Emblem Research
Investment Thesis
Emblem is a Paris-based, Europe-focused venture capital firm founded in 2023 by Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan and Guillaume Durao. The firm describes itself as a "down-to-earth VC with sky-high ambitions" and invests exclusively at the pre-seed and seed stage, backing Europe's earliest-stage founders with what it calls "concrete, pragmatic, stimulating and unreserved support." The founders built a track record of angel investments prior to launching the fund (including Sorare, Dalma, Gourmey, Growblocks, All Gravy, Ark Kapital, and Goals), and formalized that activity into an institutional vehicle with a first close of €50 million in March 2023 and a final close of €80 million (roughly $85M, reported by the firm as "$100M raised") in February 2025.
Stage Focus
Emblem focuses exclusively on pre-seed and seed rounds, positioning itself as a founder's first institutional check. It explicitly commits to supporting portfolio companies through to Series A rather than stepping back after the initial investment.
Check Size
Typical investment range is €500K to €3M per company. The firm describes itself as flexible on deal terms — equity stake, board seat, and whether it leads, co-leads, or follows — in order to fit founder needs rather than rigid fund mechanics.
Lead Tendency
Emblem aims to lead or co-lead the rounds it enters, while remaining open to following strong lead investors when the opportunity is compelling. Recent rounds show both patterns: it led Pillar's €3.2M pre-seed in September 2025, and continued as an earlier backer (not the lead) in Pillar's subsequent €12M seed round in May 2026, which was led by Earlybird Venture Capital and Base10 Partners.
Recent Activity
The fund has been actively deploying since its 2023 first close, having invested in roughly 16+ startups by early 2025 (8 French, 6 Nordic, 1 American, 1 Italian) and continuing to add new investments through 2026, including at least 3 new investments in the trailing 12 months as of mid-2026. Notable recent activity:
- September 2025: Led Pillar's €3.2M pre-seed round (construction-industry fintech, Milan), alongside Pareto, Plug and Play, Kima Ventures, Vento, B Heroes, Eden Ventures, and Italian Angels for Growth.
- May 2026: Pillar raised a €12M seed round led by Earlybird Venture Capital and Base10 Partners, with Emblem continuing as an existing investor.
Portfolio Highlights
Emblem's site lists 40+ portfolio companies. Notable exits/high-profile names include Wix, WalkMe, Happn, Planday, Peakon (acquired by Workday), Secret Escapes, and Sorare. Current portfolio spans AI infrastructure and tooling (Lovable, Opper, Gladia, Konvu, Phacet, Altrove), fintech/insurance (Dalma, Stoik, Pillar), enterprise SaaS (Hyperline, Synq, Weld, Lumapps, Claap), HR/workforce tech (Clustree — de Raphélis Soissan's own prior company, acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand), logistics (onTruck), food/consumer (Gourmey, Bemakers), and roughly 15 additional companies still in stealth across multiple European cities.
Team
- Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan, Founder & General Partner — Previously founded Clustree, a talent-management and HR platform acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand. Operator-turned-investor background gives her direct founder-empathy credibility with the earliest-stage teams Emblem backs.
- Guillaume Durao, Founder & General Partner — Career investor and former technology investment banker who spent roughly a decade as a partner at Idinvest Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners (Idinvest is now part of Eurazeo) before co-founding Emblem.
Decision Process
Emblem operates as a two-person founding partnership (de Raphélis Soissan and Durao), consistent with a hands-on partnership decision model rather than a large investment committee — fitting for a fund of its size and stage focus.
Founder Preferences
Emblem markets direct access to its decision-makers and a bias toward "high-risk / high-reward" bets, suggesting a preference for ambitious, technically credible founders willing to move fast pre-product-market-fit. The founders' own operating and investing backgrounds (HR tech operator, career VC/banker) suggest particular pattern-matching strength with technical and enterprise-software founders.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Europe, with a core focus on France, Denmark, and Sweden, and expanding activity in Italy (Pillar, Milan) and selective US deals (Konvu, NY & Paris). Backers of the fund itself include Danish sovereign fund Vækstfonden (now EIFO), France's Bpifrance, French corporate Edenred, and founders from Unity, Pleo, Qonto, 3shape, Spendesk, Voodoo, Pennylane, Job&Talent, Ledger, and Zendesk.