About Karista
Karista is a venture capital firm founded in 2001. It is primarily based out of Paris, France. As of Mar 2026, Karista is an active investor, having invested in 104 companies, with 2 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series A round in France based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to Life Sciences and High Tech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series C round of Waiv Overall, Karista portfolio has seen 8 IPOs and 23 acquisitions including key companies like Navya Technology, Nanobiotix and Sequans. A lot of funds co-invest with Karista, with names like Bpifrance sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Karista has team of 14 people including 6 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series A & 2 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Karista's List of Top Investments
Karista has a portfolio of 104 companies. Their most notable investments are in Navya Technology and Navya Technology.Their portfolio spans across France, United States, Germany and 3 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, High Tech and 28 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 2 more. Here is the list of top investments by Karista:
1. Exotrail
Provider of electric propulsion systems and in-orbit services for spacecraft. The company delivers mobility capabilities intended for secure and sustainable space operations. Its solutions address the increasing need for efficient movement of satellites. These services include reaching operational positions, relocation during missions, collision avoidance, and deorbiting at lifecycle's end.
Key facts about Exotrail
2. TISSIUM
Developer of vascular sealant for open vascular surgery. The company has developed biomorphic and programmable polymers for natural tissue healing. The flagship product, SETALIUM is a biocompatible, biodegradable, and on-demand activated sealant, designed to help achieve hemostasis during open vascular surgery.
Key facts about TISSIUM
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Paris (France)
- Stage: Series D
- Total Funding till date: $156M
- Employee Count: 142 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Cathay Capital, Omnes Capital and 15 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Jun 15, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Navya Technology is a developer of the autonomous electric shuttle for mobility. The product is targeted at urban facilities, industrial sites, airports, amusement parks, hospitals, etc. The vehicle claims to transport up to 15 passengers and safely drive up to a speed of 45 km/h. Also, it develops an autonomous tractor for the transportation of goods in industries, airports, etc.
Key facts about Navya Technology
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Paris (France)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $38.5M
- Employee Count: 279 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: Keolis, Negma Group and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jul 20, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Public
4. CYSEC
Cloud based platform offering data protection solutions. It helps in maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of the data on the cloud. It protects sensitive data, code, and intellectual property with ARCA trusted OS, a hardware based execution environment. The industries served are fintech, space, IoT, and many more.
Key facts about CYSEC
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: Lausanne (Switzerland)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $7.64M
- Employee Count: 42 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: 4see ventures, Blockchain Valley Ventures and 9 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Oct 27, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. Nanobiotix
Developer of nanotherapeutics designed to enhance cancer treatment via radioenhancement. Its lead candidate is designed to increase the dose of radiotherapy absorbed by tumor cells. This is intended to destroy the target tumor and prime the immune response. The company collaborates with institutions to develop therapies for cancer.
Key facts about Nanobiotix
- Founded Year: 2003
- Location: Paris (France)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $11M
- Employee Count: 144 as on Jan 02, 2026
- Investors: Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Masseran Gestion and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Dec 04, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Karista's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Karista has invested in 104 companies over the last 22 years, with an average of 4 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 4 investments, while as of Mar 2026, it has made 1 investment in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Waiv and most recent follow-on round was in Leanspace.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2025 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
2024 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
2023 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2022 | 11 | 2 | 13 |
2021 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2020 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2019 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
2018 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
2017 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Karista's Investments by Stage
Karista has made 36 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.61M, 29 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $4.69M, 8 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $10.7M and 4 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $27.6M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 36 |
