Investment
Commit capital with attention to the team, the business and the resources its development requires. Assess where the holding can contribute alongside its investment.
We do not buy the future. We buy responsibility for it.
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We do not buy the future.
We buy responsibility for it.
Our mission01 / Liberty Finances
Capital for the business.
Judgment for what comes next.
Europe and United States
Founded in 2007, Liberty Finances brings capital, strategic judgment and time to business leaders. Its approach draws on an entrepreneurial journey that began with Actweb in 1999.
The work centers on the decisions that shape a company: clarifying priorities, structuring the organization, financing development and preparing a handover. The aim is to connect strategic direction with the resources and responsibilities needed to carry it through.
The portfolio spans technology, specialist distribution, data, connected healthcare and real estate. Liberty Finances is based in France; Hikari Blue, operated by UNITED4 LLC, extends the entrepreneurial activity to Austin, Texas. Explore the approach.
Europe and the United States.
EU
Strasbourg, France
Liberty Finances headquarters
US
Austin, Texas
Hikari Blue / UNITED4 LLC
Investment and support02 / Business and context
Capital.
Judgment.
Time.
Growth, organizational change and succession call for choices about people, capital and timing. Liberty Finances brings investment and strategic advice to those decisions.
Strategic advice
Work with leaders to test assumptions, set priorities and decide when to accelerate, strengthen the organization or prepare a handover. Make the implications for teams, capital and execution explicit.
Operating experience
Draw on work in software platforms, specialist distribution, data and AI. Connect technical choices with the commercial, organizational and governance requirements of the business.
Companies03 / 10
Companies built.
Businesses backed.
Companies founded, backed or handed over. Each profile identifies the relationship: ownership, financial partnership or a personal investment through a fund. Former holdings are marked as exited.
AW / INNOVATE
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Founded in 1999, Actweb supported major brands with digital strategy and web, mobile and e-commerce platforms. In 2011, a 70% stake was sold to the CACOM group; the company then had 350 employees. It regained its independence as AW / INNOVATE in 2018 before joining Cyllene in 2022.
Connect strategy with delivery
From 2003 to 2022, assignments with Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC and its subsidiaries combined advice to business leaders with the design of web, mobile and e-commerce platforms, connecting strategic direction with digital delivery.
Regaining independence, then choosing a buyer
Actweb regained its independence in 2018 under the AW / INNOVATE name, before joining Cyllene in 2022. The sequence connects three distinct stages of ownership: building the agency, buying back its shares and transferring it to a group with infrastructure and cloud capabilities.
Hikari Blue
INTELLIGENCE, ENGINEERED FORWARD.
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Founded in Europe in 2016 and established in Austin, Texas, in 2025, Hikari Blue is the trade name of UNITED4 LLC. It builds and operates AI systems and custom software platforms for businesses in regulated sectors. From transformation to ongoing operations, its work incorporates governance, audit trails, observability and clearly assigned operational responsibilities.
Roots in banking and machine learning
Established in 2016, Hikari Blue worked with Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC teams on real-time management of outstanding card balances and transaction flows using machine learning. Within a few months, the teams obtained all of the project’s data flows in real time. This banking work provided the foundation for subsequent developments in artificial intelligence.
Bring AI into operations
Moving from experimentation to operations requires software architecture, governance and defined responsibilities. Hikari Blue works on these foundations for integrating AI into business processes, with attention to traceability and system monitoring.
Connect Europe and the United States
Founded in Europe in 2016 and established in Austin in 2025, Hikari Blue is operated by UNITED4 LLC. The brand and the company represent one business, not two separate investments.
The Tools Company
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Founded in 2021, The Tools Company developed a tools and equipment marketplace for professionals and demanding enthusiasts. Its purpose was to make professional equipment accessible for workshop, home improvement and renovation projects. Tonic Distribution acquired the business in 2023.
Combining distribution and online retail
Founded in 2021, The Tools Company joined Tonic Distribution in 2023. The acquisition brought a specialist online marketplace into a professional tools distributor, connecting product expertise with a digital sales channel.
SP Tools France
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SP Tools is an Australian professional tools brand. An agreement for exclusive distribution in France was signed in 2021 for a term of eight years. It also provided for online distribution of the products across Europe.
Rights and routes to market
The 2021 agreement defined two routes to market: exclusive distribution in France for eight years and online distribution across Europe. These contractual rights framed the commercial development of the Australian brand.
Tonic Distribution
Tonic Distribution sells professional tools. Its acquisition of The Tools Company in 2023 brought together distribution and online retail activities involving brands such as Milwaukee, Force, SP Tools, Sonic, Omega and Tonic. Liberty Finances invested in Tonic Distribution as part of this development.
