Portfolio News
• Information Technologies
Lead Media Group doubles its turnover
Lead Media Group spun out of NetBooster in 2008 and specializes in qualified lead generation for advertisers. Thanks to 3 main business activities (affiliation, email campaigns and media production), the company recently posted strong results to be replaced by the company recently emerged on the market with turnover doubling from €2 million in 2007 to €4 million in 2008 and another doubling expected in 2009. It is expected to break even by the end of the year & reach profitability next year. Lead Media Group is proving that the current economic downturn does not stop the most competitive companies consolidate their positions!
Stéphane Darracq
CEO, Lead Media GroupHow do you explain the strong growth of your company, which has 30 employees after only three years in business?
Based in Paris and Sophia Antipolis, Lead Media Group chose to follow a performance-based business model. This novel concept is particularly well suited to the current financial and economic crisis: targeted advertising campaigns are only charged for when they deliver results. In fact, once the customer has made the initial marketing investment, it only pays for success and can precisely measure its return on investment. The company also benefits from a strong, technology-based, competitive advantage. It offers contextual and behavioural targeting which help its customer reach the right audience with a high degree of precision. The spin-off operation has been decisive and instrumental in bolstering the performance of the company, avoiding inevitable commercial conflicts of interest, enabling implementation on processes specific to the business and re-focusing the freshly independent business exclusively on its core business. This is a living example on the accuracy of Truffle Capital business model.
With success like this, Truffle Capital (which holds a 20% stake in Lead Media Group) is proving that its investment strategy is pertinent and that it is able to create profitable companies in a very short space of time.
NetBooster increases its stake in Guava to 30%
On May 5th, NetBooster (FR0000079683 – ALNBT), the European interactive agency specialized in online marketing, announced that it increased its equity stake in Guava (DK0060074144 – GUAVA.CO), a Danish digital marketing agency, to 29.89%. The capital increase amounts to 28 996 992 new shares in Guava at a price of 0.36 DKK per share i.e. an investment of 1.4 M€.
Pascal Chevalier
CEO, NetBooster
Settled in January 2009, this strategic alliance enables both companies to better serve their customers, thanks to the complementarity of their marketing tools (a better combined geographical coverage offering the best cover in Europe, combined access to a pool of over 400 online marketing specialists in 9 European countries, a broader technology platforms and very synergistic technical tools).
With this deal, NetBooster pursues its development and strengthens its leading position within the marketing online field. In 2008 NetBooster experienced strong growth. The company which Truffle Capital is the first investor announced a turnover of 46 M€ (+ 37%) and a EBITDA PROFORMA of 3.2 M€ (+ 3.2%). And 2009 might even more successful. In June, the company gained two new clients: the Accord Group and AGL.
RTL Belgium chose MoMac to design its mobile Internet site
MoMac, the leading mobile media publisher, announced that it will design the mobile internet site of the new operator Allo RTL in Belgium. RTL Belgium is the first Belgian television, radio and production company. It commercializes its offer since June 24th with Base which is part of KPN Group Belgium.
RTL Belgium will take advantage of GoMedia, the MoMac award-winning mobile media delivery platform. MoMac's GoMedia platform is an end-to-end mobile publishing suite. It enables media companies to create compelling, innovative and profitable mobile sites with a rich media user-experience. GoMedia automatically optimises content and functionality to all handset models currently in the market, regular phones and smartphones as well as PDA's and BlackBerry's.
Created in 2001, MoMac is a fast growing and profitable company with clients in The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland and South Africa. The company employs a team of 50 people in its offices in London, Paris, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. In 2007, Truffle Capital acquired a majority stake in MoMac, with the company's management retaining a significant holding.
• Life Sciences
Carmat: €33 million in funding from Oséo approved by the European Commission
The European Commission allowed Oseo (the French state innovation agency) to award €33 million to Carmat, a start-up developing a total artificial heart (video). This is the largest grant ever awarded by Oseo. It will finance the development of a fully implantable artificial heart.
The artificial heartAs a leader of the project, Carmat will receive €31.9 million and its 4 partners (Vignal Artru Industries, PaxiTech, Dedienne Santé, HEF R&D) will share €1.1 million. The Carmat R&D program will last for 5 years with a €100 million total cost.
