Alexandre Perrin
Venture Partner at Scalebridge Capital
Alexandre Perrin
Venture Partner at Scalebridge Capital
London, England
Overview
Work Experience
Venture Partner
2023
Head of Ventures
2021 - 2023
XTX Ventures is the VC arm of XTX Markets, the leading algorithmic market maker leveraging machine learning to trade >18% of European equities and >7% of global FX (top 3 global) and focuses on Seed to Series A companies using ML as a core technology across all verticals (incl. healthcare, self-driving cars, agriculture, architecture…). As sole full-time venture employee (Head of Ventures) over 24 months: led 17 initial investments, 13 follow-ons and 3 highly strategic partnerships. Served on the boards of over 12 ML startups, including DiA Imaging Analysis, TraceAir, Turbine, Logically, Xihelm, BlueSkeye AI. Iconic initial investments include Anthropic (ranked in the CB Insights 2023 Top 100 most promising AI companies globally, achieved >5x unrealised in 8 months), Wayve, BIOS, BlueSkeye AI, SWAPP, Terray Therapeutics (since partnered with Calico, an Alphabet company), IOMED (CB Insights 2023 Digital Health Top 50), and Voiceitt (now Cisco/Webex partner). Led highly successful follow-on rounds in Traceair, Logically (both CB Insights 2023 Top 100 most promising AI companies), Turbine (CB Insights 2023 Digital Health Top 50) and oversaw the exit of Dia Imaging to Philips. Initiated partnerships with accelerators & venture builders such as Conception X and Creative Destruction Labs <> HEC Paris, Post-Urban Ventures, securing XTX Ventures’ role at the centre of the Deep Tech ecosystem. Awarded £100k-£200k CLN funding to the most promising UK PhDs, pre-seed entrepreneurs, venture builders from the programmes. Developed XTX Ventures' online & offline (conferences, dinners, deep tech events) presence, leveraging the Young VCs platform I launched in 2017 (>1,000 VC members across Europe, organises top VC events). Optimised operational capabilities by streamlining internal processes, incl. setting up a portfolio management tool automating emails for monthly KPI collection to over 30 companies across the US, UK, Israel, Spain & Switzerland.
Investment Committee (XTX Ventures)
2022 - 2023
Conception X is the UK's leading PhD deep tech venture programme.
Young Leaders Circle
2019 - 2022
Venture Consultant / Part-time Principal
2019 - 2021
Outsized Ventures is a London-based VC fund investing in Deep Tech start-ups with a focus on applying AI/ML, quantum computing, VR/AR to solve problems in healthcare, life sciences, nutrition, and agriculture at Seed to Series A in the UK, the Rest of Europe and North America. Alexandre acted as a Principal (full-time) and then consulted (part-time) for Outsized Ventures (fka Luminous Ventures). He evaluated investment opportunities and supported partners on deal execution (incl. drafting IC documents and overseeing due diligence) for warehoused deals while the fund was fundraising. Led execution on Mahana Therapeutics (Digital Therapeutics using CBT, founded by ex-Lux Capital founder) and Temporall (Platform providing organisational intelligence founded by senior ex-Googler), both >£1m tickets. Drafted documents for fundraising, such as the main Investor Presentation, the Information Memorandum and the ESG Policy. Supported Partners in replying to prospective LP requests; developed internal operational processes (pipeline, portfolio mgmt).
