What if end users could directly invest in their favourite services alongside traditional funds? This is what Roundtable offers through its investment communities, a concept that has caught Blaise Matuidi's attention. Now retired, the 2018 World Cup champion has become an experienced investor in tech. In 2022, he co-founded the investment fund Origins in the United States with Salomon Aiach and Ilan Abehassera.
To expand his management company, the former Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus player now aims to invite his community to invest alongside him. In this context, he is launching an investment club on the Roundtable platform. "Athletes bring unique perspectives on future consumption trends and massive distribution networks," says Blaise Matuidi of Origins. "By connecting athletes' influence with technological expertise, we are creating unprecedented opportunities in companies that are changing the way consumers live, work, and entertain themselves," he adds. "It’s important to do things right from a legal standpoint, and we must clearly differentiate these co-investment communities from crowdfunding," adds Evan Testa, co-founder and CEO of Roundtable.
"There is a real desire from the public"
The former athlete likely saw the timing as opportune given the growing interest of the general public in investing in startups. "There is a real desire from the public. Shows like ‘Qui veut être mon associé?’ have contributed to this enthusiasm," notes Salomon Aiach, co-founder of Origins. Blaise Matuidi played his part, having been a jury member on "Qui veut être mon associé?" two years ago.
While the momentum is building, the leaders of Origins and Roundtable are committed to ensuring that interested individuals do not take on disproportionate or reckless risks. "Mr. or Mrs. ‘Everyone’ doesn’t necessarily understand the risks when investing in a startup. Therefore, we are going to be extremely careful about the profiles we accept to ensure they fully understand the risks when investing in a company," assures Salomon Aiach.
15 new investment clubs
Blaise Matuidi is one of the faces of 15 new investment clubs launched on Roundtable. They aim to cover a wide range of themes, such as deeptech, real estate, healthcare, diversity and inclusion, or even secondary markets, offering investment opportunities in companies like OpenAI and SpaceX. These clubs are led by tech figures like Jonathan Anguelov, co-founder of Aircall, who is now focusing on Aguesseau Capital, his real estate firm focused on hospitality. Other notable names include Sébastien Wuidart of Technofounders, Polina Alexandrova of Calendula Ventures, Alexandre Berriche of Blue Chips, and Baptiste Hamel of Better Angle.
Roundtable now has 27 public communities, including the newly announced 15 investment clubs, and 350 private communities. "We are entering a new era in startup investment," rejoices Evan Testa. "This community approach is redefining access to private markets," he adds. In the rapidly evolving landscape of innovation and startup financing, Roundtable continues to provide more tools, such as last year's launch of a "Fund-as-a-Service" product, allowing business angels to quickly and easily set up their own venture capital fund.
According to the CEO of Roundtable, this growing appetite for new financing levers is the result of an alignment of interests between a new type of investor and the needs of entrepreneurs. "The general public is increasingly interested in investing in startups, and entrepreneurs are looking for smart capital," sums up Evan Testa. In this context, Roundtable has ambitious plans. The platform intends to expand into new countries and diversify the asset classes available for investment in the future.
