Bouygues Group, the French industrial conglomerate whose American subsidiary Winnovation is a BuiltWorlds member, recently announced the creation of the ISAI Build Venture investment fund. Its purpose is to invest in start-ups that develop software and hardware solutions capable of speeding up the transformation and decarbonisation of Bouygues’ business segments in the fields of construction, property development as well as in transport, and energy and services infrastructure.
The fund will use its €80 million of capital to acquire minority interests during funding rounds ranging from seed to series C. ISAI Build Venture aims to allocate between €500,000 to €5 million for each investment.
The fund’s management will be entrusted to ISAI, which has been financing and supporting digital start-ups and scale-ups in France and abroad for over 13 years. This initiative will help the Bouygues group identify and invest in champions in the construction sector, with the aim of:
– driving the transformation of its business segments through better understanding and integration of new technologies and new business models;
– encouraging the emergence and adoption of the best solutions to address the key challenges of digitalisation and mass production, whilst reducing the environmental impact of its activities.
The combined expertise of ISAI, a recognised investor in the tech/digital ecosystem, and of Bouygues, a leader in its business activities, will help the fund to build a portfolio of 15 to 20 start-ups over the next five years from around the world with the main focus being on Europe and the United States.
Edward Bouygues, Deputy CEO of the Bouygues group, in charge of Innovation, congratulated the launch of this fund: “We’re delighted to announce the creation of this investment fund, which bolsters our innovation programme. This ambitious initiative will enable the Group to progress on the key issues that our sectors face. The digitalisation of our processes, the improvement of productivity, the management and reduction of the carbon impact of our activities are at the heart of our concerns and we firmly believe that the start-up ecosystem can nurture the emergence of fit-for-purpose, efficient and ground-breaking solutions. We are counting on ISAI’s expertise to identify projects with very high potential, and we want to make the Group’s know-how available to these entrepreneurs in order to support their growth.”
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