Montpellier Capital Risque: venture capital investors from Paris flock to meet local startups

A crowded room, a large turnout of investors from Paris, startups assisted upstream by Montpellier BIC, delivering carefully crafted pitches to raise funds to accelerate their development. The 2025 edition of the Montpellier Capital Risque venture capital event lived up to all its promises on November 7 at the Halle de l'Innovation. The enthusiastic turnout confirms Montpellier's outstanding position in terms of innovation and the dynamism of Montpellier BIC and its ecosystem.

“In a context that we could describe as unstable and morose, both economically and socially, we need to create unity and give ourselves strength,” says Hind Emad, Vice President of Montpellier Métropole in charge of economic and digital development. She also highlights areas in which Montpellier is particularly prominent: “Cultural and creative industries, renewable energy, health, digital technology and AI, agriculture and agribusiness, the environment, and much more,” she adds.  

“Coming here is anything but a waste of time.”  

“The quality is high at Montpellier Capital Risque, a venture capital event that has proven itself for more than 20 years,” says Rémi Berthier, partner at Evolem, with a portfolio of 58 companies and €40 million in assets under management. “This format, where all the startups are brought together for pitches and meetings in a single day, is ideal. It gives us freedom and enables us to be efficient. Coming here is anything but a waste of time.” This is my third time attending.” 

Going to Montpellier Capital Risque is also a way to make contacts for the future. “Our goal is to build a network throughout France,” says Carla Pomes, Impact VC at MAIF Impact specializing in education and access to fundamental rights, the circular economy, biodiversity, the climate emergency, and urban adaptation. “I saw a lot of interesting projects this morning (November 7). Some are still in their early stages, but it's interesting to be able to identify them now, potentially for the next round of funding.” Among the projects that caught her attention were: Opale Care (addressing domestic violence) and Humeos (focusing on biological activity in soil). “We are very active in the vertical segment for agri-food,” she explains.

Thibault Passaga, associate investment manager at Bpifrance, adds, “There are high-quality projects here, just as many as we see in Paris. The series of five-minute pitches is dynamic, well-paced, and well-organized. The format works well. I discovered many deeptech topics that match our criteria.”

Precision guidance 

Seventeen startups from the healthtech, deeptech, agri-food, cultural and creative industries, and digital sectors underwent intensive preparation with the Montpellier BIC incubator.  

Preparation “involves a combination of group workshops, held in-person at the Halle de l'Innovation, and individual meetings with coaches to cover all aspects of fund-raising: preparation, the data room, legal issues, and everything related to making the pitch successful,” explains Habib Belaïd, CEO and co-founder of Kervalion, a startup that develops 3D-printed bone grafts for dental and orthopedic surgery.

Iopole, which specializes in electronic invoicing for software publishers, is equally satisfied. “The assistance provided by Montpellier BIC is very helpful, as we are guided by professionals who are experienced in this type of exercise. They asked us questions about our systems, figures, pitch, and more. It was essential, because it is not an easy task!”  exclaims Dorian Keiflin, co-founder of Iopole, alongside Nicolas Saudemont. Changes made as a result of this training include: “Highlighting numbers right from the start. At first, we had a tendency to explain things too much.”

William Arditi, co-founder of Humeos, appreciated “targeted training covering pitches, finance, business plans, forecasts, and above all, individual meetings where we could discuss our project and the issues we faced.”  

Even experienced entrepreneurs feel the need for support, such as Claudia Zimmer (Cyme), herself an investor with Matthieu Kopp in “19 companies” following the sale of Aquafadas. As the head of Cyme, a media management solution that integrates with the creative workflows of photographers, videographers, and marketing teams (seeking €2 million in funding), the entrepreneur explains:  

“No one can see your journey as clearly as dedicated professionals,” she says, returning from Los Angeles. BIC’s guidance is extraordinary: it is the ideal catalyst, complementing other existing resources. BIC has no vested interests when they provide assistance. Their advice is always helpful and relevant, especially since they see so many companies come through their doors. For example, BIC is always up to date on regulatory changes.” 

In the end, Cyme ”simplified its presentation to make it shorter and more impactful, whereas in the previous fund-raising round, which we did without any assistance, we were more technical and used a lot of jargon specific to our solution.” 

Claudia Zimmer highlights how far the Montpellier Capital Risque venture capital event has come. “In 2009, we pitched Aquafadas to just a dozen funds in a small room. The network has grown considerably since then, and the process has become more professional. On top of that, it is a joy to work with young people now that I'm not so young myself! You can become a has-been quite quickly."

Also cited as an example by investors was the investor meeting co-organized by MedVallée Montpellier and French Tech Méditerranée in partnership with Montpellier BIC on Thursday evening at the Fabre Museum, featuring presentations by internationally renowned start-ups from Montpellier – Cilcare, Swile, Pradeo – and a “rotating dinner,” during which investors moved from table to table to learn about the diversity of the startups on the eve of their presentations. 

For investors and entrepreneurs alike, this further confirmed the strength of an event that is now firmly anchored in Montpellier’s innovation landscape.