Elaia Partners: A Profile of French VC's Deep Tech Veteran
2002, Paris. The French internet is still reeling from the burst of the dot-com bubble. Investors are fleeing tech. Two partners, Philippe Gire and Xavier Lazarus, make the opposite bet: European B2B technology companies can become global leaders. They found Elaia Partners. Ten years later, their investment in an unknown adtech startup called Criteo delivers a spectacular return when it IPOs on the NASDAQ in 2013. Since then, Elaia has weathered four economic cycles, built a portfolio of 183 companies, and established itself as the reference point for deep tech in French venture capital, with roughly €850 million under management.
Screenshot of the elaia.com homepage (March 2026)
The story of Elaia Partners
Elaia Partners was born into a context that few investors would envy. 2002 was the trough of the dot-com bust. European venture capital funds could be counted on two hands. Most institutional investors saw tech as a lost bet. That was precisely the moment Philippe Gire and Xavier Lazarus chose to launch their fund.
The origins: a countercyclical bet
The name "Elaia" comes from ancient Greek and refers to the olive tree, a symbol of longevity and resilience. That's no accident: from the outset, the founders built a fund designed for the long haul. Their conviction was that Europe, and France in particular, held an underexploited pool of technological talent, thanks in large part to the quality of its engineering schools and research labs.
The Criteo win (2007-2013)
The investment that changed the course of Elaia's history was Criteo. Founded in 2005 by four researchers from the École Normale Supérieure and the CNRS, Criteo developed an advertising retargeting technology built on machine learning. Elaia invested very early, when Criteo was still just a lab project with a handful of customers. In 2013, Criteo listed on the NASDAQ. At the time, it was the largest French tech IPO ever. For Elaia, it validated their thesis: B2B companies born out of French research can become global leaders.
2015-2020: the deep tech era
Buoyed by Criteo's success, Elaia doubled down on deep tech. The fund invested in Mirakl (SaaS marketplaces, now a unicorn), Shift Technology (AI for insurance, now a unicorn), and Teads (video adtech, acquired by Altice). Marie Ekeland, a longtime Partner, left Elaia in 2015 to co-found Daphni, but the fund held its course.
The DV4 fund (Digital Venture 4) raised €115 million in 2017. A dedicated €200 million deep tech fund followed in 2023.
2025-2026: the DV5 fund and the Lazard alliance
In February 2026, Elaia announced the first close of its fifth flagship fund, DV5, at €120 million, with a final target of €300 million. In parallel, the Lazard Elaia Capital joint venture allows the fund to support its startups all the way to late-stage, drawing on Lazard's institutional networks. This alliance accelerates exits: access to investment banking networks, corporate customers, and capital markets.
Timeline of Elaia Partners' investments and key moments
The founders and the team
Philippe Gire: the quiet visionary
Co-founder and Partner, Philippe Gire is Elaia's strategic architect. An engineer by training, he built the fund on a technical conviction: assessing the scientific strength of an innovation matters as much as understanding the market.
Xavier Lazarus: continuity
Co-founder and Partner since day one, Xavier Lazarus embodies Elaia's continuity. Twenty-three years at the same fund is rare in VC, an industry where partners often move between funds every five to seven years. That longevity is an asset: it means an intimate knowledge of the cycles, the mistakes, and the patterns of success.
Marc Rougier: the operator
Partner Marc Rougier brings entrepreneurial experience to the fund, complementing the more technical profiles of the founders.
The wider team
Elaia employs around 45 people, with offices in Paris, Barcelona, and Tel Aviv. The presence in Israel is unusual for a French seed fund and reflects Elaia's strategy: to go after deep tech innovation wherever it emerges, including outside France.
Elaia's investment thesis
Elaia describes itself as a "full stack" investor in tech and deep tech. That means it invests from pre-seed to Series B, with the ability to support startups over longer cycles than most.
