Polytechnique Ventures II

France

Pre Seed

About Polytechnique Ventures II

Alumni-run fund of École Polytechnique with €21M first close (target €30-40M). Backs 15-20 startups tied to the university with €250K-€1M initial tickets.

Investment Focus

Location / RegionFrance

Funding StagePre Seed

Industry Focus

Ai Ml

Deep Tech

Digital Health

Energy Tech

Fintech

Manufacturing

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Poly-affiliated deeptech pre-seed, breakthrough tech, social impact

deep tech

pre-seed/pre-amorçage

alumni-backed

industrial breakthrough

societal impact

Bullish Signals

Launching Denis Lucquin Catalyst Initiative, 5% fund allocationlinkedin

Pre-seed tickets 150k€, 2x annual call windowslinkedin

Active alumni deal flow via X-UP incubatorexternal

Monthly founder events, strong communityexternal

Backed by École Polytechnique ecosystemexternal

X-UP + Polytechnique Ventures formal partnership confirmedlinkedin

Regular alumni speaker series activelinkedin

Monthly 'Start-up Xpériences' series ongoinglinkedin

Drahi-X student + founder community engagedlinkedin

Investment professionals identified: Tharaud, Cardinal, Devissaguetlinkedin

Fund strategy officially refined, super-angel thesis livelinkedin

Catalyst Initiative honors Denis Lucquin legacy, formal commitmentlinkedin

Contrarian Signals

Network-gated: alumni-only deal access strictexternal

Small 150k€ check size limits scaling potentialexternal

High societal impact bar may exclude pure commercial foundersexternal

Founder Do's

Be École Polytechnique alumnus/researcher/incubated

Show industrial breakthrough technology

Demonstrate strong societal utility intent

Apply for Denis Lucquin Catalyst twice yearly

Build exceptional founding team

Founder Don'ts

No non-deeptech founders without Poly affiliation

Avoid weak societal impact narrative

Don't miss 2x annual application windows

Key GPs & Partners

Bruno Martinaud

Academic Lead Entrepreneurship

educatorecosystem-builderalumni-network

Philippe Hazet

Incubator Lead

operatorincubatorcommunity-builder

Cécile Tharaud

Investment Lead

investordeeptechstrategy

Maxime Cardinal

Investment Team

investordeeptechstrategy

Gaspard Devissaguet

Investment Team

investordeeptechstrategy

Denis Lucquin

Founder (Emeritus)

foundermentorlegacy

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Fund Overview

Fund Size€21M

Saves0

Website

Key People

Cécile Tharaud, Denis Lucquin

Bruno MartinaudAcademic Lead Entrepreneurship

Philippe HazetIncubator Lead

Cécile TharaudInvestment Lead

Maxime CardinalInvestment Team

Gaspard DevissaguetInvestment Team

Denis LucquinFounder (Emeritus)

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