The Founders Club Opens Its Doors to VC Backed Entrepreneurs in France

Healthcare, Technology & Cleantech portfolios open to French entrepreneurs with launch events in Paris January 26 and 28, 2010

Paris, France, January 21, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The Founders Club, (www.founders-club.com) announces its expansion into France with the launch of the first international venture capital backed portfolio enabling CEOs and founders to use their shares and stock options to become limited partners in The Founders Club.

Members of The Founders Club agree to pay a small percentage of their personal cash exits from an IPO or M&A transaction into the fund which is then distributed to all the members in that specific portfolio. Each portfolio balances risks of 30 different VC-backed early and later stage companies to maximize returns and synergies among participating entrepreneurs and VCs.

All participants must be already funded by tier one VCs to qualify to apply to join and each portfolio closes when 30 members join. The Founders Club is global in nature and includes 15 active VCs and advisors from Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, London, Paris, Stockholm, Munich and Tel Aviv who source deals, vote on the admissions committees and work with members to achieve exits.

The Founders Club will officially launch in France by hosting two free to attend VC & Entrepreneur events in Paris.

Technology & Cleantech Venture Capital & Entrepreneur Roundtable Networking Event – January 26, 2010.

Healthcare & Life Sciences Venture Capital & Entrepreneur Roundtable Breakfast – January 28, 2010.

The events will feature senior VC speakers from AGF Private Equity, Ventech, 360 Capital Partners, Demeter Partners, Innovacom, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Seventure and Auriga Partners. Dozens of other VCs and VC backed CEOs and founders are registered for these inaugural events. CEOs, entrepreneurs and VCs are invited to apply for the limited number of free tickets available directly from www.Founders-Club.com/events.

Andrew Romans, founder and General Partner, said, “A VC would never invest its entire fund into one company, but rather invests across a portfolio of different companies diversifying and balancing risk. By contrast, founders and hired CEOs have essentially invested their entire fund into one company and have all their eggs in one basket.”

Romans continues, “All of our members are backed by leading VCs which provides other members needing to raise additional VC funding unique access to capital in addition to our growing team of 15 venture advisors. When it is time to sell a company the club unites to bring more buyers to the table resulting in fewer companies failing and exits coming in faster and bigger.”

Key benefits for CEOs & founders:
· Diversification
· Liquidity
· Global CEO support network

Guillaume Lautour, Partner at AGF Private Equity in Paris and venture advisor to The Founders Club and member of the admissions committee for Technology & Cleantech, said, “French companies with global aspirations will benefit from collaboration with the best CEOs and VCs in Silicon Valley, other leading technology corridors in North America, Europe and Israel with additional reach into China and India. The portfolios have been specifically designed to limit dilution and maximize the financial incentive to work together by limiting membership to CEOs and founders of not more than 30 VC-backed companies per portfolio.”

Karl Naegler, General Partner at Ventech in Paris and venture advisor to The Founders Club and member of the admissions committee for Healthcare & Life Science, commented, “This is the first time there has ever been a healthcare specific CEO fund to bring together the best VC-backed entrepreneurs within the medtech and biotech sectors.” Naegler continued, “The best VCs provide not only capital for innovation and growth, but “smart money” hands-on assistance to portfolio companies specific to an industry vertical such as healthcare. The Founders Club is a natural progression of the value added VC model to accelerate progress and success with each specific milestone.”

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­About The Founders Club
The Founders Club is a global venture capital vehicle where CEOs & founders of VC backed companies pool together a small percentage of their personal future equity upside in return for becoming limited partners in a ground breaking VC portfolio. www.Founders-Club.com

The Founders Club has hosted a series of 11 VC Entrepreneur Roundtable events on 3 continents bringing together over 600 VCs, CEOs and founders. www.Founders-Club.com/events

Contact details
Richard Botley, Chameleon PR
Tel: + 44 207 680 5500
richard.botley [at] chameleonpr.com
Thibaut Mercey, Associate & Country Manager – France, The Founders Club
Paris: +33 6 82 52 49 02
London: + 44 7904 329 179
Thibaut [at] founders-club.com

Andrew Romans, General Partner, The Founders Club
Silicon Valley: +1 (650) 209-6677
London: +44 7815 901 066
ar [at] founders-club.com

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The Founders Club
Andrew Romans
+44.7815.901.066
www.founders-club.com
+1(650) 209-6677
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