About

Pierre-Edouard Stérin

Otium Capital is a family office, managing the assets of founder Pierre-Edouard Stérin, a French entrepreneur and investor. Pierre-Edouard is the founder of SmartBox Group, a pan-European company (with c.500m business volume) in which he still holds more than 90% of the capital. Otium Capital invests the dividends of SmartBox Group into diverse entrepreneurial projects and rests on the principles of risk-taking and ambition — both of which are in Pierre-Edouard’s DNA.

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An opportunistic investment platform

The family office invests primarily in European venture capital, growth capital opportunities and buy-and-build projects (ranging between 100K€ and 15M€). Combined, the team supports more than 40 companies, as minority or majority shareholder, from less than €1m to more than €250m of sales.

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The purpose

Pierre-Edouard Stérin’s goal is, in the next years, to give 99% of his proceeds to charities and associations involved in helping the weakest, promoting education and supporting the indigent. This give back notion has been Pierre- Edouard’s strongest driver for several years now. In this context, he started to act for charity by helping multiple projects, or by launching new initiatives, such as www.lanuitdubiencommun.com.

Ana Luisa, Feed, Hari & Co, Laboté, Même, Merci Handy, Oh My Cream !, Peas & Love, Polène, Tediber; Ultra Premium Direct, Hapik, Dynamo and Kids Empire are managed by the team that has since created Eutopia

Kidjo, Kyra, Comet, Doctrine, PayFit, Owkin, Walnut, Source {d}, Octoly, Stratumn, Shippeo and LightOn are managed by a team that has since created Frst

Ana Luisa, Feed, Hari & Co, Laboté, Même, Merci Handy, Oh My Cream !, Peas & Love, Polène, Tediber and Ultra Premium Direct are managed by the team that has since created Eutopia

Hapik, Dynamo and Kids Empire are managed by a team that has since created Eutopia.

Kidjo and Kyra are managed by a team that has since created Frst

Comet, Doctrine, PayFit, Owkin, Walnut, Source {d}, Octoly, Stratumn, Shippeo and LightOn are managed by the team that has since created Frst.

Team

Pierre-Edouard Sterin

Founder and Chairman

Pierre-Edouard Stérin is the founder and chairman of Otium Capital, a family office that manages his assets.

After graduating from Paris-Sorbonne University and EMLYON Business School, Pierre-Edouard began his finance career in 1998 at Société Générale and Exane. After working there as a sales manager and analyst, he followed his entrepreneurial passion to launch his first venture: BlackOrange. The online software sales and video game company posted €3 million revenue in its first fiscal year before it was sold in 2001.

Next, he focused on a gift box concept that he discovered in Belgium. The adventure began in 2003 as a franchisee named Smartbox. After delivering very high growth during the first years of operations, Smartbox acquired his franchisor with the support of financial sponsors. Nowadays, Smartbox is the leading player in its industry, operating in 11 countries and posting business volumes of €500m. Setting his sights on other ventures, Pierre-Edouard handed over the leadership to a new operating team in 2013. He currently holds the title as chairman and majority shareholder.

Aside from his Smartbox venture, Pierre-Edouard invested in several startups, the most notable of which being LaFourchette, a restaurant-booking platform. He supported the company from 2009 to 2014, as it grew into a €15 million revenue company in France, Spain and Switzerland. LaFourchette was sold to TripAdvisor in 2014 for $150m and the transaction was unanimously acclaimed as one of the most successful cash exits that occurred in France by that time.
 

A tenacious entrepreneur and philanthropist, Pierre-Edouard has poured his ambition and optimism into every project to better support his charitable endeavours. Pierre-Edouard currently resides in Belgium, where he oversees, as its CEO, Otium Capital as an investment vehicle pursuing investment opportunities in line with his ambition.

pierre@otiumcapital.com

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