Paris, November 22, 2023 – Obat, a SaaS solution that supports the growth of building professionals, has closed a €12 million Series A round with Crédit Mutuel Innovation, New Alpha Asset Management, NCI and Kima Ventures, to invest in innovation and accelerate its development. Several business angels joined the deal, including Arthur Waller (Pennylane) and Christophe Courtin (Santiane).
At a time when the competitiveness of businesses is being put to the test and their digitalization is becoming ever more strategic, Obat is choosing to accelerate its expansion to support small business leaders in their day-to-day management and commercial expansion.
Since its creation in 2019, Obat’s mission has been to bring simplicity and peace of mind to building professionals. The 100% online SaaS platform enables craftsmen to manage their estimates and invoices, their worksites, their margins and the financial health of their business. In just 4 years, Obat has established itself as the benchmark in its market, and has been acclaimed by nearly 15,000 contractors, craftsmen and company directors in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Obat focuses on customer support and satisfaction. The result is a loyal user base invested in the development of the solution.
Over the past 12 months, the solution has become a true platform, integrating numerous new functions and services:
- Customer, supplier and subcontractor relationship management
- Worksite tracking
- Financial management
- Margin and overheads monitoring
- Personnel and human resources management
- Marketing support
- Online directory of building professionals
- Accounting and legal support
- Integration of a network of building and civil engineering partners
This new round of financing brings together Crédit Mutuel Innovation, New Alpha, NCI and Kima Ventures (in addition to historical investors Truffole Capital, Evolem and Holnest, who also participated in the round).
The Series A funding will enable Obat to accelerate its ambition to become the benchmark platform for building contractors. Among other things, the funds will enable us to :
- Open 50 new positions over the next 12 months to develop sales, customer experience, product and R&D activities.
- Develop more complementary partnerships with the Obat offering, to bring even greater value to users
- Accelerate the roll-out of its product roadmap, and continuously respond to the operational needs of building craftsmen
- Refine its positioning and develop brand awareness
- Shorten development times and enhance the collaborative aspects of the platform
KEY INFO ON OBAT
- Creation in 2019
- 2 co-founders: Franck Asseray, Chairman and Florent Liagre, Managing Director
- 80 employees (on 01/11/2023)
- Seed capital of €6m on 14/09/2022
- Historical investors: Truffle Capital, Evolem and Holnest
- Series A of 12 M€ on 09/11/2023
- New investors: Crédit Mutuel Innovation, New Alpha Asset Management, NCIS and Kima Ventures
- Nearly 15,000 active customers on the platform
- 100% of team telecommuting
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Franck Asseray, Co-Founder and President, Obat:
« Support has always been at the heart of Obat’s value proposition, and this round will enable us to strengthen our teams of advisors as well as product experts.
We aim to expand and accelerate our marketing strategy by opening new channels and continuing to develop long-term partnerships.»
Florent Liagre, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Obat:
« Obat was built around 5-star customer support and a very solid functional base responding to our users’ complex issues.
This fund-raising will enable us to rapidly reach a staff of 50 in the R&D division, and to take our vision of an all-in-one platform for very small construction firms a step further.
A real Bone for companies, enabling them to easily visualize all their financial performance indicators, navigate through constantly changing regulations, simplify their customer relations, and organize communication with their employees, subcontractors, accountants and suppliers. In addition to management functionalities, we enable entrepreneurs to develop their visibility and e-reputation, so as to acquire new customers more easily and secure the long-term future of their business. This Series A will enable us to strengthen our leading position in the French market, while laying the foundations for European expansion.»
Erwan Bernard, Investor at Crédit Mutuel Innovation:
« Obat addresses a sector that has historically been little digitalized, but this trend is changing, with a growing awareness of the value of digital as a daily productivity lever. In 4 years, they have proved that they have created the best product to help small businesses in the building industry manage their business.
This is what convinced us of their ability to assert themselves in the coming years as a leader in construction business management.»
