Alven Research
Investment Thesis
Alven is an independent early-stage venture firm based in Paris, founded in 2000 by two college friends, Guillaume Aubin and Charles Letourneur, who left investment and corporate banking careers to start it. The firm describes itself as partnering with the most relentless builders in Europe, and its stated philosophy is that straightforward honesty is the best support a VC can bring, so founders can react better and execute faster. It aims to back European category-defining startups with global reach, starting at seed or Series A.
Stage Focus
Alven invests at Seed and Series A and stays on for later rounds. Recent follow-ons include Archy's Series C (September 2026), Kaiko's extended Series B (September 2026), Attention's Series B (July 2026) and Cryptio's Series B (March 2026). It typically supports companies for five years or more.
Check Size
Third-party profiles put typical checks at roughly $1M to $5M. The firm's own site does not state check sizes, so this is a lower-confidence field.
Lead Tendency
Alven leads early rounds (for example the EUR 7.7M seed in Altrove in November 2025 and the $38M Series A in Verley) and participates as an existing investor in later rounds (Kestra Series A led by RTP Global, Archy Series C led by JMI Equity). Overall it both leads and follows.
Recent Activity
- September 2026: Kaiko extends its Series B to $110M, led by S&P Global; Alven has backed Kaiko for more than five years.
- September 2026: Archy raises a $50M Series C led by JMI Equity, with Alven participating.
- July 2026: Attention raises a $30M Series B.
- May 2026: Carbonfact acquires Vaayu.
- April 2026: Kestra raises a $25M Series A led by RTP Global with Alven participating; Generare raises EUR 20M; TheGuarantors secures a majority investment to accelerate US growth.
- March 2026: Cryptio raises a $45M Series B.
- November 2025: Alven leads the EUR 7.7M seed round in Altrove.
Alven VI closed in 2022 at its EUR 350M hard cap, described as the largest early-stage fund raised in France. The firm is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The site highlights Stripe, Kestra, Genesis, Stoik, Akeneo, Algolia, Dataiku, TheGuarantors, Qonto, Typology, Indy, Gorgias, Planity, Generare and Neural Concept, and testimonials come from founders at Qonto, Typology, Gorgias and Yubo. Other recent portfolio news covers Kaiko, Archy, Attention, Carbonfact, Cryptio and Verley. Aggregators count 130 to 170 portfolio companies and several unicorns. The portfolio page has a logo wall with no readable captions, so the full company list was not recoverable from the page itself.
Team
- Charles Letourneur, Managing Partner and Co-Founder
- Guillaume Aubin, Managing Partner and Co-Founder
- Rodolphe Menegaux, Managing Partner
- François Meteyer, Partner
- Maria Tahri, Partner
- Further investment team members listed on the about page: Victor Charpentier, Aude Steinberg, Léo-Paul Lajoinie, Stella Walter (titles not stated in the page text)
Decision Process
Partnership model with several managing partners and partners. Specific decision timelines are not published.
Founder Preferences
Relentless, ambitious European founders building category-defining companies with global reach. Alven emphasises direct, honest support and long-term partnership. ESG policy excludes weapons, pornography, tobacco and activities linked to human rights violations or child labour, and it focuses on gender equality and climate action. It publishes an annual Alven Climate Report.
Geographic Focus
Europe, centred on France. Companies in the portfolio also expand into the US (Kestra, Archy, TheGuarantors). The office is at 124 rue Réaumur, 75002 Paris.
Fund History
Alven I (2000, EUR 10M), Alven II (2003, EUR 36M), Alven III (2008, EUR 100M), Alven IV (2013, with opportunity fund in 2019, EUR 190M total), Alven V (2016, EUR 250M), Alven VI (2022, EUR 350M). The firm reports over EUR 2B in funds under management.