Groupe Cyllene
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Founded in 1986, Cyllene works across IT infrastructure, cloud, managed services and data. The group had 450 employees when it acquired AW / INNOVATE in 2022. Liberty Finances subsequently entered into a financial partnership with Cyllene by acquiring an equity stake in the group.
A financial relationship after the sale
Following the sale of AW / INNOVATE in 2022, Liberty Finances became a shareholder in Cyllene. This equity partnership extends the relationship beyond the agency’s sale, connecting digital platforms with infrastructure, cloud and managed services.
RDS
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RDS develops and markets MultiSense, a connected device for remotely monitoring physiological parameters, including cardiac and respiratory measures. The French-American venture brings together teams in Strasbourg and Palo Alto. The investment in RDS dates to 2023.
From physiological signals to remote monitoring
MultiSense connects physiological measurement with remote monitoring, including cardiac and respiratory parameters. The investment, made in 2023, supports a venture bringing together teams in Strasbourg and Palo Alto. Its field combines medical devices, data and their use in patient monitoring.
UNITED4 LLC
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UNITED4 LLC is the Texas company operating under the Hikari Blue trade name. It is the operating entity for the brand’s AI, software platform and operational support activities. Hikari Blue and UNITED4 LLC are one business.
The company behind the brand
UNITED4 LLC operates Hikari Blue’s AI systems, software platforms and operational support activities. The two profiles identify the commercial brand and its operating company; they represent one business.
08Starfox Analytics
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Starfox Analytics helps businesses collect, analyze and use their data. Liberty Finances invested in the company in 2024. The investment has since been exited as part of CEETADEL’s majority acquisition, announced in 2026.
Build beyond an analytics agency
The investment thesis was to build a platform of expertise across consulting, technology, analytics engineering and applied AI. Equity investment was combined with strategic advice and sustained dialogue with the business leader on the company’s direction and structure.
The sale of the stake
The stake was sold as part of CEETADEL’s majority acquisition, announced in 2026, bringing Starfox Analytics into a marketing and communications group.
Griffin Global Management
09Griffin Global Management
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Griffin Global Management pursues real estate investments in Austin, Texas. Its approach focuses on the potential of each property and aims to reduce energy impact through renovation and ongoing building operations.
Property potential and energy use
Griffin Global Management focuses on real estate in Austin. Its approach considers how renovation and ongoing operations can develop a property’s potential while seeking to reduce its energy impact.
Apptronik
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Apptronik develops humanoid robots and collaborates with Google DeepMind through a research partnership focused on AI in the physical world. Franck Ohrel participates in the Series A-X round with his US holding company, F.P.O & Sons, through an investment fund. The investment thesis centers on the convergence of robotics, learning and industrial operations.
Apptronik × Google DeepMind
The collaboration connects Apptronik’s robotic platform with Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics models. At Robot Park in Austin, Apollo 2 robots generate data from industrial and logistics tasks, combining teleoperation with autonomous execution. These experiences help train and refine the models, with the goal of developing robots capable of operating in real-world environments.
An industrial investment thesis
The investment thesis rests on a convergence: robots generate physical experience, models learn from it, and those capabilities can be applied to industrial tasks. The potential for transformation depends on reliable execution, adaptability and integration into existing operations.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to David and Roger.
An approach to investing04 / Journey
Judgment shaped
by experience.
Aligning vision,
execution, governance
and timing.
I have been an entrepreneur since 1999. I have founded, built, financed and handed over businesses. Those experiences shape how I invest and work with business leaders, particularly in technology, data and artificial intelligence.
My role combines equity investment, advice and dialogue with business leaders. The work centers on concrete choices: questioning an assumption, clarifying priorities, deciding to accelerate or preparing a handover.
I pay particular attention to alignment between vision, execution, governance and timing. Decisions commit people, resources and time. They call for judgment, including when the information is incomplete.
Continue reading
Curiosity, trust and candor matter in my working relationships. I owe much to the teams and partners with whom I have built these businesses.
I want technological progress to support shared prosperity. I stand for liberal democracy, the institutions that sustain it and fairness for everyone. Those convictions guide how I build, invest and work with others.
Advising senior leadership2003–2022
From strategic vision
to digital platforms.
From 2003 to 2022, I advised leaders at Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC and its subsidiaries on strategic direction and the creation of digital platforms, including an earlier version of creditmutuel.fr. These assignments covered banking, insurance, monitored security and real estate, addressing the distinct needs of each business.
Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC
Strategic advisory work and contributions to the creation of digital platforms for Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC, including an earlier version of creditmutuel.fr.
That version of creditmutuel.fr was recognized as the best French banking website.
EPS Télésurveillance
Strategic and digital support for EPS in developing and deploying its offering.
