Day One Entrepreneurs & Partners

Investment decisions are driven by co-founders Michel de Guilhermier and Juan Hernandez, both former tech entrepreneurs who serve as President and Partner respectively. They are joined by shareholder and Partner Christophe Courtin. The group operates with an operator's lens, drawing on each principal's experience building and exiting companies rather than purely financial portfolio management backgrounds.

The Leclercq family, founders of the global sporting-goods retailer Decathlon, are major anchor LPs and shareholders in Day One Entrepreneurs & Partners. They committed €50 million to the firm's permanent capital base in 2017, establishing them as a foundational backer rather than a client of a multi-family office structure (per Altss research).

The firm is structured as an investment company with permanent capital, not a traditional closed-end venture fund or a family office. This architecture means it does not face fixed fund-life liquidation pressure and can hold assets for longer periods. The Leclercq, Courtin, de Guilhermier, and Hernandez principals co-invest in a single unified book of assets.

No. While the Leclercq family are anchor shareholders and LPs, Day One Entrepreneurs & Partners operates as a distinct investment company with multiple founding partners and co-investors, including the Courtin family. It does not serve as an exclusive single-family office for the Leclercq family's total wealth.

The firm is headquartered in Paris and its direct deal flow is concentrated in French early-stage startups. However, the founders' professional networks—such as HEC Alumni and Angel Square—extend sourcing across continental Europe, and the firm's permanent-capital structure allows it to consider opportunities beyond French borders when the operator network supports it.

Day One frequently co-invests alongside Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, particularly in domestic digital-economy deals. One publicly cited example is their joint backing of LegalPlace, a French legaltech platform. The firm also collaborated with Sia Partners on the Studio investment fund, targeting early-stage services and technology companies.

Christophe Courtin, founder of Courtin Real Estate, became a shareholder and Partner in 2016. His group's assets—including the flexible-office operator Flex-O—create cross-pollination between the firm's digital venture portfolio and real-asset expertise, though Day One's primary stated strategy remains early-stage technology investment.