White Star Capital Announces New Fund; Firm Now Has More Than $500 Million of Fresh Capital to Invest Globally

White Star Capital, a multi-stage global technology investment platform, announced it has secured $360 million* for its third flagship fund, above its original target of $300 million, to invest in exceptional entrepreneurs building ambitious, global businesses. The firm has successfully raised in excess of $500 million over the last 18 months, and now manages $750 million of assets, including $50 million from its recently announced Digital Asset Fund and more than $90 million raised from co-investment vehicles. The firm also announced it will open an office in Singapore.

Following two funds of $70 million and $180 million, announced in 2015 and 2018 respectively, White Star Capital plans to deploy initial investments between $5 million and $15 million in 15 to 20 startups across North America, Europe and Asia seeking financing at Series A and beyond.  The firm has already made several investments from Fund III, including finn.auto (Germany), Percent (U.S.A.), Flash Coffee (Singapore), Novisto (Canada),  900.care (France) and Numan (U.K.), and seeks to invest in emerging technology companies in the A.I., Digital Health, Fintech, Foodtech, Future of Work, Industrial Technologies, Mobility and Wellbeing sectors. 

The founders, Eric Martineau-Fortin and Jean-Francois Marcoux, met as two fellow ski instructors working at a ski resort in Canada. This initial connection developed into a friendship, a working relationship and a first investment by Eric into the video game developer Ludia, co-founded in 2007 and fully exited in 2013 by Jean-Francois, which was eventually to lead them to the founding with their team of global firm White Star Capital in 2014. 

The two founded the firm on the belief that entrepreneurialism is borderless and that innovation will lead to a brighter, healthier and more inclusive future. Through local investment teams and a unique international platform, White Star Capital is well positioned to partner with exceptional founders to create new companies and business models that will lead the industries and markets of tomorrow. The firm is also committed to investing in emerging technology companies building transformative global businesses at every stage of their growth. 

Today the firm is made up of a multinational team of investors and operational professionals including General and Venture Partners: Sep Alavi, Christophe Bourque, Matthieu Lattes, Shun Nagao, Julie Plouffe, Patrick Recasens Morente, Nick Stocks, Joe Quinn Wei, and Nicolas Zylberstein.

Multi-Stage Global Platform Expands Reach

Now with more than 30 team members in nine locations around the globe, White Star Capital supports investors by taking a platform approach to investing. This not only includes providing direct investment through dedicated and specialized funds, but also offering Limited Partners opportunities to directly co-invest in the firm’s fastest growing portfolio companies. 

Limited partners in the new fund include both new and previous institutional and sovereign investors, which reflects the international footprint of the firm. These include LP’s from Canada, France, Germany, Guernsey, Japan, Monaco, Poland, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. Also, participating in Fund III, were many of White Star Capital’s current and previous entrepreneurs including; Andy Tian (Co-Founder and CEO; Asia Innovations Group), Andrew Graham (Co-Founder and CEO; Borrowell), Kevin Glynn and David Nolan (Co-Founders and Co-CEOs; Butternut Box), Dr. Christopher Oster (Founder and CEO; Clark), Cherif Habib (Co-Founder and CEO; Dialogue), Max-Josef Meier (Co-Founder and CEO; finn.auto), Roger Hassan (former CEO; Echo, and former COO; TIER Mobility), Michael Wystrach and Carter Comstock (CEO and Co-Founder, and Co-Founder respectively; Freshly, sold to Nestle), Frederic Bastien and Aditya Pendyala (CEO and Co-Founder, respectively; mnubo, sold to Aspen Tech), Alex Gayer (CFO; TIER Mobility), Julien Bonneville (Founder and CEO; TheGuarantors) and Etienne Lacroix (Founder and CEO; Vention)

Proven Track Record

The announcement of Fund III builds upon the firm’s significant momentum since starting seven years ago. This includes the recent IPO of Dialogue Health Technologies (TSX: CARE), the sale of Freshly to Nestle for $1.5 billion, the recent close of its $50 million Digital Asset Fund with the support of the French public investment bank bpifrance, and receiving CVCA’s 2021 VC Global Dealmaker Award. 

Since its inception, White Star Capital has had 10 exits and two IPOs, backed five unicorns and has invested in more than 55 companies that have gone on to collectively raise over $2 billion, employ more than 7,300 people and are generating close to $1.5 billion in yearly revenue. This includes backing rapidly growing companies such as; Butternut Box (U.K.), Clark (Germany), Dollar Shave Club (U.S.A), Drop (Canada), The Guarantors (U.S.A), KeyMe (U.S.A.), Meero (France), Mnubo (Canada), Parsley Health (U.S.A.), Red Sift (U.K.), TIER Mobility (Germany), Uncapped (U.K.), and Vention (Canada). 

“Our philosophy has always been to partner with founders who have global ambitions and support them through our deep networks and regional expertise across nine locations in North America, Europe and Asia,” said Eric Martineau-Fortin, Founder and Managing Partner of White Star Capital. “With the opening of an office in Singapore, the firm has cemented its position as the partner of choice for founders building truly global businesses. Our funds are top-decile performers and our growing global team looks forward to building upon our proven global platform model.”

