Jolt Capital, a private equity firm based in Paris, France, is crossing the pond, choosing Montréal as the site of its North American headquarters.
Jolt hopes the Canadian expansion will help it find investors for its future funds as well as create a home base for its portfolio companies in North America.
Clement Bourgogne, the former COO of Scale AI, Canada’s publicly funded AI innovation agency, has been tapped to act as Jolt’s director of investor relations for Canada. Meanwhile, Eoghan Hickey, one of the fund’s partners and a former professional rugby player, will move to Montréal to become the managing director of Canada.
The announcement was made at the Conference de Montréal today, an event which brings together government officials and industry leaders from around the world to discuss economics, global leadership, and innovation.
Jolt was founded in 2011 and looks to invest in mid-sized European deeptech firms with revenues between €10 million and €50 million ($14.8 million and $74 million CAD). It lists cybersecurity, Internet of Things, photonics, industrial processes, new energy systems, applied artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics as some of its targeted sectors.
Jolt hopes that, with its expansion to Canada, it can find investors for its future funds as well as create a home base for its portfolio companies in North America. Its Canadian headquarters will also be managing its presence in Silicon Valley and Boston.
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“North America is a key milestone for our companies’ expansion, and our offices are there to help them set up operations, find strategic partners, make acquisitions or co-invest,” Jolt managing partner and president Jean Schmitt said in a statement. “With their rich and diverse tech ecosystems as well as their proximity to the US, Canada and Montréal provide a highly strategic opportunity to anchor our North American headquarters.”
Jolt says it uses its proprietary AI software platform, Jolt.Ninja, at every stage of the investment cycle. Jolt claims the tool helps with sourcing, due diligence, and the automatic detection of investment or acquisition targets.
Bourgogne joined The BetaKit Podcast in April 2023, while he was still the COO of Scale AI, to discuss Canada’s capacity for AI and what an AI-powered economy actually looks like. As part of Canada’s AI-focused Global Innovation Cluster, Bourgogne managed the investment activities of its $300-million fund and advised industry executives on the design and implementation of their AI strategies.
Feature image courtesy Jolt Capital via LinkedIn.