About Holnest
Holnest is a venture capital firm founded in 1983. It is primarily based out of Lyon, France. As of Dec 2024, Holnest has invested in 51 companies. It primarily invests in Seed round in France based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to HealthTech and Consumer. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Objow Overall, Holnest portfolio has seen 1 IPO and 6 acquisitions including key companies like Gleamer, Olympique Lyonnais and Pixyl. A lot of funds co-invest with Holnest, with names like Bpifrance sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Holnest has team of 4 people including 2 partners.Key Metrics
Holnest's List of Top Investments
Holnest has a portfolio of 51 companies. Their most notable investments are in My Hospitel and TwicPics.Their portfolio spans across France, Canada and United States. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, HealthTech, Consumer and 22 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 1 more. Here is the list of top investments by Holnest:
1. Cegid
Provider of cloud-based management solutions for retail, finance, tax, and HR. The company offers platforms for omnichannel transformation, supply chain optimization, and in-store customer experience enhancement. It provides tools for travel expense management, direct debit management, and treasury management. The company delivers human resources solutions for talent acquisition, talent management, and learning. It integrates artificial intelligence into its management solutions.
Key facts about Cegid
- Founded Year: 1983
- Location: Lyon (France)
- Annual Revenue: €500M - €1B as on Dec 31, 2024
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Late Stage
- Total Funding till date: $900K
- Employee Count: 4,952 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Silver Lake, Loka Capital and 11 Others
- Latest Funding Round: PE, Jun 03, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Gleamer
Developer of artificial intelligence software for medical imaging diagnostic analysis. This technology integrates with existing radiology workflows to assist in the detection and assessment of pathologies across various modalities including X-ray, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The software provides automated measurements, worklist prioritization, and reporting assistance to support clinical image interpretation. These tools function as a gateway for deploying diagnostic algorithms that process medical data to identify abnormalities in bone, chest, breast, and neurological scans.
Key facts about Gleamer
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: Paris (France)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $40M
- Employee Count: 120 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Kima Ventures, Crista Galli Ventures and 11 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Jun 28, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
3. CerbAir
Cerbair develops civilian drone detection system named "DroneWatch" that uses stereovision technologies and advanced algorithms. DroneWatch is able to detect, track and identify any flying threat in real-time and in any environment. Its automatic warning system can identify the violators through real-time alerts and digital evidence collection. Its solution can be used in the defense sector, Government organizations, Office Public areas, Airports etc. The company has been quoted in several media channels such as Le Point, La Tribune, Silicon, La Croix etc. CerbAir is a subsidiary of Technofounders.
Key facts about CerbAir
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Orsay (France)
- Annual Revenue: €1M - €10M as on Dec 31, 2019
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $7.83M
- Employee Count: 38 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Angelsquare, Boundary and 8 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Dec 01, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Jus Mundi
Smart search for International law and arbitration research. The platform democratizes access to global legal information with its multilingual search engine that combines international legal expertise with artificial intelligence. It is based in Paris and NYC. Customers include legal firms such as DLA Piper, Freshfields, Dentons, legal departments of multinationals such as Iberdrola, governments including Japan and Argentina, and universities such as the Sorbonne, and Cambridge.
