Thanks to a shared vision of entrepreneurship and innovation, Sowefund, a crowdfunding platform, and Aster, a venture capital firm specializing in the digital transformation, have announced the launch of the Aster^crowd program. This unique program for financing and supporting start-up companies selected by Aster, through joint investments with the Sowefund crowdfunding community, is intended to revitalize the financing of innovation in France and offer everyone the opportunity to become a business angel alongside an investment fund.

A shared desire: to professionalize and democratize investment on behalf of entrepreneurs

Through this partnership, Aster and Sowefund will offer financing to selected companies through an investment and support from an investment fund combined with additional contributions from the crowdfunding community of the Sowefund platform.

The selected companies may therefore receive customized support as well as an additional source of financing along with that provided by Aster, all while offering individuals the possibility of supporting the real economy alongside a management company.

Since its creation in 2014, Sowefund has always sought to offer individuals the chance to invest alongside investment professionals in young, innovative French start-up firms with strong growth potential. This partnership now enables Sowefund to offer different investment opportunities, at more advanced stages of maturity, and thereby provide new opportunities to the 45,000 members of its platform.

As a leader in French innovation capital, Aster has backed more than 60 entrepreneurial teams in their efforts to transform the mobility, energy and industry sectors. With the launch of the Aster^crowd program, the management company now adds crowdfunding to its quiver of support for start-ups. Meanwhile, for the first time Aster also lends its expertise in identifying young companies with growth potential for a community of individuals who can thereby become genuine business angels.