Mandalore Partners invests in Start-Up & Spin-Off Studio KER

Press release

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Mandalore Partners announces its first investment in an innovation accelerator. This partnership between the Start-up & Spin-Off Studio Ker and Mandalore Partners will allow Mandalore to:

  1. Invest in the Start-up Studio Ker

  2. Create a vertical in Insurtech with APICIL group, a non-profit French corporation focusing on social protection in the “Auvergne Rhône-Alpes” (AURA) region

  3. Develop tech innovation in SMBs in the AURA region on others verticals with corporates

The AURA region is a great source of high-potential SMBs (nearly 3000 of them, the highest concentration in France), but struggles to scale due to a lack of tools to deploy these innovations. These promising companies generally need follow-up and financing.

Established in the heart of Lyon Tech-La Doua campus in Villeurbanne (22,000 students), the Start- Up Studio KER has access to the best French engineers and to 23 labs from INSA structured around multiple verticals, especially health. Ker is a Start-up & Spin-Off studio specialized in the creation and acceleration of tech projects in collaboration with the startups. Ker also provides seed money to the best startups. Its core technologies include in particular GreenTech, HRTech, FoodTech and SportTech.

The Start-Up Studio Ker focuses on a proven methodology and has the role of tech innovation catalyst. Ker identifies business-related needs with high added-value for its stockholders and partner companies, then gathers a team of high-potential engineers with complementary co-founders in order to launch entrepreneurial projects in optimal conditions for success. Mandalore Partners has been seduced by the multiple shared resources, the multi-disciplinary team, the market knowledge of partner companies and the privileged relations with labs and engineering universities (especially INSA Lyon) of Ker.

In addition, this investment will allow the establishment of a new vertical founded on insurance. This vertical will focus on three industries: digital insurance products (neo-insurance), Data and Artificial Intelligence especially targeted at prevention and services to insurers and brokers (marketing and sales). This investment thus fulfills the joint goal of Mandalore Partners and APICIL to address clients’ needs through innovation.

Other verticals besides insurance, such as digital, transports and energy, will be addressed in partnership with corporates. Financed projects will benefit from support on governance, fundraising, financial management, HR management and public relations.

« We are delighted to partner with APICIL and Mandalore Partners in order to help emerge new businesses around insurance, prevention, and health in corporations. Ker is open to other collaborations in order to build new verticals, based on its creation methodology and investment tool. » Sébastien Perros, CEO of KER.

« Mandalore once again highlights its capacity to support partner companies in their innovation approach and deployment of regional partnerships. Our sector expertise in InsurTech allows us to identify relevant projects in order to create appropriate innovation synergies. We are convinced that they will know how to benefit from it and put themselves at the forefront of InsurTech »Minh Q. Tran, Managing Partner and Founder of Mandalore Partners

« Convinced that open-innovation is the way to go about transformation, the APICIL group has actively joined support programs for startups and Intrapreneurial projects. This partnership is a new opportunity to develop innovative ideas coming internally, in order to transform our job as insurers and bring a new customer experience thanks to this collaboration with Ker and all of its multi-disciplinary partners. »Marie Christine Eudes, Director of Innovation and Services at Groupe APICIL

About Start-Up Studio KER

The Start-up Studio KER imagines, develops and provides financing to tech companies with high social and environmental impact. The objective of KER is to create 3 start-ups per year. In order to reach this target, they focus on market knowledge about their partners and stockholders as well as on their HR expertise to find talented co-founders.

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About APICIL Group

APICIL group offers a panel of insurance solutions in prevention, health and well-being, saving opportunities, and also additional retirement solutions for professionals and individuals. Evreryday, our 2200 employees bring their expertise to 47,000 companies and 2 million insureds and savers. The corporation covers a wide scale of needs, from the most generic to the most specific (handicap, construction, etc.) at every stage of their clients’ life. The APICIL group supports general interest and project progress having a social and environmental impact.

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"Who's Who in Fintech & Insurtech" report by Onalytica

Sabine VanderLinden and Minh Q Tran, Co founders of alchemy crew, are top influencers in the “Who’s Who in Fintech? “ report.

Alchemy Crew is an accelerator-as-a-service platform which acts as the research lab of Mandalore Partners.

This report aims to provide you with a sample of influential voices discussing Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Insurtech as these are important pillars of the overall Fintech conversation.

Learn more

Alchemy Crew, the research lab of Mandalore partners, buildt an award-winning venture validation and commercialization lab

Alchemy works upstream as an accelerator as a service and research lab, while Mandalore Partners positions itself downstream as a vc as a service and investment fund.

Sabine VanderLinden, CEO of Alchemy, is honoured to have been featured on the front page of Corporate Vision Magazine for building an award-winning venture validation and commercialization lab during COVID-19 with a focus on InsurTech and sustainability tech among others.

Learn more

Insurtech Capital, a fund managed by Mandalore Partners, invests in the deeptech start-up AUM BIOSYNC

Press release

AUM BIOSYNC, deeptech start-up based in Mâcon, completes its first funding round and raises 3 million euros

Committed to its contribution to the dynamic region of Bourgogne-Franche-Compté, the deeptech firm plans to accelerate its technological development and expand its workforce. 