Key facts about Jus Mundi
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: Paris (France)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $33.1M
- Employee Count: 122 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Acequia Capital, FJ Labs and 14 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Aug 02, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Key facts about Olympique Lyonnais
- Founded Year: 1950
- Location: Lyon (France)
- Stage: Public
- Investors: Eximium, IDG Capital and 1 Other
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Dec 14, 2016, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Holnest's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Holnest has invested in 51 companies over the last 9 years, with an average of 2 new investments annually in the last 5 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Objow and most recent follow-on round was in Obat.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2023 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2021 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
2020 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2019 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Holnest's Investments by Stage
Holnest has made 10 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $1.67M, 5 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $6.53M and 1 investment in Conventional Debt stage with an average round size of $2.08M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 10 |
Series A | 5 |
Conventional Debt | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Holnest's Investments by Sector
Holnest has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Vertical SaaS, Consumer, HealthTech and High Tech. Notably, it has invested in 41 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 39 Tech companies, 32 Software companies and at least 19 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 12 |
Vertical SaaS | 5 |
Consumer | 2 |
HealthTech | 2 |
High Tech | 2 |
Others | 11 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Holnest's Investments by Geography
Holnest has made most investments in France (16).Holnest's recent investments
Holnest has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Holnest:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 09, 2024 | France | Seed | 4800 | [+3] | |
Jun 05, 2024 | France | Seed | 4563 | [+9] | |
2024 | France | Series A | 3014 | [+3] | |
Mar 14, 2024 | France | Conventional Debt | 8643 | [+2] | |
Nov 24, 2023 | France | Series A | 2426 |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Holnest's Portfolio
1 of Holnest's portfolio company became public - Olympique Lyonnais. It got listed on the Euronext Exchange (Euronext), in Feb 2007.Here are Holnest's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 08, 2007 | - | - | 6031 |
Acquired companies in Holnest's Portfolio
6 companies from Holnest's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Gleamer in Mar 2026 by RadNet for $*****.Here are Holnest's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 02, 2026 | - | - | 6751 | |
Mar 12, 2025 | Apr 29, 2021 | Seed | 9995 | |
Jan 07, 2025 | Apr 27, 2023 | Seed | 1564 | |
Jun 21, 2023 | Sep 08, 2020 | Seed | 9331 | |
Dec 13, 2022 | - | - | 6127 |
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Team profile of Holnest
Holnest has a team of 4 members including 2 Partners and 1 Principal located in France. Holnest's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Holnest:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | France | - | - | |
Partner | Lyon | - | ||
Principal | Lyon | - |
Co-investors of Holnest
Over the past 9 years, 75 investors have co-invested in Holnest's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Holnest: Kima Ventures, Business Angels and 7 others have invested in rounds before Holnest. There are 2 companies where Kima Ventures has invested before Holnest and 2 companies where Business Angels has invested before Holnest.
- Top Co-investors of Holnest: 50 investors entered a company along with Holnest. These include investors like Bpifrance (5 companies).
- Invested after Holnest: A total of 16 investors have invested in Holnest's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Boundary (1 company), Aube Management (1 company) and MBDA (1 company).
Recent News related to Holnest
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Objow: from bootstrap to European conquest thanks to a 2 million euro fundraisingFrenchWeb•Dec 09, 2024•Objow, Edenred Ventures, Credit Agricole, HUB612 and 2 others
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Dealt turns retailers into service providers and proves that pivots sometimes workTechCrunch+•Jun 06, 2024•Dealt, La Poste Ventures, GO CAPITAL, One Green and 3 others
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Entroview Raises $1.6M in FundingFinSMEs•Jun 05, 2024•Entroview, Alliance for Impact, Rethink Ventures, Exergon Chemical and 4 others
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Xperience.immo raises € 1.9 million to develop its Webapp dedicated to promotersMySweetImmo•Mar 14, 2024•XPerience.immo, Holnest
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Verteego raises 2.5 million euros from Archipel Ventures, Supercapital, Holnest and FinoliFrenchWeb•Apr 27, 2023•Verteego, Super Capital, Holnest, Groupe Finoli and 2 others
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Addworking raises 6 million euros from iXO Private EquityFrenchWeb•Oct 06, 2021•ADDWORKING, IXO, Edenred Capital, Seed4Soft and 1 other
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Paris-based LegalTech startup Jus Mundi raises $10 million to give lawyers access to AI-powered search engine for international law and arbitrationTechStartups.com•Sep 21, 2021•Jus Mundi, C4 Ventures, FJ Labs, Seed4Soft and 2 others
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Pixyl raises 2.2 million euros to automate MRI analysis using artificial intelligenceusine-digitale.fr•Apr 29, 2021•Pixyl, Elaia, Bpifrance, Holnest
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Smartway snags $12m to reduce food loss, boost profits for supermarketsAgFunderNews•Apr 07, 2021•Smartway, Credit Agricole, Unexo, IDIA Capital Investissement and 3 others
