White Star Capital Research
Investment Thesis
White Star Capital is a global multi-stage technology investment platform founded in 2007, headquartered in Guernsey (UK) with a significant operational presence in London, New York, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, and Singapore. The firm backs exceptional entrepreneurs building ambitious, international businesses. Their core belief is that the most compelling founders build businesses through a broader world view — whether by unlocking access to new geographies or appreciating subtle cultural differences.
The firm's differentiated value proposition is its truly global presence across three continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), enabling them to partner closely with founders to help them scale internationally. They describe themselves as "the investment partner for the globally ambitious."
Fund Strategies
White Star Capital operates three distinct fund strategies:
1. Early Growth Fund (Venture Fund)
The flagship fund focuses on Series A and B stage investments. Venture investing is at the core of the firm's founding. They partner with exceptional founders as lead investors at early growth stages. The portfolio spans consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, and other technology sectors across all geographies.
2. Digital Asset Fund
A dedicated strategy for investing in crypto networks and blockchain-enabled companies across Seed, Series A, and token rounds. This fund has been very active, with portfolio companies including Ledn, Dfns, Ether.fi, Space and Time, RedStone Oracles, and many others in DeFi, crypto payments, gaming, and blockchain infrastructure.
3. North American Seed Fund
Launched in September 2025 with a target of $50M (first close at $25M, anchored by BDC). This fund focuses on leading seed rounds for North American technology startups, combining local conviction with global connectivity. The seed fund team includes Catherine Ouellet-Dupuis (GP, Montreal), Sanjay Zimmermann (GP, Toronto), and Henry Davis (GP, New York).
Stage Focus
- Seed: Via the dedicated North American Seed Fund ($50M target)
- Series A: Primary focus of the Early Growth Fund (lead investor)
- Series B: Secondary focus of the Early Growth Fund
- Growth follow-ons: Selective follow-on investments in existing portfolio (e.g., Vention Series D at $110M)
- Digital Asset Fund: Seed through Series A plus token rounds
Check Size
Based on recent investment activity:
- Seed Fund: $1M-$5M range (Billdr $3.2M, Falcon $1.5M)
- Early Growth Fund: $5M-$25M range (Elfie $12M Series A led, OatFi $24M Series A led, Veesion €38M Series B led, Trayd $10M Series A led)
- Digital Asset Fund: $1M-$15M range
PitchBook indicates the firm's venture fund historically invested between $0.5M-$5M, though recent activity suggests larger check sizes at growth stages.
Lead Tendency
White Star Capital consistently leads rounds. Recent examples include:
- Led Trayd $10M Series A (March 2026)
- Led Sequen $16M Series A (March 2026)
- Led OatFi $24M Series A (June 2025)
- Led Veesion €38M Series B (May 2025)
- Led Elfie $12M Series A (June 2025)
- Co-led Billdr $3.2M Seed (January 2026)
- Co-led Falcon $1.5M Pre-Seed (November 2025)
Recent Activity (2025-2026)
Extremely active deploying across all three fund strategies:
2026:
- Trayd: Led $10M Series A (construction tech, March 2026)
- Sequen: $16M Series A (AI personalization, March 2026)
- AMI Labs: Participated in $1.03B raise (Yann LeCun's world models, March 2026)
- TheGuarantors: Warburg Pincus investment (fintech, March 2026)
- Vention: $110M Series D (manufacturing automation, January 2026)
- Billdr: Led $3.2M Seed (construction AI, January 2026)
- Alfred Pay: $15M Series A (cross-border payments, January 2026)
- DFNS: $16M Series A (crypto wallet infrastructure, January 2025)
2025:
- Flare: $30M Series B (cybersecurity, November 2025)
- Falcon: Co-led $1.5M Seed (design tools, November 2025)
- Dott: $85M funding (micromobility, October 2025)
- MyEdSpace: $15M Series A (edtech, September 2025)
- North American Seed Fund: Launched with $25M first close (September 2025)
- Seyna: €10M funding round (insurtech, September 2025)
- Numan: $60M funding (digital health, July 2025)
- Elfie: Led $12M Series A (digital therapeutics, June 2025)
- Sleek: $23M Series B (corporate services, June 2025)
- OatFi: Led $24M Series A (embedded B2B credit, June 2025)
- Veesion: Led €38M Series B (AI computer vision, May 2025)
Portfolio Highlights
The firm has 100+ portfolio companies across all funds. Notable highlights:
Exits:
- Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever)
- Freshly (acquired by Nestlé)
- Summly (acquired by Yahoo)
- Carbon6 (acquired by SPS Commerce for $210M, January 2025)
- Echo (acquired by McKesson)
- Dialogue (acquired by Sun Life)
- Immunio (acquired by Trend Micro)
- Klaxoon (acquired by Wrike)
- Ludia (acquired by FremantleMedia)
- Mnubo (acquired by Aspen Technology)
- Mindsay (acquired by Laiye)
- dfuse (acquired by The Graph)
Active Portfolio Stars:
- Vention: Manufacturing automation platform ($110M Series D)
- Butternut Box: Fresh dog food delivery (UK market leader)
- TheGuarantors: Fintech (Warburg Pincus investment)
- FINN: Auto e-commerce (topped Sifted DACH leaderboard)
- AMI Labs: World models AI (Yann LeCun, $1.03B raise)
- Numan: Digital health ($90M 2024 revenue, 650K+ patients)
Team
White Star Capital has a large, 49-person multinational team from 21 countries speaking 24 languages:
Managing Partners:
- Eric Martineau-Fortin (Founder & Managing Partner) — Based in Guernsey/New York/London
- Jean-Francois Marcoux (Co-Founder & Managing Partner) — Based in Montreal/Toronto/New York
General Partners (Investment):
- Matthieu Lattes (Paris)
- Nicholas Stocks (London)
- Christophe Bourque (Toronto/Montreal/New York)
- Sep Alavi (New York/Dubai)
- Cristina Ventura (Singapore, Chief Catalyst Officer)
- Hemal Fraser-Rawal (London)
- Eddie Lee (New York/Seoul)
- Catherine Ouellet-Dupuis (Montreal, leads Seed Fund)
- Sanjay Zimmermann (Toronto, Seed Fund)
- Henry Davis (New York, Seed Fund)
Venture Partners:
- Alberto Lopez Toledo (CTO Advisory, New York)
- Joe Quinn Wei (Hong Kong/Singapore)
- Shun Nagao (Tokyo/Seoul)
- Nicolas Zylberstein (San Francisco)
- Vargha Moayed (Bucharest)
- Wassef Sawaf (Dubai/Abu Dhabi)
- Alex Thabet (Montreal)
- Jakob Schreyer (Berlin/Lisbon)
Decision Process
Partnership-driven decision making. With 12 General Partners across investment and 8 Venture Partners providing deal flow and sector expertise, the firm operates as a large, globally distributed partnership.
Geographic Focus
Truly global with offices and active investing in:
- North America: New York, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco
- Europe: London, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Guernsey, Bucharest
- Asia: Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong
- Middle East: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo
They invest across all these geographies with portfolio companies in US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Mexico, UAE, and more.
Founder Preferences
White Star Capital seeks founders who:
- Have an unwavering intent for global excellence
- Build businesses through a broader world view
- Are breaking down barriers and defying borders
- Build universally loved products that superscale into many regions
- Create unique business models that cannot be replicated
ESG
The firm has a dedicated ESG commitment and believes in "doing better by doing good," partnering with founders who are mission-driven ambassadors.