French VC Alven eyes hard-cap on Fund IV(2)

Alven Capital has reached its €100 million target for its fourth fund and will likely close on or near its €120 million hard-cap, according to a person with knowledge of the fundraising.

Alven launched the fund last summer and has had to work hard to bring new limited partners into the mix as it lost about 50 percent of the LPs it had in the third fund, which raised €100 million, the person said. The firm has attracted investors from France, Switzerland, Belgium and the US, the person said.

Alven invests mostly in France and is focused on the Internet sector, with additional exposure to media, IT and services. It targets companies with established revenues that are close to or at break-even stage, putting the firm’s strategy somewhat in the realm of growth investing.

Triago is understood to be working as the placement agent on the fundraising, but the firm did not return a request for comment. Alven could not be reached for comment.

The firm has had a series of exits over the last year, including selling software company EntropySoft to Salesforce.com; exiting its stake in online shopping company JolieBox and selling its stake in software firm BI-SAM to Aquiline Capital Partners.

Alven raised its first fund in 2000 and achieved a 3x return despite the vintage, which, because of the bursting of the tech bubble, left many companies out of business and investments busted. Guillaume Aubin and Charles Letourneur founded the firm in 1999.