Phitrust Impact Investors Research
Overview
Phitrust is a Paris-based, AMF-licensed asset manager founded in 2003 by Olivier de Guerre and Denis Branche. It became a mission-driven company (société à mission) in 2021. Its stated purpose is to invest to act: to help grow companies that put human development and the preservation of the planet at the core of their strategy. It runs two activities: active shareholder engagement in listed companies, and impact investing in unlisted social enterprises. The firm is a PRI signatory since 2007 and holds ESUS approval and the Finansol label for its social impact vehicles. Headquarters are at 7 rue d'Anjou, 75008 Paris.
Investment Thesis
The unlisted arm, Phitrust Partenaires, backs European and some emerging-market social enterprises that put inclusion at the core of the business. The firm describes its offer as patient capital plus hands-on support. Impact themes on its portfolio page include work integration (insertion par l'emploi), education and training, inclusion and disability, social and sustainable real estate, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, access to essential goods (food, water, energy), and international impact funds. The listed arm uses voting, resolutions filed at general meetings (nearly 50 since 2003, including the first environmental resolution in France, at Total in 2011) and dialogue with large French issuers.
Stage Focus
Unlisted investments are early to growth-stage social enterprises, usually through minority equity and quasi-equity, plus fund-of-funds style commitments to impact vehicles (for example I&P, 3XP Global, CoopMed, Schneider Electric Energy Access). The site does not state formal stage labels. It does state more than 45 social enterprises financed and about 40 million euros invested in unlisted impact companies.
Check Size
The website does not publish a ticket size. Portfolio-level data is not enough to infer one with confidence, so no check size is recorded.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. Several holdings are held through shared vehicles with other impact investors, and the Télémaque holding is a social impact contract with other funders. Lead tendency is recorded as unknown.
Recent Activity
- Final closing of Phitrust Partenaires Inclusion, a 60 million euro European social impact fund, reported February 2026 (target was 50 million euros; backers reported include the European Investment Fund and COFIDES).
- New 2025 portfolio entries: Maison Valençon – C du Belge (Belgium), United Repair Centre (Netherlands), Naria (Spain).
- 2024 entries: Groupe Estille, 3XP Global Impact Innovation Fund, L'Univers d'Ayden, La Conciergerie Solidaire.
- Participation in Novétape's fundraising (a social landlord subsidiary of Résidétape; 13.6 million euros reported in 2026).
- 2025 Activity and Impact Report published.
The fund is actively deploying from the third vehicle, launched July 2023.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists more than 40 holdings. Examples: Simplon (digital training), Lita.co (impact crowdfunding), La Varappe (work integration, about 100,000 people supported over 30 years), Alenvi (elder care), Les Alchimistes (food waste composting), Tête Haute (inclusive craft brewery), Koiki (last-mile delivery employing people with disabilities), Swiss Fresh Water (water kiosks in West Africa), Permicro (Italian microfinance), and BeCode (free coding training in Belgium). Exits noted on the page: La Laiterie du Berger (Senegal, sold 2023) and Foncière Chênelet (sold 2023).
Team
- Olivier de Guerre: Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO
- Denis Branche: Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman and Fund Manager
- Stéphanie de Beaumont: Deputy CEO and head of the Phitrust endowment fund
- Xavier Thauron, Cyrille Langendorff, Gaëtan Herinckx: Associate Directors (Gaëtan also leads Phitrust Benelux)
- Iléana Beluche, Danaé Becht: Investment Directors
- Henri de Reboul: Managing Director, Phitrust Asia (based in Vietnam)
- Venture Partners: Corrado Ferreti (Italy), Pascal Vinarnic (Portugal), Aitor Ojanguren (Spain; also CEO of portfolio company Koiki)
- Listed-assets team: Julien Lefebvre, Isabelle Malaussène, Léopold Legros, Juliette Jeanvoine
The board includes outside members such as Armelle du Peloux (Fondation GoodPlanet), Andrea d'Avack (former sustainability head at Chanel), Jean-Pierre Lefranc (Habitat & Humanisme) and Hubert Rodarie (AF2i).
Decision Process
Not published beyond the existence of an investment committee and a board. Decisions are collective rather than solo-GP. Venture partners source locally in Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Founder Preferences
Entrepreneurs who put inclusion at the core of the business model, usually with measurable social outcomes (jobs for people far from employment, access to essential services, training). Impact is a first-order criterion alongside long-term returns. Founders building purely commercial venture-style software without a social mechanism are outside the thesis.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Europe (France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands), with Phitrust Asia covering South East Asia and legacy fund-of-funds positions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean. A US founder is unlikely to fit unless the business serves European social-inclusion goals.
Gaps
Check size, AUM, stage-at-entry per company and per-company investment amounts are not published on the site. The listed-assets arm is not a venture investor and is not captured in the portfolio.