Thomas Fuster, Investment Director at New Alpha Asset Management:
« We were impressed by the pragmatism and ability to execute of the founders, who have succeeded in positioning Obat as a key player in the market by offering a product of great value to customers. This enables the company to build its development on solid foundations, thanks to high retention and significant network effects. This inclusive solution also makes a solid contribution to the regulatory challenges of migrating to electronic invoicing. New Alpha looks forward to leveraging its Fintech expertise to further enhance the customer experience and optimize the company’s business model.»
Thibaut Escarras, Venture Investment Manager at NCI:
« After fascinating discussions with Florent and Franck, as well as with the investor pool, we were convinced of the relevance of OBAT’s positioning and the quality of the tools it offers building professionals. As a gas pedal fund specializing in contech/proptech (and more broadly in the city of tomorrow), we’re going to put our real estate and construction network to good use to help OBAT generate business and structuring partnerships.»
Jean de La Rochebrochard, Managing Partner at Kima Ventures:
« Construction is a market that has historically been difficult to crack. It was Obat’s ability to win over 10,000 companies in just a few years, and their vertical vision, that made us want to join the adventure.
that made us want to get involved.»
Bernard-Louis Roques, Co-founder of Truffle Capital:
« This investment in Obat is a perfect illustration of Truffle Capital’s investment strategy, which consists of identifying the future leaders of fintech, financing them on a basis consistent with their KPIs, supporting their growth and strategy by involving us alongside the managers, not only at Board level but also in our ecosystem, and promoting access to the most appropriate financing. It is also emblematic in that we are delighted to welcome our fellow Fintech specialists alongside us in Obat’s capital. Obat now has all the resources it needs to establish itself as a category leader.»
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About NewAlpha Asset Management
New Alpha AM, an independent pioneer in investing in financial industry players, has been offering professional investors the opportunity to benefit from the growth and strategic innovation of the European Fintech sector through its Venture Capital funds since 2015. In November 2015, it launched the first French Venture Capital fund entirely dedicated to Fintech startups. The investment strategy focuses on early-stage European fintechs in their inflection and acceleration phases (Seed and Serie A). The management team has been working exclusively in this sector for over 8 years, with an ambitious ESG approach. It has already taken 23 minority stakes in fintech startups with innovative technologies and business models.
https://www.newalpha.com/venture-capital/
About Crédit Mutuel Innovation
Crédit Mutuel Innovation is the venture capital subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel Equity (€4 billion in capital under management). It makes equity investments of between €1 and €20 million in innovative companies in the digital, life sciences and deeptech sectors. Crédit Mutuel Innovation helps entrepreneurs develop their growth potential by connecting them to the companies in its ecosystems. Because it takes more than 5 years to create a world leader, Crédit Mutuel Innovation invests its own capital on a long-term basis and builds long-term relationships with the entrepreneurs it supports.
http://www.creditmutuel-innovation.eu
About NCI and the NCITY fund
A multi-regional private equity player, NCI invests skills and equity capital in innovation, development and business transfer projects. With historical double-digit growth and €350 million under management – entrusted by public and private institutional investors, family offices and company directors – NCI reconciles finance and economic development in the regions. NCITY is NCI’s 4th innovation capital fund. Launched at the end of 2022 and currently in the fundraising phase, it invests in seed and series A in French start-ups in the City of Tomorrow (building, energy, mobility, smart city), with a particular focus on decarbonization. The companies supported benefit both from NCI’s roots in the territories, and from its start-up gas pedal proven since 2018 on its previous WaterStart Capital fund.
https://www.n-ci.com/
About Kima Venture
Kima Ventures is the startup investment arm of Xavier Niel. One of the world’s most active early stage investors, Kima invests in 100 startups a year from Seed to Series A.
Based in Paris at Station F, Kima has invested in nearly 900 startups since 2010, providing funding, networking and support to help them reach the next milestones in their journey.
https://www.kimaventures.com/
