(Exit) Jenji joins Silae, the new HRtech centaur with +€100M of ARR
(Exit) Jenji joins Silae, the new HRtech centaur with +€100M of ARR
As an early-stage investor, an industrial exit is always a bunch of mixed feelings. Between happiness and sadness, between the work done and the will to carry on the relationship you had with the founders and the rest of the team. Of course, part of our job is to provide liquidity and performance to our LPs, and we know that our work is a mid-term relationship (4 to 10 years max), but it’s always difficult to break up. This well-known parallel with the wedding and the planned separation…
It was even more difficult for me to say goodbye to Jenji, Pierre and Nico after 6 years together. As a seed investor, you know the story is not going to be linear, we shared good and critical moments, but always with goodwill. I remember well the first round (it was a seed in 2017 but now it will be seen as a pre-pre-seed :)) A first check with a small team of 3, no revenue, a brilliant product vision to tackle the Expense Management market and simply the will to work together… It was also the beginning of our own company (Jenji was the second deal of our 1st fund that we hadn’t closed yet when we committed) and we both knew how complicated it was to raise funds at this moment. Raising a 1st time fund & a seed round in 2016, same fight!
After a few normal headaches on the go-to-market strategy, the management succeeded in putting Jenji as a major player in the expense management market with traction and a top notch team (Gaetan, Louis, Sylvain, etc.). We did our best to help the company with its go-to-market strategy and to connect the dots with a few Axeleo's friends (Jérôme, Jérome and Anne).
Pierre, you already nicely shared your feelings about this new path for Jenji : linkedin post
With Eric and all AXC team, we wish you all the best for this new venture and I will be more than happy to keep our moments of fun, talking about software, Kilian Jornet, vintage suits, football and all of Pierre's incredible stories :)
Les Echos : https://www.lesechos.fr/start-up/deals/rh-silae-depasse-100-millions-de-revenus-annuels-1785646
Usine Digitale : https://www.usine-digitale.fr/article/sirh-silae-signe-trois-acquisitions-et-devient-centaure.N2039392
