Accenture forms strategic relationship with Partech Ventures to drive innovation and support startup ecosystem

Accenture Ventures invests in Partech funds, gaining access to leading European and U.S. startups and the ability to co-invest

PARIS; Nov. 16, 2016 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into a strategic relationship with Partech Ventures, a leading venture capitalist firm headquartered in Paris, France, with offices in Berlin, Germany and San Francisco, California. Under the agreement, Accenture will invest in two Partech funds and join its Advisory Committee, gaining early access to relevant startups and the opportunity to co-invest in early-stage companies. Financial details were not disclosed.

The collaboration will enable Accenture’s enterprise clients to tap into the rich pool of innovation offered by top-tier startups to find new ideas and access new solutions for solving large business problems. It will further expand Accenture’s participation in the European and U.S. startup ecosystem, providing Accenture with privileged access to emerging digital leaders.

“Innovation provides the opportunity to invent the future and it’s firmly at the core of our business model and our work in the market,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer, Accenture. “Through Accenture Ventures, we help our enterprise clients navigate the startup community to find those that address real business challenges or create real value. Our unique relationship with Partech will contribute to a robust, high quality portfolio and sourcing that helps us deliver what enterprises need to innovate.”

The relationship with Partech Ventures was driven by Accenture Ventures, which focuses on teaming with and investing in companies that create innovative enterprise technologies. Through extensive relationships with startups, entrepreneurs, investors, academics, venture capitalists and corporate R&D groups around the world, Accenture Ventures invests in, and teams with, the most promising sources of innovation in the market.

“Through our relationship with Partech, Accenture will become more immersed in the startup community, particularly in Europe, identifying new opportunities to introduce innovation to our enterprise clients faster and at scale,” said Christian Nibourel, country managing director for Accenture in France and Benelux. “This agreement, along with the recent opening of the Accenture Innovation Center in Paris, demonstrates Accenture’s continued commitment to drive innovation not only in France but around the globe.”

“We are very proud to count Accenture as one of our strategic relationships at a global level,” said Philippe Collombel, co-managing partner of Partech Ventures. ”This collaboration embodies Partech Ventures’ transatlantic DNA and will enable our B2B portfolio companies around the world to access more prospects. Our relationship will be extremely powerful for each party when win-win opportunities between Accenture, a startup and an enterprise client to innovate together arise.”

Accenture Ventures will make a minority equity investment in Partech Entrepreneur II Fund, which specializes in seed funding, and in Partech International Ventures VII, which invests in early stage startups.

About Partech Ventures

Founded in 1982 in Silicon Valley, Partech Ventures is a global investment firm with a team spread across offices in San Francisco, Paris and Berlin. Most Partners have been entrepreneurs themselves or have held management positions within tech companies. The partnership acts and invests as a single team, helping entrepreneurs build fast-growing tech and digital companies addressing large markets across multiple continents. Partech Ventures partners with entrepreneurs at the seed (Partech Entrepreneur), venture (Partech International) and/or growth (Partech Growth) stages. Companies backed by Partech Ventures have completed 21 initial public offerings and more than 50 major M&A transactions with leading international companies. Since 2012, the team has built a pioneering business development platform fostering synergies and business relationships between entrepreneurs and strategic partners.

Preqin, an independent global research firm, has ranked Partech Ventures as one of the ten most consistent venture capital firms in the world, and the only European VC in the top 25.