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Wendel Growth

Investing in high-growth companies

With Wendel Growth1, Wendel invests directly or via funds in innovative, high-growth companies. Initiated in 2013, Wendel Growth has, to date, mainly made commitments to several high-quality technology and growth investment funds.

Wendel Growth is now looking for direct investment and co-investment opportunities in start-ups. Wendel’s ambition is to invest up to €50 million per investment in scale-ups in Europe and North America. In parallel, Wendel Growth will continue to invest in funds.

Wendel Growth’s objective is twofold:

  • to diversify Wendel’s portfolio by gaining exposure to high-growth assets, generally with a digital component or with disruptive business models; and
  • to develop the expertise of Wendel’s teams and those of its portfolio companies in terms of technological innovations that can impact or improve the Group’s value creation profile.

For more information, see the Investor Day 2022 presentation of Wendel Growth

1.Formerly Wendel Lab

Key figures
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c. €206 m
in capital committed
by Wendel Growth
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> 20
investments in funds (as of December 31, 2022)
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5
direct investments
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c. €500 m
medium-term investment objective

An attractive DNA for entrepreneurs

Wendel’s evergreen capital is attractive to entrepreneurs who are looking for a partner capable of supporting them over the long term: to finance non-profitable organic growth, acquisitions or to help structure the cap table.

Wendel Growth also seeks to add value to its investments by working closely with 4 renowned Senior Advisors in technology development and by relying on the significant expertise of Wendel’s operational teams in structuring, M&A acquisitions or business connections. Wendel’s international footprint, with its network in the United States and its New York office, is a real asset in helping entrepreneurs develop their companies.

 

 

 

Direct
Investments

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Average ticket size

Direct investments, as a leader or follower, from €10 to €50 million in scale-ups (up to 4 investments per year).

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Growth profile

Companies with high-margin businesses, and double-digit annual growth.

Target return > 25% IRR

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Sector

Start-ups in growth sectors, outside Wendel’s ESG exclusion list, such as BtoB SaaS software, marketplaces, fintech, digital health, defense, deeptech, technology-based services, etc.

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Geographic areas

Start-ups located in countries where Wendel already has experience, mainly in Europe and the United States (where Wendel has a large office in NYC).

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Responsible investor

Companies that are in line with Wendel’s ESG values and ethics and that are subject to ESG due diligence during the investment phase.

Direct investments

Portfolio companies

Since 2022, Wendel Growth has been accelerating its direct investments in order to build up a portfolio of innovative, high-growth companies over the medium term by investing in 2 to 4 companies per year.

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Fund
Investments

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Approach
  • Quality over quantity
  • Established and emerging funds
  • Consistent vintage diversification
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Assessment criteria
  • Performance potential
  • Portfolio synergies
  • Co-investment/direct investment deal flow
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Portfolio construction
  • Stage focus: Primarily Venture Capital
  • Sector focus: Technology & Healthcare
  • Geographic focus: North America and Europe

The Wendel Growth team

Wendel team
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Jérôme Michiels
Executive Vice-President
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Wendel Growth
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Christopher Witherspoon
Head of Fund Investments of Wendel Growth
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Antoine Izsak
Head of Growth Equity of Wendel Growth
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Victoire Laurenty
Principal at Wendel Growth
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Diane Schiller
Associate at Wendel Growth
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Jérôme Michiels
Executive Vice-President
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Wendel Growth

Jérôme Michiels is the Group’s Executive Vice-President and CFO. He is also Director of Wendel Growth, member of Wendel’s Management Committee and a voting member of the Investment and Development Committee. He joined Wendel in 2006. He is a Board Member of Bureau Veritas.

Jérôme joined Wendel at the end of 2006 as Investment Director and was promoted to Director in January 2010. He was appointed Managing Director on January 1, 2012 and joined the Investment Committee at this date.  Jérôme was appointed Executive Vice-President on September 11, 2019, after being appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Wendel group on October 1, 2015.

From 2002 to 2006, he was an Associate at the investment fund BC Partners. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group from 1999 to 2002, carrying out strategic missions in Europe, particularly in the fields of distribution, transportation, telecommunications and financial services.

Jérôme is a graduate of HEC.

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Christopher Witherspoon
Head of Fund Investments of Wendel Growth

Christopher Witherspoon is part of the Investment Team in Paris as the Leader of the fund investment activity of Wendel Growth. He joined Wendel in 2021.

Prior to joining Wendel, Chris was a Senior Investment Manager at UK-based fund of funds, VenCap International PLC in Oxford. He was also part of the British Business Bank’s venture capital team as Senior Investment Manager, and a management consultant with KPMG in London.

Chris holds an MBA in Financial Management from Manchester University Business School. He also holds an MA in Management from Durham University Business School.

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Antoine Izsak
Head of Growth Equity of Wendel Growth

Antoine Izsak is part of the Investment Team in Paris as Head of Growth Equity at Wendel Growth. He joined Wendel in 2022.

Prior to joining Wendel, Antoine worked as a Director for seven years in the Large Venture fund of Bpifrance. He began his career at Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners and then worked at L.E.K. Consulting where he gained experience in strategy consulting.

Antoine holds a Master’s degree in Software Development from Supélec Engineering School as well as a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Paris-Dauphine.

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Victoire Laurenty
Principal at Wendel Growth

Victoire Laurenty is a Principal working for the Wendel Growth within the Investment team in Paris.

Prior to joining Wendel, Victoire worked at L.E.K. Consulting as a Senior Associate Consultant for almost three years and then as an Investment Manager in the Growth team at Ardian. She then worked as a Principal at Kerala Ventures until 2020 and at Cathay Innovation for two and a half years.

Victoire is a graduate of Telecom ParisTech and holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

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Diane Schiller
Associate at Wendel Growth

Diane Schiller is an Associate working for the Wendel Growth within the investment team in Paris.

Prior to joining Wendel, Diane worked for two and a half years at Rothschild & Cie in Paris as a Private Equity Analyst.

Diane holds a triple Master in Business Management in Global Economic Transformation & Technology (GETT), in partnership with UC Berkeley in San Francisco and SKK Graduate School of Business in Seoul.

Senior Advisors
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Jonathan Benhamou
ex-CEO and co-Founder of People doc and co-CEO of Resilience
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Renaud Deraison
Co-Founder of Tenable
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Nick Hernandez
CEO and Founder of 360 Learning
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Jean-Luc Robert
CEO of Kyriba
Contact

Wendel Growth Team
wgrowth@wendelgroup.com

Useful links