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Many CVCs, because of their parents’ core business, tend to have, for lack of a better term, high-minded or particularly noble missions – whether that’s saving the planet from climate change, or humanity from disease, or anything else that may in some way contribute to the saving of the world – but then you have some investor who just want you to have a grand old time with the people you care about.
That’s what Convivialité Ventures, the CVC unit of Pernod Ricard, aims to do.
I’m joined on the show by Stéphane Longuet, managing director of Convivialité, to talk about what it’s like being, as one his VC friends put it, a “fund funding fun.”
With a portfolio boasting everything from drinks brands and gaming streaming platforms, to activity booking and delivery services, the unit takes a broad view of what it means to bring people together, and what settings that can be done in.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, there’s been a shift from socialising in person, to in the home, and while people have revelled since lockdowns ended, there has been something of a decentralisation of social spaces. For an investor, this brings a number of opportunities.
We talk about what those opportunities look like, what it’s like to be a standard-bearer for investing in fun stuff, and the impact that a higher consumer demand for health and sustainability have meant, among other things.