Venture Capital in EDA

Edouard Lamy, Associate Apax Partners Beteiligungsberatung GmbH

Abstract

The venture capital industry developed a strong interest for the EDA industry in the late 1990s and went onto an investment spree, which resulted in an over-funding of the industry and in most cases did not yield the anticipated returns. With the years of “irrational exuberance” supposedly behind us, what is the current stand of the venture capital community on EDA?

More specifically, what were the key drivers that led the venture industry to pour substantial amounts of capital in the EDA industry in the first place? What has happened since then and how has the view of the venture community regarding the EDA industry changed? What are venture capital investors now looking for in an EDA investment opportunity? What is the rationale for the venture backing of EDA start-ups in Europe? This talk will try to answer these questions from a venture capitalist’s point of view.

Curriculum Vitae

Edouard Lamy is a member of Apax Partners' IT team, specialising in venture deals. Before joining Apax Partners in August 2003, he worked for three years in the London office of Crescendo Ventures, a global venture capital firm headquartered in California and concentrating on early stage investments in information technology companies. He previously worked as a business development manager at World Telecom labs, a Brussels-based communications technology company, developing advanced carrier switching equipment solutions. Prior to that, he spent two years as an investment analyst in New York at SG Capital Partners. Edouard graduated from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris in 1997.