Chairman of the Board, Chief Catalyst Officer and Chief Technology Officer Appointed to Expand Expertise 

White Star Capital also announced the appointment of Patricia Barbizet as Chairman of the Board, Cristina Ventura as Chief Catalyst Officer and Alberto Lopez Toledo as Chief Technology Officer.

Based in Paris, Patricia Barbizet served as the first female Chief Executive Officer of Christie's, Executive Director of Groupe Artémis from 1992 until 2017; and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Kering SA and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Christie's. She is now her own investment and advisory firm, Temaris & Associes.

Singapore-based, Cristina Ventura has worked in retail and technology roles for over 20 years helping brands like Prada, Gucci, LVMH, and Apple. NY-based Alberto Lopez Toledo is the CTO and Technical Co-Founder of Freshly. Both will also serve as Venture Partners and together bring years of experience in strategic planning, leadership, creativity, and innovation to the firm’s partners and ecosystem. 

Learn more about White Star Capital Fund III on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Medium and watch a video on Vimeo. 

QUOTES FROM PARTNERS AND INVESTORS

Asia Innovations Group (AIG)
"As one of our very first investors back in 2014 as well as continuing to support us in the last round, White Star Capital has truly been with us every step of the journey. We want to congratulate White Star on raising their latest fund, and encourage all the future global unicorn builders to seek out Eric and the team, they will be your champions all the way.” 
—Andy Tian, Co-Founder and CEO

Butternut Box 
“Partnering with White Star Capital has been critical to our success from the first day. Not only did they bring great experience from working with direct-to-consumer brands companies like Freshly and Dollar Shave Club, but they also brought the same kind of passion we have for the space to our working relationship. We look forward to our continuing partnership with White Star Capital as we continue on our journey to bring healthy meals to pets everywhere.” 
 — Kevin Glynn and David Nolan, Founders and Co-CEO’s 

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) 
“This investment in White Star Capital’ Fund III is in line with our strategy to support innovative tech companies as they expand internationally. We are delighted to pursue our commitment to their team, here in Québec and around the world, and to continue evaluating co-investment opportunities with White Star Capital.”
— Mario Therrien, Head of Investment Funds and External Management

Dialogue
“White Star Capital was instrumental in guiding us from Series A funding to IPO. They partnered with us on everything from our go-to-market strategy to our mission and vision for our integrated B2B Virtual Care Platform. Early on, the team recognized our potential to bring telehealth to Canada and they went out of their way to help us achieve that goal. We congratulate them in this new fund to support entrepreneurs building ambitious, global businesses.” 
— Cherif Habib, Co-Founder and CEO

Freshly
When White Star Capital originally invested in Freshly, they promised the check was only a small portion of the value they would add.  Since that day, they have delivered on that promise, from introductions to top-notch investors and talent to helping guide strategy and international expansion. White Star Capital is uniquely skilled at investing in exceptional entrepreneurs and excited to see the successful, innovative companies that they nurture through their latest fund.”  
— Michael Wystrach, Co-Founder and CEO 

Kensington Capital Partners 
“White Star Capital has a proven track record of backing start-ups that have changed markets and redefined industries while bringing fantastic returns to their investors. They’re also able to provide us with direct co-investment opportunities in many of their portfolio companies,  which enables us to expand our investment reach while yielding greater returns.” 
— Win Bear, Managing Director

Meero 
“White Star Capital was one of the most obvious investor choices we made when raising Meero’s Series A. Through the close of the new fund, the firm once again is bringing its strong blend of business and tech acumen to the fortunate founders who have the opportunity to partner with them as they grow their businesses across markets.” 
—Thomas Rebaud, Co-Founder and CEO

Mizuho Securities
“White Star Capital is among the most internationalized venture capital funds across the globe. Their exceptional multinational background and footprint provides unique value within the world’s leading startups ecosystems. We are very grateful to play a meaningful role in their journey, serving as a lighthouse in Asia including Japan.”
— Norifumi Akiyama, Operating Officer, Head of Principal Investment

Parsley Health 
White Star Capital has been a fantastic investor and partner from the very first day. The team is always active, engaged and always available to help as we scale a new model of medical care that helps patients with chronic illness lead healthier and happier lives.
—Robin Berzin, Founder and CEO

SWEN Capital Partners 
“We’ve been tracking and investing alongside the White Star Capital team since the closing of its first fund in 2014, into its second fund, and now its third. We’ve been really impressed by the partnership’s performance and success. It is one of the most professional teams in its segment when it comes to internationalization.” 
— Jerome Delmas, CEO 

TIER Mobility
“We are extremely pleased to have chosen White Star Capital to accompany us through our journey to disrupt the mobility sector. White Star Capital’s unique combination of worldwide connections and ability to scale companies has proven instrumental in accelerating our growth and expanding our international footprint. This new fund will pave the way for other founders who will benefit tremendously from White Star Capital’s resources and expertise.” 
— Lawrence Leuschner, Co-Founder and CEO

*All financial figures are denoted in USD.