Venture and Private Equity Investment Associate
2017 - 2019
Alex served as the Associate covering venture capital (Series A to Series C) for Richard Branson & the Virgin Group in a team of two while at Virgin Management, the holding company of the Virgin Group and the Branson family's family office. Drafted IC documents for the investment in Upside Foods (fka Memphis Meats, the first lab-grown meat company also backed by Bill Gates) and follow-on investments in Slack (productivity tool), Blockchain.com (crypto wallet), Capsule Pharmacy (pharmacy delivery in NYC), DoctorOnDemand (telemedicine), Loansnap (smart mortgage lending); the exit of Ring (connected doorbell) to Amazon. Monitored portfolio of >40 investments, including Transferwise, Slack, Pinterest, Twitter, Square, Sofar Sounds, Codecademy, CreativeLive, 3DR, Blockchain.com, Bitpay, and the Placeholder Fund. Managed Richard Branson’s crypto asset portfolio and identified strategic opportunities in the blockchain space for the Virgin Group; spoke on several blockchain panels and conferences, including SVK Crypto[1] and family office conference DC Finance[2]. Part of a small team working directly with the CIO of the Group that led to closing a brand licensing deal and creating Virgin Trains USA to build a railway between Miami and Orlando, supporting the valuation and construction of the LBO model. Explored possibilities for Richard Branson to dive into the Marianna Trench (deepest point on earth (11km)) with a submarine. Originated investment opportunities for rebranding into Virgin companies, which were presented to the investment committee in sectors including hospitality (Virgin Hotels), out-of-home entertainment, transport and financial services. [1] https://hackernoon.com/svk-talks-regulation-and-mass-adoption-at-their-thriving-london-meet-up-this-week-84cc09c694df https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGbaVmBGT_A [2] https://london-blockchain.co.uk/mr-alexandre-perrin/
Private Equity Analyst
2016 - 2017
Formulated the investment thesis that led to the acquisition of the largest European franchise of McDonald’s with 435 restaurants across the Nordic region (Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden) by Guy Hands, the chairman of one of Europe’s leading LBO funds (at the time, retiring 2023 passing on to his son Richard), incl. a detailed analysis of leases and consumer behaviours and a turnaround strategy recommendation. The investment proved highly successful and is one of Guy and Richard Hands’ main focuses and cash cows today. Won the bid for Welcome Hotels, a chain of 12 German hotels in a team of three; drafted due diligence and investment thesis, market consolidation strategy, management compensation package mechanism and LBO model. Lead analyst on Cleor, a jewellery retail sector deal: structured €15m support capital transaction including hybrid debt/equity instruments and warrants; negotiated with current company sponsor 21 Centrale Partners; drafted investment thesis & presented to CIO of Terra Firma.
Private Equity Analyst
2015 - 2016
Keensight Capital (Rothschild R Capital Management spinout), a highly successful pan-European growth equity fund of c. €250m AUM with a focus on technology and healthcare, had concluded over 55 transactions with a 40% IRR by the time Alex left the firm to join Terra Firma’s graduate programme in 2016. It held stakes in companies such as Oodrive, CCM Benchmark, Fircosoft, Travelfactory (Travelski), Smile, Octo Telematics, smartTrade, Pixid, Datawords, Vision-box... It has since (Jan 2024) grown significantly and recently raised a fund of over >€3bn. Alex drafted a 140-slide Information Memorandum on smartTrade Technologies (leading FX and Fixed Income trading software), convincing Keensight’s IC. His detailed build-up strategy was instrumental in convincing the company’s management that Keensight was the best partner to grow the company and led to winning a competitive bid for a 30% stake against four highly regarded private equity funds. SmartTrade’s CEO offered Alex a full-time position to act as his right hand and supervise the company's external growth strategy based on the strong professional relationship built up throughout the transaction. Drafted the investment memorandum leading to the successful divestment of TravelFactory, a portfolio company in the online travelling agency industry held for seven years, to the Company des Alpes. Conducted due diligence on Linkbynet, a managed IT Services company based in France invested in by Keensight Capital following presentation to the investment committee. Selected & interviewed industry experts in FinTech & InsurTech to evaluate business models of potential targets; developed screening tools for strategic market analysis using VBA and database plug-ins. Coordinated investment banks, legal, and audit teams; drafted and corrected NDAs, LOIs, & Term Sheets. Performed LBO, comparables, and DCF valuations.