Cleantech Group marked certain standout achievements of the last 12 months in its innovation ecosystem during the gala dinner of its 14th annual Cleantech Forum Europe, held in Antwerp, Belgium, on May 15, 2018.

Aster was honored to receive the ‘‘Standout Fundraising Achievement of the Year’’ there.

Standout Fundraising Achievement of the Year awards can be awarded to one (or more) “company, or an investor, active in clean technology in the Europe & Israel region whose fundraising achievement in the past 12 months (in this case, April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018) stands out to the Cleantech Group’s analysts for any combination of its audacity or its novelty, its impressive execution or the quality of its syndicate, or its pioneering and example-setting nature.”

Find below a few pictures of the awards ceremony and of the ”AI and the Future of Energy” panel, both with Jérome Joaug, Principal at Aster (© Steffanie Klaassen).

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Aster was happy to be sponsor of the first VC Night, the official Viva Technology launch party set in Montorgueil Street on May 23rd. From 7pm until late, Aster welcomed international startups attending VivaTech in a casual atmosphere at Le Lézard Café. And now, find us at Viva Tech!

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A graduate of the École Polytechnique and the University of Cambridge in 2012, Jérome Joaug co-founded Cambridge Nanosystems, a leader in the environmentally-friendly production of high-quality graphene which was sold in 2016. After this first foray into entrepreneurship at age 24, he was a business angel for several months for some ten startups in the fields of cleantech and education. In 2017, he co-founded a new company, Nymbly, which specializes in the management of connected objects and was also sold in early 2018. He joined Aster as Principal in March 2018.

“I am delighted to join a leading venture capital management company whose areas of expertise and international dimension are fully in line with my background and aspirations. My experience as an entrepreneur will give me an edge in furthering Aster’s development”, said Jérome Joaug.

“I am thrilled to welcome a serial entrepreneur to the team. Jérome will enhance our expertise in the areas of artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things and Deep Tech and will drive Aster’s development in the UK. In hiring him, we are also sending a clear signal to startups: who better to understand their needs than an entrepreneur?”, added Jean-Marc Bally, Aster’s Managing Partner.

At France Invest’s first Investment & Industry event, held in Paris on March 6th 2018, Jean-Marc Bally, Managing Partner of Aster, presented Aster and its role towards startups in financing breakthrough innovations in the industry sector.

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Thursday, February 1st, Aster held its first edition of the Aster Open Tour, opening its doors to the players of new mobilities. Eight startups set up in our own offices met with a mostly corporate crowd – in accordance with Aster’s Business Hub approach. Axelle Lemaire, Former Secretary of State for Innovation and Digital Affairs, took part in the event.

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Jean-Marc Lazard, CEO and founder of OpenDataSoft, and Jean-Marc Bally, Managing Partner of Aster, were live on BFM Business to talk about their partnership, how they met and their projects in common.

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With €240 million in capital raised, Aster takes position as the leading venture capital fund dedicated to the energy transition and the mobilities of the future. The investment company brings its total funds under management to €500 million.

A €240 million capital increase operation to be invested primarily in Europe and the United States 

The €240 million in capital raised in the first closing by several industrial players will be used to finance companies at all levels of maturity. Investments will range from €250K at the seed level to €15M in the growth segment.

Jean-Marc Bally, Managing Partner at Aster, shared his delight “with this remarkable operation, which proves all the confidence our subscribers have in Aster’s unique model and in the vitality of venture capital in France”.

The funds will be invested primarily in Europe and the United States, with potential for action in Asia. Aster covers all the world’s major innovation hubs, with offices in Paris, San Francisco and Tel Aviv, as well as a presence in China and Africa, through partner funds.

Two key topics: the energy transition and the mobilities of the future

Aster’s investments will be focused on the digital and industrial transformations of the energy and mobility markets, the team’s areas of expertise for the last 17 years.

The energy transition will be the first development line. The second angle for investment will be the mobilities of the future, in particular: new usages; technologies and infrastructures fostering sustainable mobility and multi-modality; and connected and autonomous vehicles.

According to Fabio Lancellotti, Partner at Aster, “the transformations underway in the energy and mobility value chains are creating opportunity for budding companies, as well as for industrials. We want to energise the sector by combining our strengths through our ‘Business Hub’ approach”.

A “Business Hub” to boost start-up projects

Aster provides the funded companies with an acceleration platform, facilitated by a dedicated team which mission is to encourage business opportunities. Thanks to its “Business Hub” approach, Aster provides support to entrepreneurs at all stages of their projects and enables them to reach the most relevant players, networks and markets for their development.

Over the last twelve months, the “Business Hub” has enabled more than 500 contacts and generated around twenty partnerships between start-ups and industrial players.