Investor Profile: Cathay Innovation — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Cathay Innovation is a global multi-stage venture capital firm founded in Paris in 2015 and affiliated with Cathay Capital private equity. It now manages €2.5 billion in assets, runs 7 offices (Paris, Berlin, Madrid, San Francisco, Mexico City, Shanghai, Singapore), has invested in 120+ startups and counts 20+ billion-dollar companies in its history. Its defining idea is a platform that bridges startups and industry — connecting founders to 20+ Fortune500 corporate LPs for customers, partnerships and scale.

Investment thesis

Cathay backs founders building transformative businesses at the centre of the digital revolution, with a deliberate bridge between North America, Europe, China, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. The differentiator is corporate connectivity: portfolio companies get structured access to industrial giants like L'Oréal, Michelin, Valeo, Danone and Pernod Ricard — corporations that are also LPs — for pilots, distribution and co-development. In 2025 the firm launched C.Lab, an advisory arm that helps large corporations run open-transformation programmes with startups, deepening that bridge.

Sectors and stage

As a multi-stage fund, Cathay Innovation invests from early to growth across consumer-to-enterprise AI, commerce, fintech, digital health and mobility/energy. Standard cheque sizes are not publicly disclosed — with €2.5B under management and a multi-stage mandate, the firm can lead or follow across a wide range of round sizes.

Notable portfolio

The portfolio reads like a map of global digital winners: Chime (NASDAQ: CHYM), the US digital bank; Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD), the social-commerce giant; Glovo (acquired), Europe's on-demand delivery platform; Ledger, the crypto-security leader; Momenta (HKG: 6880), the autonomous-driving company; and newer AI bets including Moonshot AI, Nabla and Bioptimus.

Partners

Denis Barrier is co-founder of the firm and a frequent public voice for its AI-era strategy. Bruno Delahaye — a Silicon Valley AI entrepreneur and former Walmart executive — joined as Partner to lead the consumer venture practice. The partnership spans the firm's offices across three continents.

How to apply for funding from Cathay Innovation

Cathay does not run a public application form. Founders reach the firm through its website, cathayinnovation.com, and — given the platform model — warm introductions through its corporate-LP ecosystem, co-investors or portfolio founders are the most credible route in. If your startup can sell to or through large industrials, say so explicitly: that is the firm's home turf.