Thibaud Elziere

Thibaud Elziere is a prominent figure in the European tech ecosystem, best known as the co-founder of Hexa, formerly eFounders. Hexa operates as a unique startup studio, differing significantly from traditional venture capital firms. Instead of investing in pre-existing companies, Hexa's model involves conceiving, building, and launching B2B SaaS companies from scratch. Elziere's vision for Hexa is to systematically create successful software businesses by providing initial capital, a founding team, and operational support, essentially acting as a co-founder and incubator.

Before Hexa, Elziere co-founded Fotolia, a stock photography marketplace, which was successfully acquired by Adobe for approximately $800 million in 2014. This exit provided him with significant entrepreneurial experience and capital, which he subsequently channeled into the studio model. Hexa has been remarkably prolific, having launched over 40 companies since its inception. Notable successes include Aircall, a cloud-based phone system that achieved a valuation of over $1 billion, and Front, a customer communication platform that has raised over $138 million in funding.

Hexa's approach means that the "investment" it provides to its portfolio companies is more akin to seed funding and operational resources within an incubated environment, rather than a typical external venture capital check. The initial capital provided to each new Hexa venture is part of the studio's operational budget and co-founding agreement. Therefore, defining a standard "min_check_size" or "max_check_size" for Thibaud Elziere as an investor in the traditional sense is not straightforward, as his primary role is that of a builder and co-founder within the Hexa ecosystem. His influence is in company creation and scaling, leveraging a repeatable process to generate new B2B SaaS leaders.