Balderton

Balderton Capital appoint dedicated principal for France

OCT 22, 2014

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• Balderton Capital, a leading European venture capital firm, re-iterated its strong links with the French technology sector today with the appointment of Nicolas Debock as a dedicated Principal for the country.

  Balderton Capital was founded in 2001, and counts amongst its General Partners Bernard Liautaud, who founded one of France’s most significant technology companies, Business Objects. Balderton has invested in many companies founded by French entrepreneurs and with operations in France, including Vestiaire Collective, Talend, Sketchfab and Sunrise. In recent years, the French web and tech ecosystem has seen increased momentum, particularly in Paris, where a number of incubators, accelerators and shared working spaces are helping to create and grow start-ups. This is being echoed in major regional centres such as Lyon, Nantes, Toulouse and Lille which are developing their own ecosystems. This rich environment for growth, producing international companies such as Blablacar or Neolane, has encouraged Balderton to appoint a dedicated representative, who will spend the majority of his time based in France.

  With 13 years’ experience in different companies across Europe, Nicolas Debock has a deep knowledge of the European tech and web ecosystem, with a particular focus on fintech, consumer to consumer marketplaces and SaaS. Prior to joining Balderton, Nicolas spent 3 years working at XAnge, a Paris based VC firm. Previous experience includes 5 years working at La Poste, the French postal service, as head of start-up relationships, and 5 years at the Paris offices of Logica, the IT and management consultancy firm, as a market intelligence analyst. These roles have enabled Nicolas to develop a strong network within the French start-up scene, mentoring entrepreneurs and accelerating the growth of start-ups.

  Bernard Liautaud, General Partner at Balderton Capital said, “There has been a number of international leaders emerging from France in the last few years, including Criteo, Talend and Dashlane, and French entrepreneurs understand the opportunity is there to create international success stories. Nicolas brings to the team a fantastic network and practical skills in helping small companies grow into large, global ones. We believe that France is well positioned to be a global leader in many emerging sectors, such as the sharing economy, and we want to be available and accessible to French entrepreneurs to help take more French start-ups onto the international stage. “

[email protected]
+44 (0)1420 564346 /+44 (0)7990 520390 (Teresa Horscroft)
+44 (0)1273 470199 (Jane Lee)

Balderton’s PR Consultancy, Powerscourt
Juliet Clarke / John Elliott
[email protected]
+44 (0) 20 7250 1446

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