Supernova Invest Research
Investment Thesis
Supernova Invest is a Paris-based, independent deeptech venture capital firm that emerged in 2017 from an alliance between Amundi (Crédit Agricole Group) and the CEA, France's leading technological research body. The firm believes that top scientists and ambitious entrepreneurs can build a world where cutting-edge technologies shape the next generation of industry leaders, and it positions itself as a partner that understands both the underlying science and the complex business models that deeptech companies require to scale. Investment decisions are made collectively by the Partners on the firm's Investment Committee rather than by a single decision-maker.
Sector Focus
Supernova Invest organizes its thesis around four pillars:
- Industrial Technologies — advanced manufacturing, microelectronics and semiconductors, quantum computing, space tech
- Healthcare — medtech, diagnostics
- Digital — cybersecurity, data and AI, vertical software
- Cleantech — agtech, energy storage and production, waste and recycling
Across the portfolio this translates into robotics and industrial automation (ANYbotics, Capra Robotics, Galam Robotics), semiconductors and photonics (Quobly, Scintil Photonics, Unity Semiconductor), space and defense (Loft Orbital, Kraken Technology, Unseenlabs), AI-driven medtech and diagnostics (Gleamer, Orbem, SeqOne), cybersecurity (Exein, CrowdSec), and energy/climate hardware (Stellaria's molten-salt reactor, EODev's hydrogen fuel cells, Wise Integration's power chargers).
Stage Focus
Supernova Invest is a genuine multi-stage investor. It runs a dedicated seed vehicle (Supernova Innovation 3, which closed at its €100M target) alongside growth and late-stage capital — the firm announced in September 2025 that it was raising a new €300M late-stage fund. Portfolio evidence spans pre-seed/seed rounds (iNGage MEMS, FenX) through Series A/B growth rounds (Stellaria Series A, Alice & Bob Series B, Orbem Series B, Scintil Photonics Series B) up to large late-stage rounds (Loft Orbital's $170M Series C, Exein's €70M Series C).
Check Size
No explicit check-size range is published. Round sizes the firm has participated in span roughly €5M (AI-Verse) to $170M+ (Loft Orbital), consistent with a multi-stage seed-through-late-stage strategy rather than a fixed ticket band.
Lead Tendency
Supernova Invest frequently leads or co-leads rounds — its own news pages describe it "leading" rounds in Heliup, Agreenculture, AI-Verse, and co-leading Stellaria's Series A — while also participating alongside other leads (Balderton led Exein's Series C with Supernova joining; Elaia/Omnes/Merieux joined Supernova-led rounds elsewhere). This is a "both" lead/follow profile rather than a pure lead-only or follow-only fund.
Recent Activity
Fund status is actively deploying across both the seed and late-stage vehicles. Notable 2024–2026 activity includes: Loft Orbital's $170M Series C (Jan 2025), Alice & Bob's $104M Series B for cat-qubit quantum computers (Jan 2025), SeqOne's €20M growth round for AI-powered genomic diagnostics (May 2025), Galam Robotics' €10M round for warehouse robotics (Mar 2025), Expliseat's €36M raise for lightweight aircraft seating (Jun 2025), Exein's €70M Series C for embedded IoT/AI cybersecurity (Jul 2025), Stellaria's €23M Series A for its molten-salt nuclear reactor (Jul 2025), Scintil Photonics' €50M Series B for silicon photonics (Sep 2025), and Orbem's €55.5M Series B for AI-powered MRI (Jan 2026). The firm also announced a new €300M late-stage fund in September 2025 and an earlier €50M Orano Venture Fund partnership with nuclear group Orano.
Portfolio Highlights
Supernova Invest has made roughly 100 investments and backs more than 70 companies, with 30+ successful trade exits. Notable exits include Soitec (IPO on Euronext), AFYREN (IPO on Euronext), Gleamer (acquired by RadNet for €200M+), SoniVie (acquired by Boston Scientific for up to $540M), Unity Semiconductor (acquired by Merck), Robocath (acquired by Stereotaxis), Traxens (acquired by maritime industry players), iFollow (acquired by Blackstone/Stow Group), and Keon (acquired by Marguerite). Active flagship names include Loft Orbital, Alice & Bob, Exein, Quobly, ANYbotics, Carthera, and Kraken Technology.
Team
The Supernova Invest team is composed of 30+ investors across four sector verticals. Key partners include:
- Pierre-Emmanuel Struyven, Managing Partner — 25+ years in innovation and digital industries; previously president of SFR Développement; sits on the boards of Robocath, AMI, and Scintil.
- Régis Saleur, Managing Partner — 25+ years in private equity; previously General Partner at Galileo (Talend, Sarenza); sits on the boards of Aledia, Aveni, Kalray, Aselta, Crocus, Prophesee.
- Celia Hart, General Partner (Healthcare) — 20+ years in private equity/biotech; previously at Cambridge Antibody Technology (MedImmune/AstraZeneca); on the boards of Cairdac, Carthera, Diabeloop, Keranova, Uromems, Acusurgical, Allotex.
- François Breniaux, General Partner (Industry 4.0) — ~20 investments made including Ethera, NanoMakers, Nawa Technologies; serves on boards including Mirsense, Nanomakers, Vulkam.
- Etienne Moreau, Partner (Digital Technologies) — founding member of Orange Ventures, grew it from €20M to €350M AUM.
- Romain Sautrau, Partner (Energy & Environment) — co-founded StartupFarmers; on the boards of Smartway and Micropep.
- Michael Thomas, Investment Director (Digital Technologies) — leads investments including Loft Orbital, ANYbotics, Orbem, Kraken Technology.
Decision Process
Investment decisions run through a partnership-level Investment Committee rather than a solo GP structure.
Founder Preferences
Supernova favors technical, often research-originated founding teams tackling hard scientific and engineering problems (deeptech "impact-by-design" companies), and explicitly supports the transition from lab research to global industrial scale-up.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Europe, with France as the core market (many portfolio companies and team members are French), extended selectively to the UK, US expansion support (e.g. ANYbotics US growth), and Israel (Discure Technologies).