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Pierre-Paul Benoit is one of France’s most recognized specialists in Search Funds. Throughout his banking career, he has supported the acquisition, growth, and divestment of numerous companies. He discovered the SF model in 2019, when it first emerged in France, and has since become one of the country’s most active private investors. He has participated in the acquisitions of Maillon, Flying Eye, Actibio, and Allya.
During 2025, he worked closely with Guerric Faure, an experienced entrepreneur with more than 15 years of company-building and scaling in sectors such as B2B SaaS and healthcare. Faure has successfully led growth across Europe through M&A and build-up strategies, and is also an LP in seed funds as well as an active business angel. Together, they teamed up to launch LeFonds.Capital (LFC), the first French investment fund using the SF model to support a new generation of entrepreneurs in acquiring and growing high-potential SMEs.
LFC has now been officially launched and is preparing for a first closing of approximately €10M in Q1 2026, with the goal of raising around €20M within the next 18 months. The fund intends to back around 30 searchers over the next few years, targeting the acquisition of a portfolio of 25 companies across Europe, primarily in France, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The average ticket size will range from €750k to €1M per deal.
Their strength lies in a rare combination: deep investment expertise paired with hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and business succession. As they explain, “We know how to assess financial statements, but above all, we know how to recognize the human potential behind every project.”
The fund is already fully operational and currently manages 22 active SFs in its portfolio, including recent additions such as Nexus Partners (Germany), Pharus Succession (Spain), Vitis Capital (Italy), B2R (Italy), Novalia Partners (Spain), Logos Equity Partners (Switzerland), Joto Transmission (France), Backer Transmission (France), H&B Mittelstandspartner (Germany), and Ashington Capital (UK). They are currently working on three deals and expect to complete their first investments through this vehicle at the beginning of 2026.
