Axeleo Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Axeleo Capital is a French, operator-led investment firm founded by Eric Burdier and Mathieu Viallard. Its stated mission is to be the human side of capital: backing founders with straight-talk feedback, high-cadence engagement, execution-first support, and access to a trusted network of entrepreneurs and C-level operators. The firm runs two distinct funds with different mandates. The Digital fund invests at Pre-Seed and Seed across the software stack, helping founders bridge the gap from early product to global blue-chip enterprise accounts. The Greentech Industry fund invests at Series A and B, financing the first industrial plants (FOAK, first-of-a-kind) of high-potential European cleantech and deep-tech companies, bridging what the firm calls Europe's "Valley of Death" between pilot and commercial-scale production.
Sector Focus
The Digital fund targets four sub-sectors: Cyber & Infrastructure (cybersecurity, data sovereignty, cloud-native resilience, high-performance systems); AI, Data & DevTools (AI ops, LLM orchestration, engineering productivity, intelligent workflows); Fintech & Business Automation (embedded finance, real-time rails, autonomous treasury, vertical OS); and Frontier IT & Robotics (deeptech computing, bio-AI, sensing, autonomous systems). The Greentech Industry fund targets Energy (renewables, hydrogen, energy efficiency, long-duration storage); Chemicals & Materials (biomaterials, carbon capture, circular water systems, waste-as-a-resource); Food & Agriculture (sustainable ingredients, alt-fertilizers, alt-proteins, farming automation); and Mobility (electric powertrains, urban logistics, maritime and aero-transport).
Stage Focus
Digital: Pre-Seed and Seed. Greentech Industry: Series A and B, specifically the industrialization stage.
Check Size
Digital: €0.5M-€3M initial ticket, up to €10M including follow-ons. Greentech Industry: €3M-€10M initial ticket, up to €15M+ follow-on capacity.
Lead Tendency
Axeleo frequently leads or co-leads at the stage it enters first (led Bioweg's €14M Series A, led Exergy3's £10M seed, co-led Sopht's €7.5M Series A, co-led Kestra's original $3M seed), then follows on through later rounds led by growth investors (RTP Global on Kestra's Series A, Gradient on Linkup's $10M seed, Alven on Symbiotic Security's $10M seed).
Recent Activity
Actively deploying across both funds. Recent moves include a follow-on $10M Series A in Actionable (Sep 2026, led by Hi inov), the exit of Trustpair via acquisition by Basware (Aug 2026), co-leading Sopht's €7.5M Series A (Jun 2026), leading Exergy3's £10M seed round (Apr 2026), following on in Kestra's $25M Series A (Mar 2026) and Linkup's $10M seed (Feb 2026), and participating in Symbiotic Security's $10M seed (Jan 2025). The firm also publishes recurring research products: a quarterly Cybersecurity Index (16th edition, Q2 2026), a quarterly Urbantech Index, and an annual European Cybersecurity Report.
Portfolio Highlights
Over 20 exits to global tech leaders, including Alsid (acquired by Tenable), Cloudskiff (acquired by Snyk), 365Talents (acquired by Docebo), Myr.ai (acquired by Swile), Mantra (acquired by Netskope), Kadiska (acquired by Silae), and most recently Trustpair (acquired by Basware, 2026). Active portfolio highlights include Kestra (open-source data orchestration, now used by Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Toyota, and 30,000+ organizations, having raised a $25M Series A led by RTP Global), Joko (universal shopping app with 6M+ users), Linkup (AI-agent search infrastructure, ranked #1 on OpenAI's SimpleQA benchmark), Symbiotic Security (secure-by-design AI code generation), and Bioweg (bio-based cellulose replacing microplastics, building its first industrial-scale factory in Germany).
Team
- Eric Burdier, Founding Partner: engineer, 20+ years in tech, operator turned investor, France Invest board member
- Mathieu Viallard, Founding Partner: finance background, 15+ years in VC, 30+ early-stage investments
- Virginie Lucchini, Partner, Head of Middle Office: former banker and General Counsel, compliance and governance expert
- Marc Lechantre, Partner: Greentech investor, 16+ years in automotive across France, Slovakia, UK
- Brice Lapouble, Partner: a decade investing in European B2B software (AI, data, cybersecurity, infrastructure)
- Guillaume Sarlat, Venture Partner: former French Treasury official and technology investment banker, focused on climate and sustainability
- Laure Goupil, Head of Investor Relations
- Noémie Bristol Courgeon, Investment Director: private-equity background (Seven2/Apax)
- Sandra Dubos, Investment Director: biochemist, leads Greentech Industry fund investments
- Clémence Rivoire, Chief Financial Officer
- Paul Varasso, Principal: early-stage B2B software, fintech and AI/ML focus
- Dimitri Kremp, Principal: B2B services and energy
- Victor Chamfeuil, Associate: industrial decarbonization, FOAK plant financing
- Alix François-Poncet, Associate: early-stage B2B software (AI, fintech, cybersecurity)
- Paul Parenty, Analyst: Digital, Energy and ConTech software
- Victor Angot, Analyst: energy and green technology
- Lucie Blanc, ESG Analyst: fund performance and portfolio monitoring
- Sivan Mootoosamy, Analyst: early-stage B2B software
- Bastien Couasnon, Analyst: industrial decarbonization and deeptech hardware
Decision Process
Partnership-driven, with a hybrid team of VC investors and industrial operators; the Greentech fund is backed by strategic LPs including Veolia, Credit Mutuel Impact, and Bpifrance, who also contribute deal flow and technical diligence (e.g. the Bioweg deal originated through Veolia's German team).
Founder Preferences
Axeleo consistently backs technical or domain-expert founders with prior operating experience: repeat entrepreneurs (Nans Thomas at Actionable, previously founded and sold Wino), engineers with deep open-source credibility (Kestra's founders), and complementary co-founder pairs pairing technical depth with commercial or GTM experience (Symbiotic Security, Linkup). Conviction is frequently built over an extended relationship rather than a single pitch.
Geographic Focus
France and Europe for both funds, with Digital-fund portfolio companies expanding into the US (Trustpair, Symbiotic Security) and the Greentech fund's first investment outside France in Germany (Bioweg) and Scotland (Exergy3).