'It's the encounter between an investor and the team' - Fil Rouge Capital founding partner Julien Coustaury on the VC's investment in social media platform eYou and activity in Romania

Fil Rouge Capital, which focuses on early-stage businesses, launched its local operations in the spring of last year and has made three investments in Romania since. As social media platform eYou, a project it supported with EUR 300,000 in pre-seed funding, made its public launch this week, Fil Rouge Capital founding partner Julien Coustaury told Romania Insider more about what drew them to this venture and some of the fund’s plans for the country.

Fil Rouge Capital had been looking at investing in social media, but no project convinced them until they encountered eYou, which was developed by Bucharest-based French entrepreneurs Jasseem Allybokus and Grégoire Vigroux. The platform’s focus on fact-checking was part of a winning mix for the fund that backs early-stage ventures. “I think that this is also the essence of what venture capital is, to invest and take risks when there is nothing,” Julien Coustaury says. Meanwhile, the fund is seeing promising ideas in the pre-seed and seed stages in the country, where it seeks to increase its presence. More on this in the interview below.