Extra Crunch Tuesday: 12 Paris-based VCs look at the state of their city

Extra Crunch Newsletter

Tuesday, September 01, 2020 • By Walter Thompson

Welcome to Extra Crunch Tuesday Image Credits: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images I’ve lost track of the number of articles I’ve read predicting the end of cities as newly-remote information workers depart for rural areas, return to their hometowns, or I don’t know, buy an RV and hit the road so they can drive from town to town and help people in trouble. Rather than offer you more of the same, we asked editor-at-large Mike Butcher to reach out to VCs in two European capitals to find out how these tech hubs are adapting to the COVID-19 era. Supported by the government-led French Tech initiative and a growing number of VCs, Paris’ investor community is seeing plenty of green shoots, he found. Here’s who he spoke to: Alison Imbert, partner, Partech Alexandre Mordacq, partner, 360 Capital Partners Emmanuel Delaveau, partner, Partech Boris Golden, partner, Partech Jean de La Rochebrochard, managing partner, Kima Ventures Paul Bolardi, associate, AXA Venture Partners Shiraz Mahfoudhi, Speedinvest Guillaume Dupont, founding partner, CapHorn Martin Mignot, partner, Index Ventures Bartosz Jakubowski, principal, Alven Pierre Entremont, founding partner, Frst Capital Pierre-Eric Leibovici, founding partner, Daphni Berlin is a great place to start a tech company: it’s centrally located, affordable, and it attracts a diverse mix of talented people from around the world. Home to unicorns like HelloFresh, Delivery Hero and N26, it’s also a hub for top investors and accelerators. As elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed their short-term behavior and their long-term outlook, but all say they’re adapting to #theseuncertaintimes. “We are really doing business as usual,” said Mike Lobanov of Target Global. In his view, the global VC community should know that in Berlin, “the opportunities are as good as ever.” Mike surveyed ten Berlin-based investors to find out how COVID-19 has changed the landscape: Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, founding partner, La Famiglia Jorge Fonturbel, associate, Target Global Luis Shemtov, founding partner, Lunar Ventures Mike Lobanov, founding partner, Target Global Ludwig Ensthaler, founding partner, 468 Capital Mathias Ockenfels, partner, Speedinvest Axel Bard Bringéus, partner, EQT Ventures Eckhardt Weber, managing partner, Heal Capital Joerg Rheinboldt, managing partner, APX Axel Springer Porsche GmbH & Co. KG Christian O. Edler, partner, Christianedler.com I hope you have a fantastic week — thanks very much for reading Extra Crunch. Walter Thompson Senior Editor, TechCrunch @yourprotagonist Read more

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