 

AUM BIOSYNC is a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions dedicated to monitoring and optimising work-life balance, particularly for jobs where workers are on-call, doing shift work or work at night. Today, the organisation has raised 3 million euros from leading investors, including STEVA Investissement, an investment company committed to ethical and responsible projects, BFC (Bourgogne Franche-Comté) Angels, Mandalore Partners, and BPI France.

AUM BIOSYNC is also supported by INOBYZ MACON, a programme by the Mission Economique et de l’Innovation de l’Agglomération Mâconnais – Beaujolais, whose ecosystem includes flourishing start-ups like UBI TRANSPORTS (French Tech Next40/120), ITELIOS, and KINETI Technologies.

With these funds, AUM BIOSYNC’s goal is to innovate and grow its team both in France and internationally to help more workers better manage work-life balance and create an optimal working pattern. 

“We’re honoured by the trust our partners have placed in us. It was particularly important for us to work with fantastic organisations, who, like us, are dedicated to the region of Mâcon,” said Marc Riedel, President at AUM BIOSYNC. 

“For STEVA Investment, supporting AUM BIOSYNC’s mission was a no-brainer. Our committee of experts are very selective when it comes to choosing who to support. We value both the potential of an organisation, as well as the impact on our daily lives. Protecting the workers in professions where you need to be on-call, do shift work and work at night are often professionals who are key to keeping the economy running. Helping and protecting them has an impact on us all,” added Jean-Philippe Girard, President at STEVA Investissement. 

Based in Mâcon, AUM BIOSYNC has won a place in the APICIL PREVENTION SANTE BY H7 programme, as well as FRENCH IOT of LA POSTE GROUP award and has won the 10,000 Start-ups that will change the world BNP/LA TRIBUNE challenge (previous winners include Blablacar, Doctolib, Devialet and ManoMano). 

The societal impact

In this digital, ‘always on’ world, companies fight for snippets of our attention and free time. For AUM BIOSYNC, a fundamental societal change has begun, where resting, sleeping or sparing one's free time are becoming a fundamental right. 

This need for a better work-life balance is beneficial to all workers and is of particular importance to those working in industries that do not stop, such as the emergency services (ambulance, fire and rescue, police), urgent healthcare, security, transport and logistics, continuous process manufacturing, and construction, among others. These working conditions, if not carefully managed, can cause burn out, health problems and family life difficulties. 

“This solution helps organisations find the correct rhythm of work and life. As a sponsor of the APICIL PREVENTION SANTE BY H7 programme, I immediately saw the advantages for our customers, particularly those working in temp work and in healthcare,” explains Thomas Perrin, Associate Director General Delegate, APICIL Group.

“With AUM BIOSYNC, Marc Riedel demonstrated the power of AI solutions in improving services to citizens. The business model is sustainable, and it’s a real win-win all around,” added Dominique Melet at BFC Angels.

“Innovation is not limited to cities, and we’re committed to championing start-ups who chose to locate in our region, with personalised help and financial support through the INOBYZ programme. We are proud to have AUM BIOSYNC as one of our thriving tech start-ups here,” said Anthony Joubert-Laurencin of the Mission Economique et de l’Innovation de L’Agglomération Mâconnais – Beaujolais. 

An ambitious and responsible strategy

After successfully working with fire services, AUM BIOSYNC plans to expand its solutions to professionals in public and private hospitals, transport and logistics, distribution, continuous process manufacturing and others where work cannot stop. 

AUM BIOSYNC’s algorithms and AI expertise has recently been applied in top schools and universities, to process some of their scientific datasets. More recently, road transport companies have spotted the potential of their technology. 

The deeptech start-up anticipates growing its workforce by 50% by the end of the year, as well as completing the development of its application ecosystem. 

In addition to protecting the privacy of its users, AUM BIOSYNC is fully aligned with the European guidelines on ethical use of AI, ensuring data anonymisation, transparency, accountability, and technical robustness. AUM BIOSYNC plans to go further in improving its green credentials by developing its data processing capabilities to eliminate ‘digital fat’ and consume less energy.

“Providing reliable, secure and easy-to-use tools to our customers is our priority. The users of our applications must feel confident and focussed on business impact through efficient and effective decision-making,” adds Marc Riedel. 

Since its launch in 2019, AUM BIOSYNC applications effectively integrated free time and rest into the management and daily organisation of work. For example: 

·       Ring-fencing free time – for family time, sleep, leisure – during on-call duty 

·       Supporting recruitment of people adapting to working in certain conditions – on call, night work, shift work etc 

·       Creating equality between men and women when it comes to work-life balance 

·       Preventing risks, illness and accidents linked to 24-hour work

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About AUM BIOSYNC

AUM stands for “Useful and Mastered Algorithms”, and BIOSYNC “Biological Synchronisation”. 

AUM BIOSYNC is an organisation that creates solutions that help and assist workers in professions that do not have a typical working pattern: fire and rescue services, urgent healthcare, hospitals, transport and logistics, continuous process manufacturing and construction, among others. Designed by experts in biological rhythms, complex systems, high performing algorithms and AI, AUM BIOSYNC’s mission is to improve the lives of people working 27/4. This improvement has a knock-on impact to the lives of their managers and relatives, due to this technology based on scientifically proven, robust and reliable algorithms, and international scientific expertise in biological rhythms and data processing.