FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS, the first investment company dedicated to technology and the fashion and luxury industries.
With solid experience in Finance, Investment, as well as in the world of Technologies and Start-ups, Céline Lippi and Francesco Maio announce the launch of FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS.
Founded at the end of 2013 in Paris, FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS is the first investment company specialized in seed capital whose area of expertise covers both technologies (FASHION-TECH) and the fashion and luxury industries (innovative DESIGNERS). The company’s starting point is a simple observation: the fashion market is not yet fully digitalized, and talented young designers lack support. As business angels find it difficult to understand the world of fashion and its digitalization, Fashion Capital Partners responds to this need.
FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS
Located in Paris, France, FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS is an investment vehicle dedicated to acquiring minority stakes in start-ups at various stages of maturity, and to supporting their development.
These companies are selected on the basis of the following criteria:
– Their high growth potential
– Their strong international development potential
– Their talented, multidisciplinary management team.
FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS supports three types of entrepreneurial projects:
Pre-seed start-ups through an Acceleration Program (accommodation and personalized support for 3 to 6 months)
More established start-ups, known as seed stage (fundraising between €150,000 and €700,000)
Co-funding of post-seed start-ups (Series A / €1,000,000).
Fashion and Technology, more than just a trend…
The aim of FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS is to invest in French and international fashion-tech start-ups and high-end designers.
Fashion Capital Partners supports talented, visionary teams with innovative projects capable of pushing back the boundaries of the fashion and luxury industries, revolutionizing existing processes or creating new uses. These start-ups operate in fields as varied as intelligent textiles, connected objects, 3D and 4D technologies, augmented reality, facial recognition, big data, predictive analysis, social-mobile-e-commerce, user experience enhancement and personalization, virtual fitting rooms, omni-channel experience, etc.
Fashion Capital Partners will also invest in creative projects led by entrepreneurs with a high degree of maturity and a strong vision that can be translated into a set of commercially viable products.
Fashion Capital Partners promotes interaction between fashion and technology, raising designers’ awareness of the digitalization of the market and encouraging them to explore new business models.
With a view to accelerating and sustaining projects, all investments are backed by personalized support provided by Fashion Capital Partners’ associates, who are entrepreneurs, experts in the fashion, luxury and digital industries, consultants and experienced business angels. Today, they boast a portfolio of over 140 start-ups, including some 15 in the fashion-tech sector.
Fashion Capital Partners focuses on sharing best practices and concentrating on the key elements of value creation, such as strategy, business development, marketing and finance. Entrepreneurs will benefit from Fashion Capital Partners’ network and access to an even wider ecosystem.
Two influential players in Fashion-Tech
Céline Lippi has over 15 years’ experience in the high-tech sector, in multicultural environments, in both emerging and established markets. She launched and managed the French subsidiary of Philips Business Communications, a division acquired by NEC Corp. in 2006. She has been marketing director for several Fortune 500 companies (NCR, Netapp, Philips, NEC) in France and Southern Europe.
Céline LIPPI is also an independent consultant, working on structuring and defining marketing and digital strategies.
She co-founded Mode & Technology Lab, an incubator dedicated to Fashion-Tech and Designers.
She is a member of Paris Business Angels as an investor and instructor. She invests in start-ups such as LeNewBlack, Modizy and Soubis.
Francesco Maio is a graduate of The American University of Paris, and has over 17 years’ experience as an investment banker at various institutions in Paris, including Exane, which was sold to BNP Paribas in 2004, where he was a partner.
He left the finance sector in 2007 and began investing as a Business Angel in over 20 start-ups (Attractive World, NowFashion, InstantLuxe, LoungeUp, Carnet de Mode, Plyce, Modizy…). Francesco Maio is also a board member of 7 different companies. He was a mentor at Le Camping (Silicon Sentier Groupe), and is also a co-founder of 50 Partners (a structure for accelerating and investing in technology start-ups). For the past 3 years, Francesco Maio has focused his investments on start-ups in the high-end fashion and luxury sectors. In 2013, Fundme ranked Francesco Maio among the Top 10 Business Angels in France.
Leading founding members
To form the founding team of FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS, Céline Lippi and Francesco Maio convinced a group of renowned investors from the worlds of fashion, luxury, digital and finance, with a strong appetite for industry and technology.
Made up of 14 founders at the outset, the company now has 22 partners (http://fashioncapitalpartners.com/#team), including:
– Laurent Benhamou: Founder of Monelib.com (Challenges ranked Laurent Benhamou as the 4th largest Business Angel in France in 2014)
– Frédéric de Bourguet: Founder and Chairman of Colunching.fr, Colocation.fr, After-Work.fr, Soiree.fr. Business Archangel
– Dimitri Dewavrin: Co-founder of Baobaz and Chairman of Fruitrouge (Baobaz Group)
– Yohan Ruso: Chairman and Founder of Praditus, Chairman of Catherine Max, Managing Director of Ebay France
– Nicolas Santi-Weil: Executive Director of AMI (Alexandre Mattiussi), former founder of The Kooples.
The FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS investment company also counts among its partners well-known companies in the worlds of communication and recruitment linked to the fashion and luxury industries, such as the Chantal Baudron (SAS) recruitment firm and the Fred & Farid (Group) agency.
To date, the partners of Fashion Capital Partners have a portfolio of over 140 investments in start-ups, including some 15 in the fashion-tech sector.
Eventually, FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS will bring together some 40 investors.
From the top
“The fashion and luxury industries are at the heart of the technological and digital revolution. Creativity and innovation are more than ever the levers of growth and sustainability for these industries. Innovation, already present at every level of the fashion and luxury value chain, is mainly driven by start-ups. We have therefore created a dedicated investment vehicle to support these projects”, explains Céline Lippi, Managing Director and co-founder of FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS.
“Financing from investment funds or business angels should not be an end in itself, as it is vital to avoid making mistakes. The commitment of our associates makes perfect sense in supporting entrepreneurs in this critical launch phase”, adds Francesco Maio, Chairman and co-founder of FASHION CAPITAL PARTNERS.
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