Paris-based startup Colette raises $1.2 million in its first funding round

French social impact startup Colette has raised $1.2 million in an Angel round. The round was led by Financiere Saint Jame, Roxanne Varza (co-founder of StartHer & Tech.eu), Thibaud Elziere (co-founder of Efounders and DataDome business angel), Michaël Benabou (the President at Financiere Saint James), Andrew Robb (co-founder of Farfetch), and Rachel Delacour (co-founder at Sweep). The startup announces that it has completed its first round of funding with a panel of business angels.

Founded in December 2019 by CEO Matthew Vaxelaire, Alexandre Gosset, CTO David Jeusette, Coline Guénel, Benjamin Guedj, and Justine Renaudet, Colette is aimed to reinvent intergenerational cohabitation around the values ​​of mutual aid, sharing, and solidarity. The startup is helping young people to move in with seniors who have a free room at home. 

With $1.2 million, the startup wants to solve the double problem: the profitability of unoccupied rooms in senior citizens’ homes and the possibility for students to access quality housing at affordable prices. Also, they want to prove the attractiveness of its value proposition in Paris before expanding to other cities in France and to the international.

Matthieu Vaxelaire, co-founder and CEO of Colette said: 

“Today, we have validated several key points: we know how to recruit hosts who offer their free rooms on Colette, we know how to respond to the demand of young people who are looking for a room. , we know how to create the best pairs of cohabitants. But the most important thing is that the Colette solution really appeals: we have a satisfaction score of 9/10 with the pairs of cohabitants that we created in 3 months.”

(quote translated from French)