By investing in the first round of the SME-focused Arkéa Capital 2, one of the few French funds associated with an endowment, and in that of Yotta Smart Industry, a private equity investor dedicated to future industry, two growth capital funds that targeting economic, environmental and societal performance, Sofiouest has taken a new step in pursuing of its investment strategy that combines performance and responsible finance.

Sofiouest, the investment and holding company subsidiary of the Sipa Ouest-France Group, has just invested in two funds with strong ESG policies as part of its Growth Capital allocation. These two indirect investments are part of the deployment of the third pillar of an investment strategy that will mainly focus on digital innovation and corporate real estate.

The first of these funds, Arkéa Capital 2, was created by its strategic partner, Arkéa Capital, the private equity subsidiary of the Arkéa Group, which also owns 11.48% of Sofiouest.
This €60 million professional private equity fund invests in unlisted French SMEs in all sectors, thus contributing to the
development of local job markets. It is noteworthy that the fund is associated with an endowment fund called PhiNOE that serves communities and employment. This philanthropic structure will receive a contribution of 5% of the amounts subscribed to the fund and 30% of the management fees collected by the management company. These contributions will support companies and non-profits that have local projects with a positive economic, environmental, and societal impact, such as Café Joyeux and MéGO!.
Sofiouest is pleased to be one of the first and main subscribers to the fund, which will continue to strengthen the existing synergies between the two structures. This investment is intended to be supplemented by co-investments. For the Arkéa Capital press release, click here

The second fund, Yotta Smart Industry, is a €100M fund founded by Yotta Capital Partners. Sofiouest also wanted to subscribe to the 1st round and to be among the main unitholders of the fund in order to be involved in the deployment of its strategy. Yotta Smart Industry’s ambition is to help French ”Industry 4.0” SMEs emerge, whether they are companies offering technological solutions for Future Industry, or industrial SMEs that are making new industrial challenges, particularly CSR, central to their development strategy. Yotta is committed to reconciling its financial return objective with an extra-financial objective of significantly reducing the CO2 emissions of its portfolio. For the press release, click here.

These subscriptions, which are in addition to Sofiouest’s first two investments in Growth Capital funds, Généo Capital Entrepreneur and SWIFT (Swen Impact Fund) from Swen Capital Partners, are proof of its desire to carry out its mission as a medium- to long-term investor by making extra-financial responsibility central to its strategy.

Patrice Hutin, Sofiouest’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “Investing in Growth Capital via quality investment funds allows Sofiouest to quickly diversify its risk with a high-performance asset class. Doing so with Arkéa Capital 2 and Yotta, two funds that are very concerned about non-financial performance, strengthens our position as a genuinely responsible investor.”