EPS dates its position as France’s market leader to 2006.Assurances du Crédit Mutuel
Support for ACM as part of advisory work with the group and its subsidiaries.
ACM group scale: €17.6 billion in revenue in 2025.New-build real estate
Worked directly with the president of a Crédit Mutuel real estate subsidiary to support its development in France’s new-build property market.
A direct advisory relationship with the president.
Advisory assignments carried out from 2003 to 2022. Dated institutional figures provide context for the businesses cited; they do not measure the outcomes of the advisory work.
The journey05 / 1999–2026
Build. Develop.
Hand over.
Since 1999
01 / 16
1999
Founding Actweb
ACT WEB SAS is founded as a digital strategy consultancy, the first business in this entrepreneurial journey.
2003
Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC: advisory work from 2003 to 2022
From 2003 to 2022, advisory work with leaders at Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC and its subsidiaries focuses on strategic vision and the creation of digital platforms, including an earlier version of creditmutuel.fr. This work includes assignments with EPS Télésurveillance and Assurances du Crédit Mutuel.
2009
An agency in Strasbourg, Paris and La Baule
Actweb develops its web, mobile and e-commerce activities, with offices in Strasbourg, Paris and La Baule.
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The agency works on digital projects for clients including Chanel, Air France, Orange, CIC, Crédit Mutuel, Blancpain, Breguet and the Council of Europe.
2011
The alliance with CACOM
Advised by Edmond de Rothschild, Actweb enters into an alliance with CACOM, a communications group specializing in retail.
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In 2011, a 70% stake in Actweb was sold to the CACOM group. The company then had 350 employees.
2016
Hikari Blue: applying machine learning to banking
In 2016, Hikari Blue is established in Europe to work closely with Groupe Crédit Mutuel CIC teams. The project focuses on real-time management of outstanding card balances and transaction flows using machine learning.
Explore
Within a few months, the teams obtain all of the project’s data flows in real time. This work provides the impetus for further exploration of artificial intelligence.
2018
A return to independence
The repurchase of all shares restores the agency’s independence under the name AW / INNOVATE.
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Its signature: Be you, be more, beyond.
2021
Founding The Tools Company
The Tools Company is founded to develop a tools and equipment retail business.
Explore
The venture aims to make professional equipment accessible to professionals and enthusiasts working on automotive, cycling, gardening and renovation projects.
2021
A distribution agreement with SP Tools
In the second half of 2021, SP Tools grants exclusive distribution rights in France for eight years, as part of The Tools Company’s development.
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The agreement also covers online distribution across Europe, including Amazon and eBay, serving industry, automotive and trade customers.
2022
AW / INNOVATE joins Cyllene
Cyllene acquires AW / INNOVATE in 2022. The handover opens a new chapter for the agency.
Explore
The group then had 450 employees. Liberty Finances subsequently entered into a financial partnership with Cyllene by acquiring an equity stake in the group.
2023
The Tools Company joins Tonic Distribution
Tonic Distribution acquires The Tools Company in 2023. The transaction brings together professional tools distribution and online retail activities.
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Liberty Finances takes a stake in Tonic Distribution as part of the transaction.
2023
An investment in United4 AI
Liberty Finances invests in United4 AI in 2023, in Austin, Texas, focusing on applications of artificial intelligence in business.
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The business combines AI, data analytics and automation, with attention to business processes and change management.
2023
An investment in RDS
An investment is made in RDS in 2023. Initiated in Palo Alto by Sam Eletr, the venture brings together a French-American team in Strasbourg and California.
Explore
RDS develops MultiSense, a connected device designed to remotely monitor physiological parameters, including cardiac and respiratory measures.
2024
Investing in Starfox Analytics
Liberty Finances invests in Starfox Analytics in 2024, supporting a business focused on data collection and analytics.
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The involvement combines equity investment, strategic advice and dialogue with the business leader. The investment has since been exited.
2025
Hikari Blue establishes its Austin presence
Hikari Blue establishes its presence in Austin, Texas, in 2025. Founded in Europe in 2016, the brand is operated by UNITED4 LLC.
2026
The Starfox Analytics exit
The exit from Starfox Analytics is announced in 2026. The exit is announced on June 25; CEETADEL announces its majority acquisition on July 1.
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At the time of the transaction, CEETADEL is described as an independent marketing and communications group with more than 220 experts.
Your next step
Your next stage
A business brings together a vision, a team and decisions to be made. The person building it matters as much as the project.
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Tell us about your journey and the step you are preparing to take. Let’s start a conversation.
Let’s discuss your next stage06 / Contact
Let’s discuss
the next step.
Tell us about your company, the decision ahead and the constraints that matter. Whether you are planning growth, organizational change or a handover, outline the support you need and your timing.
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