IRIS Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
IRIS is a pan-European venture and growth firm with Franco-German roots dating to the early 1990s, investing across the full lifecycle of a technology company from seed through late-stage growth. Their manifesto frames the firm as backing entrepreneurs who "know their industry and can make an impact on it with their tech," positioning IRIS as a proactive but not hands-on partner that pairs capital with sector expertise, an extensive European corporate and LP network, and hands-on strategic guidance without taking operational control. The firm has invested over €1 billion across more than 350 companies since inception, with 6 active unicorns and 300+ realized exits.
Sector Focus
IRIS organizes its portfolio around five thematic buckets: AI & Data, Enterprise SaaS, Fintech & Insurtech, Cyber & Security, Industry & Logistics, and Consumer & Apps. AI and data infrastructure is the most repeated tag across the current book (data pipelines, graph databases, DevOps automation, AI-driven security), reflecting a clear tilt toward AI-enabled enterprise software and infrastructure rather than pure consumer AI.
Stage Focus
IRIS runs two coordinated strategies under one roof: an early-stage Venture practice (seed and Series A) and a Growth practice (late-stage and growth capital for profitable, scaling companies). The Venture team, led by Julien-David Nitlech, focuses on France and Germany with a stated interest in AI, deep tech, and Industry 4.0. The Growth team, led by Erik de la Rivière and Curt Gunsenheimer, invests across Europe and beyond once a company has reached an "effective start of revenue generation."
Check Size
Ticket sizes range from roughly €1M to €30M per company across the full stage spectrum, with the firm's most recent Venture fund (IRIS Venture IV, a €150M vehicle) writing initial checks of €1M-€8M into Seed and Series A rounds in France, Germany, and across Europe.
Lead Tendency
IRIS typically leads or co-leads Venture-stage rounds and either leads or closely follows in Growth-stage deals, and standard practice is to take a board seat once invested, with a typical 4-5 year investment horizon.
Recent Activity
2026 has been an active year for both sides of the portfolio. On the Venture side, IRIS led OpsMill's $14M Series A (May 2026, alongside BGV, Serena, and Partech) and Escape's $18M Series A as a participating existing investor (March 2026, led by Balderton). The firm also backed Popsink's seed round and Qovery's Series A. On the exit side, two portfolio companies transacted in 2026: Adaptive ML was acquired by Datadog (June 2026) to join Datadog AI Research, and Talon.One was acquired by Adyen for €750M (announced April 2026, expected to close H2 2026).
Portfolio Highlights
Active Venture names include Adaptive ML (exited to Datadog), Escape, Exotec, Opsmill, Popsink, Qovery, Shift Technology, Spinergie, Talon.One (exited to Adyen), Yubo, and Zeotap. Growth-stage names include ArangoDB, Forto, Jedox, Lookout, Scality, and Zeta. Notable historical exits include Careem (acquired by Uber), Talend (Nasdaq IPO), LeanIX (acquired by SAP), Kyriba (acquired by Bridgepoint), and Mopub (acquired by Twitter).
Team
- Julien-David Nitlech, Managing Partner - leads early-stage investing in France and Germany, focused on AI, deep tech, and Industry 4.0
- Erik de la Rivière, Managing Partner - leads late-stage and growth investing in France
- Curt Gunsenheimer, Managing Partner - leads late-stage and growth investing across Europe and beyond
- Anaïs Monlong, Principal, Venture - identifies and invests in ambitious French start-ups
- Thorben Rothe, Partner, Venture - early-stage DACH region investments
- Nicolas Herschtel, Partner, Growth - late-stage and growth investments in Europe
- Itziar Estevez, Partner, Growth - invests across DACH region and Europe
- Jakob Banhardt, Principal, Venture - B2B tech startups in the DACH region
- Bruno du Breuil, Senior Associate, Growth - B2B software and fintech
- François Kergaravat, Senior Associate, Venture - fintech, entertainment, and SaaS
- Pauline Ancona, Senior Associate, Venture - deep tech, space, health, and industrial technologies
- Viktor Stoll, Investment Manager - B2B software and cybersecurity sourcing
- Angus Paterson, Venture Partner - supports portfolio companies across the Middle East
Decision Process
IRIS operates as a partnership across its Venture and Growth teams rather than a single decision-maker, with deal leads bringing opportunities to the broader partner group. The firm accepts direct submissions through a public application portal (/submit-a-project) in addition to warm introductions.
Founder Preferences
IRIS looks for technical, industry-fluent founders building category-defining infrastructure, security, fintech, and logistics software, with a growing emphasis on teams applying AI to enterprise data and operations problems.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Paris with additional offices in Berlin and Munich, IRIS's core investing focus is France and the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), with a broader European and select global mandate at the Growth stage. The portfolio spans 20+ countries across Europe, North America, and Asia.