's pricing starts at USD 1.5 cents per word and serves clients including Ebay and Staples.
  </p>
</div>


Textbroker

<div>
  <p>
    Procurement Freelancers provides freelancers for procurement functions such as sourcing/category management, quality control and assurance, and advisory.
  </p>
  <p>
    The platform is free to use for freelancers, while clients purchase subscriptions to hire and manage freelancers at no added cost.
  </p>
  <p>
    In March 2019, the company acquired Dragon Sourcing, a procurement and sourcing service provider.
  </p>
</div>


Procurement Freelancers

<div>
  <p>
    Kolabtree  is a UK-based  freelancer marketplace connecting businesses and scientists. The platform provides businesses with skills such as data analysis, product development, scientific consulting, desk research, and other science related services within 24 hours of receiving business requests.
  </p>
  <p>
    As of September 2020, the platform had a pool of over 15,000 freelancers (across 170+ countries) qualified in over 2,000 scientific disciplines. In addition, the company has worked with over 3,500 businesses over the past three years and has 8,000 active users. 
  </p>
</div>


kolabtree

<div>
  <p>
    Codersera is a freelance marketplace for businesses seeking developers. The company claims to provide the top 1% of developers through its five tier vetting process. The platform’s freelancers cover a spectrum of developer and data science technologies such as iOS, Android, Python, and Java.
  </p>
</div>


Codersera Inc

Solutions use AI/Ml for to match freelancers with clients and to vet freelancers

Some solutions introduced by players in this hub are using a B2B SaaS model

Platforms that offer expertise across multiple verticals such as design and creative, web, mobile and software development, finance, and marketing.

Malt

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Human Cloud

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Monthly News Summary (August 2023)

Malt acquires German consulting marketplace Comatch

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