Mer Angels takes its independence from France Angels
Founded in 2018, Mer Angels is now flying on its own wings. Born within the national entity France Angels, this collective of private financiers specialized in the field of professional maritime and yachting, on the model of business angels, has created its own structure. After 3 years of activity, it has adopted its own statutes on July 1, 2021, with a new team and the objective to accelerate its development.
New investors and successful nautical projects
In 2021, Mer Angels has gained visibility, generating commercial and communication benefits for the companies it supports. "At the Cannes Yachting Festival, with our partner BNP Paribas, we set up an exhibition space called Innovation Space, which was a great success. Companies signed deals and sold equipment there. The Minister of the Sea spent a long time there," says Jean-François Thau, one of the co-founders of Mer Angels, who is also the secretary general of the Confédération du Nautisme et de la Plaisance.
The Mer Angels showcase and its growing notoriety also brings in new contributors. "We are on a dynamic of 1 to 2 new members per week. The profile is that of sea lovers, fan of innovation and who want to support the French Tech. Today, we have about 40 active investors," summarizes Jean-François Thau. "This has enabled us, for example, to raise 50% more funds than the target amount in 6 months for the foil dinghy BirdyFish, one of the most recently funded projects. In total, we have supported 12 companies in 3 years of existence."
Raise funds for emerging marine projects
For the co-founder of Mer Angels, who has been involved in financing start-ups for a long time, the nautical sector is a victim of the overall financing problem of young start-ups in France: "Currently in France, many funds claim to be seed funds, but in fact they do not support projects that need a few tens, hundreds of thousands of euros. There are two holes in the racket, funding to get innovations out of the labs and then series C funds of several million euros."
Mer Angels intends to fulfill this role for series A projects, small amounts, and is also working with contacts on the creation of an investment fund.
