Meet the Member: Rémi Honoré, US Lead, Fast-Up Partners 

In our latest Meet the Member feature, we spoke with Rémi Honoré, US Lead at Fast-Up Partners.

Fast-Up Partners is a leading European venture excubation firm. Fast-Up Partners accelerates the growth of B2C corporations by teaming up with them to build new digital ventures and brands. With offices in Paris, New York and Sao Paulo, they have, over the last 5 years, created hundreds of millions Euros of value for their partners.

Keep reading to learn more about Fast-Up Partners and its ‘Venture Excubation’ process.

FACC: Fast Up helps companies scale, quickly, through a process called “venture excubation”. What is this process and how is it different from traditional consulting, business development, venture capital investments or incubators?

RH: Our process (excubation) has the same goal as incubation (i.e. accelerate innovation within a corporation) but it is handled in a very different way. The venture is led by external teams and reintegrated by the clients 18-36 months after the kick-off when the structure is big enough to start (partially) comply with our clients' process.

Here are the 3 main steps of the process:

1) Exploration: We explore growth opportunity ("consulting style" hard core analytics combined with "street smart" methods & judgment) lead us to one opportunity aligned with (1) market demand (2) rough financial constraints and (3) our client strategic objectives.
2) Definition: We dive into the chose opportunity and validate its attractiveness x feasibility: Full P&L, consideration of all operations options (offer, pricing, route-to-market,...)
3) Operation: We take the leadership of materializing the initiative and get new ventures and brands off the ground. 

It is different from consulting because we put skin in the game and invest our own money on our clients' project. When we build a venture, we are willing to invest in it.
It is different from venture capital investment because we lead the day-to-day operations and we rely on our own work to create value.
It is different from business development because we handle much more (supply, logistics, admin, customer service, IT, ...) we are entrepreneurs and we handle what it takes to make it happen (incl. business dev). 

FACC: One of your case studies highlights your work with Limelife by Alcone, an MLM brand joint venture started with L’Occitane Group in Brazil. Beyond beauty, what sectors does Fast Up Partners engage in and how do you bring deep understanding of the target market to the project?

RH: We are specialized in B2C businesses (products, services, retail, media, technology) and address only growth topics. We have initiated venture in various sectors as men grooming, pet food, food & beverages, jewelry, interior design, e-commerce technology. 
Our team has solid B2C experiences at blue chips and leading consulting / tech firms. We are confident enough to deal with uncertainty and ups-and-down of venture projects in large organization.

FACC: Fast Up is based in Paris. Is there anything particular about your location that gives you an advantage over other companies acting in a similar capacity? i.e. favorable startup environment, access to global fashion brands, European market, etc.

RH: We are based in France (Paris) but 94% of our revenues come from outside France. We also have "outpost" in New York City & Sao Paulo which give us direct access to Americas. 
We have initiated ventures in Paris, Berlin, London, New York, Sao Paulo. Our playfield is Global.

FACC: Do you partner with companies of all sizes? Is there a minimum valuation or market size necessary to benefit from your services?

RH: Yes, we partner with company of all sizes: from SMB ($ 50 million revenue) to fortune 500 companies (> $ 30 billion revenues).

FACC: How did you hear about the FACC and what are you most excited to share with fellow members?

RH: I have looked for the Local chamber of commerce and met FACC few weeks after moving in NYC. The team has been welcoming and Lindsey accelerated my understanding of the US market and put me in touch with relevant people in New York city. 

Interested in connecting with Rémi? Log into the FACC Member Directory to send him a message.