Series A | 29 |
Series B | 8 |
Series C | 4 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Karista's Investments by Sector
Karista has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Life Sciences, Sustainability Tech and HealthTech. Notably, it has invested in 88 Tech companies, 71 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 47 Software companies and at least 22 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 32 |
High Tech | 15 |
Life Sciences | 12 |
Sustainability Tech | 9 |
HealthTech | 8 |
Others | 78 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Karista's Investments by Geography
Karista has made most investments in France (64), followed by United States where it has made 5 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
France | 64 |
United States | 5 |
Germany | 3 |
Belgium | 2 |
Switzerland | 2 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Karista's recent investments
Karista has made 1 investments in 2026 so far - Waiv.Here are the most recent investments by Karista:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 12, 2026 | France | Series C | 2778 | [+3] | |
Nov 18, 2025 | France | Series A | 5382 | [+3] | |
Oct 02, 2025 | France | Series B | 4092 | [+1] | |
Jun 14, 2025 | France | Series A | 3773 | [+4] | |
Apr 04, 2025 | Switzerland | Series B | 8669 | - |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Karista's Portfolio
8 of Karista's portfolio companies have become public. Acticor Biotech got listed on the Euronext Exchange (Euronext), in Nov 2021 at marketcap of $87M and Navya Technology got listed on the Euronext Exchange (Euronext) at marketcap of $222M.Here are Karista's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 01, 2021 | Feb 07, 2017 | Series B | 7450 | |
Jul 24, 2018 | Jan 19, 2016 | Series A | 6376 | |
Oct 22, 2014 | - | - | 7031 | |
Apr 25, 2014 | - | - | 4066 | |
May 22, 2013 | - | - | 5603 |
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Acquired companies in Karista's Portfolio
23 companies from Karista's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition were Stereolabs in Feb 2026 by Ouster.Here are Karista's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 09, 2026 | Nov 20, 2013 | Seed | 1479 | |
Jul 25, 2025 | - | - | 5592 | |
Mar 27, 2024 | - | - | 4204 | |
Jan 09, 2024 | Mar 23, 2016 | Seed | 4356 | |
Aug 07, 2023 | Jun 24, 2004 | Seed | 5289 |
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Team profile of Karista
Karista has a team of 14 members including 6 Partners and 1 Venture Partner located in France and United Kingdom. Karista's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in Karista:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Paris | - | ||
Partner | Paris | - | ||
Partner | Paris | - | ||
Partner | Paris | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | ||
Partner | Paris | - | - | |
Venture Partner | West End | - |
Co-investors of Karista
Over the past 22 years, 251 investors have co-invested in Karista's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Karista: Europa, EIC Fund and 55 others have invested in rounds before Karista. There are 7 companies where Europa has invested before Karista and 6 companies where EIC Fund has invested before Karista.
- Top Co-investors of Karista: 118 investors entered a company along with Karista. These include investors like Bpifrance (10 companies).
- Invested after Karista: A total of 76 investors have invested in Karista's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Bpifrance (9 companies), Europa (8 companies) and PARIS REGION Venture Fund (3 companies).
Recent News related to Karista
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Owkin creates new spin-off Waiv, formerly Owkin Dx, with $33 million in fundingBusiness Wire•Mar 13, 2026•Owkin, OTB Ventures, AIC, SISTAFUND and 4 others
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LEANSPACE raises 10 million euros to strengthen its satellite operations platformFrenchWeb•Nov 18, 2025•ISAI, Qwaltec, Leanspace, Karista and 2 others
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TiHive Secures €8M To Fuel Industrial Quality Control With Terahertz-AIStartup Rise EU•Oct 02, 2025•TiHive, European Innovation Council, Windy, ReserveAmerica and 3 others
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Look Up raises 50 million euros to deploy its radarsFrenchWeb•Jun 16, 2025•ETF Partners, K Fund, MIG Capital, Karista and 2 others
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French SpaceTech Look Up secures €50M to address space collisions using radar technology.EU-Startups•Jun 13, 2025•ICANN, ETF Partners, K Fund, MIG Capital and 2 others
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Sitowie raises €2.7 million for the development of Predibat, a sustainable real estate asset management solutiondecideurs-magazine.com•Apr 28, 2025•Sitowie, PARIS REGION Venture Fund, Karista, WinEquity and 1 other
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BforeAI, the Hérault-based predictive cybersecurity start-up, raises $10 millionInCyber•Feb 02, 2025•Bfore.Ai, Titanium Ventures, SYN Ventures, Karista and 1 other
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BforeAI Secures Series B Funding to Preempt Malicious Attacks Through PreCrime AIAiThority•Jan 14, 2025•Bfore.Ai, Titanium Ventures, SYN Ventures, Karista and 1 other
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BforeAI raises €9 million for its #PreCrime technologyFrenchWeb•Jan 07, 2025•Bfore.Ai, Titanium Ventures, SYN Ventures, Partnership Fund for New York City and 3 others
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Belgium-based VIVES IUF Fund raises additional €5 million to invest in Luxembourg startupsEU-Startups•Sep 09, 2024•Vives Fund, SNCI, European Investment Fund, Brightflow and 5 others
