Ever make dinner with what’s left in the fridge at the end of a busy week? Mostly this column gets through all the topics and news that fit its purview in any given five-day period. Other times, like this week, I wind up with a few interesting leftover tidbits that I still need to share. […]
Category: Cathay News
Biotech Investors Are Flocking to Paris
Ask a summer tourist the prime attraction of Paris and the apt response will be the museums, the restaurants and the shopping. But for investors around the globe the answer is HealthTech Investor Days, an event sponsored by France Biotech, an association of French entrepreneurs in the life sciences. […]
Cathay Innovatoin hits €320m first close for Fund II
The firm said Cathay Innovation is looking to close the vehicle on €500m, substantially more than the €287m raised for Cathy’s first fund. The fund has secured commitments from Accor, BioMérieux, Dassault, JCDecaux Holding, Kering and Pernod Ricard. Previous investors including Bpifrance, Groupe ADP, Groupe SEB, Michelin, Valeo and GL events also committed to the fund. […]
Cathay catches $358m for ccorporate-backed fund
ADP, SEB, Michelin, Valeo, Accor, BioMérieux, Dassault, JCDecaux Holding, Kering and Pernod Ricard have all contributed to the venture fund’s $358m first close. Cathay Innovation, the venture capital arm of France-based private equity firm Cathay Capital, reached the €320m ($358m) first close of a €500m fund today, securing capital from several corporate limited partners. […]
Cathay Capital’s venture affiliate seeks €500m for latest fund
Cathay Innovation, a venture capital affiliate of midmarket private equity firm Cathay Capital Private Equity, has raised more than €300m so far for its second fund, its co-founder and managing partner Denis Barrier said in an interview. The fund, which has a €500m target, received backing from a mix of institutional investors. […]
Who is Cathay Innovation, at the origin of a second fund of 320 million euros?
En 2015, Mingpo Cai, président-fondateur de Cathay Capital, société de capital-développement globale, rencontre Denis Barrier, jusqu’alors partner chez Iris Capital et ancien head of venture capital & corporate venture chez Orange. Ils partagent alors une même vision: les entrepreneurs du numérique devraient pouvoir être soutenus par une plateforme internationale qui leur permet de croître significativement, tout en bénéficiant de l’appui […]
Fintech Used To Be A Local Game. Today It Can Be Global
Historically, financial services was a local player’s game. Just look at the top 5 banks in Canada, US, UK, Canada, France and China in the chart below, ranked by total assets. There is nearly no overlap. In fintech, historically, the same appeared to be true. Outside of certain verticals like cross-border finance, most fintechs remained largely […]
Africa Roundup: Jumia’s IPO, DHL launches Africa e-Shop, Cathay’s $168M VC fund, ConnectMed acquired
The biggest news in a month of weighty African headlines was Jumia listing on the New York Stock Exchange. After filing SEC IPO docs in March, the Pan-African e-commerce company’s shares began trading on the NYSE April 12, opening at $14.50 under ticker symbol JMIA. Jumia stock rose north of 70% on its first day of trading […]
Venture capital funds are starting to make bigger bets on African startups
Funding has long been a challenge for African startups but the tide has started to turn in the last year as the sector heats up and both investors and entrepreneurs start to see some of their long term efforts come to fruition. In the recent past the biggest issue startups from Lagos to Nairobi or […]
Cathay Innovation and AfricInvest to raise $168M Africa VC fund

Tunisia-based private equity firm Africinvest has teamed up with Cathay Innovation — the venture sub of Paris-based private equity firm Cathay Capital — to launch a new Africa tech fund with a target raise of $168 million. Details are still forthcoming, but the Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund will focus primarily on Series A to C-stage investments in African technology […]