CARMAT was created in June 2008 and financed by Truffle Capital, EADS and the Fondation Alain Carpentier with a ambitious objective: renewing hope and quality of life to the hundreds of thousands of patients suffering in the aftermath of a massive heart attack or with late-stage heart failure and for whom standard drug therapy, ventricular assistance and/or a heart transplant have failed or are not possible.
Vexim announces positive clinical trial results and prepare the commercialization of its SpineJack®
As part of its pre-marketing studies, Vexim, a high-technology company specialized in medical instrumentation and in the minimally-invasive anatomical treatment of vertebral compression fractures, announced positive clinical trial results and achievement of its recruitment objective of 120 patients.
SpineJack implant
Since its creation, Vexim decided to adopt a highly clinical, scientifically validated approach. Even though Vexim received the CE mark in May 2008, the company decided to commercialize the SpineJack® only once its efficacy had been demonstrated in international clinical trials. Therefore, over a year ago, Vexim initiated two clinical studies, including an international trial with 8 centers in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.
Today, Vexim has proved the efficacy of its SpineJack® implant for the controlled, morphological restoration of vertebral compression fractures. The company is ready to commercialize its product. This last step is imminent and should happen within the next weeks.
The Toulouse-based high-technology company Vexim was incorporated in February 2006 with the support of Truffle Capital, followed by Banexi Ventures' investment. In 2007, the company received also a conditional advance from Oséo (the French state innovation agency). The company currently has a headcount of 20 and expects this figure to rise to 25 by the end of 2009.
Symetis closes CHF 23 million financing
Trans-apical valve
Symetis, a privately held company developing an innovative percutaneous valve replacement program, announced it raised CHF 23 million in a new financing round lead by some private equity firms including Truffle Capital, Wellington Partners, Vinci Capital–Renaissance PME and Banexi Venture Partners. This amount will be used to finance notably its trans-apical valve studies on human subject.
Symetis is completing its preclinical studies and is preparing a first-in-man clinical study to be initiated at the end of 2009. Contrary to open surgery, the slightly invasive percutaneous technique allows to treat high-risk patients but also to reduce the hospitalization time and the cost of a valve replacement. According to Symetis, Trans-catheter aortic valve replacement therapy (TAVR) is expected to grow from $100 million in 2008 to over $1 billion by 2015.
In 2004, Symetis already raised CHF 12 million during a first financing round led by Truffle Capital, Novartis Venture Fund and Aravis Venture.
• Energy
Watteco establishes US Presence
Watteco, a French-based company developing a unique Power Line Communication solution, established a US sale in Santa Clara, California. Didier Boivin, marketing vice president, will head the marketing and technical support headquarters. The creation of Watteco Inc. will meet American needs of energy efficiency and intelligent home control.
WPC™ modems
Created in 1998, Watecco manufacture Watt Pulse Communication (WPC™) modems for the Smart Energy Command & Control market, including home control and street lighting applications. These smart-grid-connected devices are low-cost, low-power, small-sized and able to connect perfectly in-home electrical devices to the electrical grid.
To develop its innovative technology, Watteco invested €6 million through two financing rounds led by Schneider Ventures and Truffle Capital. From its positioning, Watecco has a strong development potential. Indeed the energy efficiency market is rapidly expanding with the increase of the fossil energy cost, the taking into account of the environmental issue and the competition on the energy market.
Watecco products and technology sit squarely in the sweet spot of US energy-management focus areas and this is why the company is in a good position to succeed in its US sale establishment.
Dietswell manages an operation on a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf
A Dietswell specialist
in action
Dietswell, the well engineering and drilling specialist listed on Alternext by NYSE Euronext (ticker code: ALDIE), just announced that it will carry out an operation in the offshore South Pars gas field. South Pars, one of the largest gas field in the world, is located in the Persian Gulf, on the border of Iran and Qatar.
This project management contract was awarded to Dietswell in May 2008 by Dana Drilling Company, a privately owned Iranian enterprise exploiting this part of field in the name of Pars Oil and Gas Company. It runs until 2011 and should generate a €3 million for 2009 only. It includes the following services: the feasibility study of 24 drilling projects, the engineering part and the drilling operations management.
The operation is beneficial to Diestwell for two reasons. First, it shows that the company is recognized as a competent actor on the strategic offshore market. Second, it allows Diestwell to settle down in the Middle East which is a key market for the development of the company. Some agreements are presently taking place with others protagonists from this area. This is why Diestwell is about establishing their headquarters in Abu Dhabi in order to take care of the eventual next contracts.
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