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The financing of startups has always been based on three very distinct options. On the one hand, bootstrapping and its development constraints, the venture capital that pushes rapid hypercroissance with short-term profitability requirements, and the Private Equity which is aimed at mature companies, with a logic of redemption and restructuring. Between these three models, a segment remains largely under-exploited: that of profitable startups but in lack of resources to cross a course. Too advanced to seduce VCs, too small for the Private Equity, they often find themselves away from traditional funding.
Hexa Scale, the new Startup Studio Hexa initiative offers an alternative approach. By taking majority participations in these companies while providing them with strategic support, it aims to fill this void. This hybrid model is distinguished by an investment logic which is not based solely on a capital contribution, but also on operational support, where traditional funds are satisfied with a role of financial supervision.
Augustin Celier, partner at Hexa Scale, identified these difficulties after questioning more than a hundred founders. These entrepreneurs face similar issues: a lack of capital to structure their Go-to-Market, a product management which must adapt to a higher scale, key recruitments impossible to finance without an external contribution, and an increasing complexity in the governance of their business. More than half of them say they are open to a majority investment, provided that it is accompanied by a strategic contribution and is not limited to financial logic.
Hexa Scale is based on a specific model. The investment, between 5 and 20 million euros per company, aims to give the founders the means to accelerate their growth while retaining an involvement in the development of their company. Unlike the funds of Private Equity which seek to maximize immediate profitability, Hexa Scale engages on a progressive rise, with operational support provided by the Hexa team. This approach includes a structuring of Go-to-Market, a refinement of the product positioning and support for managers on organizational and managerial aspects.
Hexa Scale’s first investment illustrates this strategy. Veevart, a SaaS platform specializing in museum management, already has more than 150 customers in the United States. Its market is considerable: around 5,000 cultural institutions have sufficient budgets to modernize their digital infrastructure, but continue to use obsolete software. Despite a proven product-market, Veevart struggled to structure its expansion.
With an investment of 5 million euros, Hexa Scale supports the company in a new development phase. The objective is to strengthen its commercial strategy to send larger institutions, while starting to expand to Europe and Canada. The enrichment of the platform, in particular by the integration of features based on artificial intelligence, should make it possible to consolidate its competitive advantage. The management team will also be reinforced with the arrival of a COO and strategic recruitments in sales, marketing and product departments. Augustin Celier joins the board as an Operating Partner in order to structure this rise in power.
After more than ten years of independent growth, Antonio Velasco Echeverry, founder and CEO of Veevart, sees this alliance an opportunity to cross a CAP, because the company had reached its limits. Traditional investors did not meet his needs, and Hexa’s entrepreneurial approach was able to meet his expectations.
With Veevart as the first case of application, Hexa Scale provides two new investments by the end of 2025.