The B2B and deep tech focus
At the heart of the thesis: B2B or B2B2C companies with high technological intensity and global ambitions from the start. Elaia isn't interested in consumer apps or mass-market marketplaces. The fund looks for companies whose competitive edge rests on defensible technology: AI/ML, data-intensive SaaS, computational biotech, industrial deep tech, cybersecurity, and fintech infrastructure.
Tickets from €1M to €15M
The DV5 fund writes tickets ranging from €1 million to €15 million, with the capacity to reinvest in later rounds. Unlike Kima (which never reinvests), Elaia follows its best investments into Series A and B.
Deep tech patience
One of Elaia's key differentiators is its tolerance for longer cycles. A SaaS startup can reach product-market fit in 18 months. A deep tech startup (quantum computing, AI-driven drug discovery, micro-robotics) can take five to seven years before generating meaningful revenue. Elaia is structured for that patience. Its ties to French academic research (INRIA, CNRS, the grandes écoles) let the fund source projects straight from the lab.
Geography: Europe with a France, Spain, and Israel accent
Elaia invests primarily in Europe, with a particular emphasis on France, Spain, and Israel. The presence in Barcelona and Tel Aviv isn't decorative: both cities are leading deep tech hubs. Tel Aviv for cybersecurity and AI. Barcelona for SaaS and IoT.
Notable portfolio
183 companies backed, 3 unicorns, 4 IPOs, 57 acquisitions. Here are the names that matter:
Elaia Partners' main investments and notable exits
Criteo: the founding success story. Adtech built on machine learning, IPO on the NASDAQ in 2013. Criteo became a global digital advertising giant with more than a billion dollars in annual revenue. It's the investment that put Elaia on the map.
Mirakl: a marketplace SaaS platform. A French unicorn. Used by major retailers (Carrefour, Leroy Merlin) to launch and run their online marketplaces.
Shift Technology: artificial intelligence applied to fraud detection in insurance. A unicorn operating in the global market.
Teads: a video adtech platform. Acquired by Altice, then sold on. One of the successes of the European adtech wave.
Alice & Bob: a quantum computing startup. One of the most ambitious deep tech bets in Elaia's portfolio, aiming to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.
AQEMIA: AI-driven drug discovery. It uses physics-based models and machine learning to speed up the discovery of new therapeutic molecules.
Key figures
- Founded: 2002
- Headquarters: Paris, with offices in Barcelona and Tel Aviv
- AUM (assets under management): roughly €850 million
- Companies backed: 183
- Unicorns: 3 (Criteo via IPO, Mirakl, Shift Technology)
- IPOs: 4
- Acquisitions: 57
- DV5 fund: first close €120M, target €300M (2026)
- Deep tech fund: €200M (2023)
- Tickets: €1M to €15M
- Stages: Pre-Seed to Series B
- Team size: around 45 people
- Sectors: AI/ML, SaaS, deep tech, cybersecurity, biotech, fintech
- Geography: Europe (France, Spain, Israel)
- Joint venture: Lazard Elaia Capital (late-stage)
FAQ
Does Elaia Partners invest in deep tech?
Yes. Deep tech has been at the core of Elaia's strategy since its founding. The fund has a dedicated €200 million deep tech vehicle (2023) and invests actively in AI, quantum (Alice & Bob), drug discovery (AQEMIA), and computational biotech.
What's the connection between Elaia and Lazard?
Lazard Elaia Capital is a joint venture between Elaia Partners and the investment bank Lazard. It gives Elaia portfolio startups access to late-stage funding and Lazard's institutional networks to prepare for exits (IPOs, acquisitions). It's a rare competitive advantage for a venture capital fund.
How large are Elaia's tickets?
Elaia writes tickets ranging from €1 million to €15 million through its DV5 fund. The fund can invest from pre-seed to Series B, with the capacity to reinvest in later rounds.
How do you pitch Elaia Partners?
The best approach is a warm introduction through the academic network (research labs, grandes écoles) or through a player in the startup ecosystem. Elaia is deeply connected to the French research world.
