Kima Ventures

About Kima Ventures

Kima Ventures is a Paris-based venture capital firm founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs Xavier Niel and Jeremie Berrebi. It operates as the personal early-stage investment vehicle of Xavier Niel, the founder of telecoms group Iliad, and is structured as a single-limited-partner evergreen entity funded entirely from Niel's own capital rather than a conventional closed-end fund with external limited partners. Because of this structure it does not raise discrete fund vintages or report formal assets under management; instead it deploys a continuous self-replenishing balance sheet. The firm is known as one of the most active seed investors in the world, having backed more than 1,000 startups since inception, and runs a deliberately lean team. It markets itself as a high-frequency business angel.

Investment thesis

Kima Ventures pursues a radical-diversification seed strategy: standardised one-off tickets of around €150,000 into roughly 100 new companies per year, on the same terms and with fast founder-first decisions rather than traction-driven diligence. It is sector-agnostic, backing AI, fintech, software, robotics, cybersecurity, logistics, deep tech and consumer companies, and geography-agnostic, investing globally with a strong French and European core. It typically participates at pre-seed and seed, sometimes leading rounds but often co-investing alongside other funds. The single-limited-partner structure removes fundraising cycles and allows continuous deployment. Value creation is light-touch by design: the firm provides capital plus a founder network and follow-on signalling, leaving operational control with entrepreneurs and relying on portfolio breadth to capture outlier returns.

Recent activity

Recent investments include Mistral AI in artificial intelligence (2023), PennyLane in fintech software, Pigment in enterprise software, and Loft Orbital in space technology (2020). Recent exits include Wise in fintech (2021 public listing), Invibes in advertising technology via public listing, and Shipup in logistics software (2026). The portfolio reflects more than 180 acquisitions and 10 IPOs to date across the firm's high-frequency seed strategy.

Frequently asked questions

What investment strategy does Kima Ventures focus on?

Kima Ventures focuses on VC strategies in the private equity space.

How many portfolio companies does Kima Ventures have?

Kima Ventures has 41 active portfolio companies and 6 completed exits and 1 fund tracked on GP Intel.

Where is Kima Ventures headquartered?

Kima Ventures is headquartered in Paris, France.

When was Kima Ventures founded?

Kima Ventures was founded in 2010.

What sectors does Kima Ventures invest in?

Kima Ventures invests across Software, TMT, Financials, Healthcare.

What are Kima Ventures's recent exits?

Recent realized exits by Kima Ventures include: Doctrine (2026) to RELX; Koyeb (2026) to Mistral AI; BeReal (2024) to Voodoo; Zenly (2017) to Snap; Sparrow (2012) to Google.