Bertrand Diard
About Bertrand Diard
Bertrand Diard is a serial entrepreneur and investor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Crunchbase lists San Francisco, and his LinkedIn profile lists Menlo Park. He co-founded Talend, a data integration software company, and led it as CEO through its Nasdaq IPO. PitchBook says he stepped down as CEO in 2016. Serena describes Talend as one of the French success stories to have listed on Nasdaq.
He also co-founded and was CEO of Influans, according to PitchBook. MarketScreener lists him as founder of Influans (2014) and Syroco (2019). He is a former President of Tech in France, the professional organization for software and internet companies. He is an active board member of the Galion Project, a think tank of French entrepreneurs.
Today he is Co-Founder and Chairman of Syroco. Serena describes Syroco as a scientific and technical laboratory building solutions for the transportation and energy sectors. Serena's site lists him as Partner at Serena Data Ventures. MarketScreener has him as a Venture Partner at Serena Capital since 2017.
Crunchbase counts 13 investments, 12 portfolio companies, 2 exits and 3 companies founded. It shows 0 lead investments under his personal profile. PitchBook classifies him as an angel investor, with a different count of 15 investments. Tracxn also describes him as an entrepreneur and angel investor. Counts differ between databases, so treat them as approximate.
His Crunchbase profile lists his most recent investment as a seed round in Kestra Technologies. PitchBook shows a November 2023 investment in Koyeb. It also lists Kestra and Hysope among his investments. Tracxn lists him among the angel investors in Koyeb's $7M seed round.
Much of his investing has run through Serena, which he joined as a venture partner in 2017. That work is described in the AI section below.
In 2017 Diard launched Serena Data Ventures with the Serena team. Serena describes it as the first fund specialized in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. It was based on the view that data and its use would drive major trends the European VC ecosystem had not yet noticed. French Tech Journal reports that the fund was €70M. Its successor, Data Ventures II, is €100M and was raised in 2023.
Koyeb is the clearest AI infrastructure example. Koyeb's announcement says its $7M seed round was led by Serena, with Diard and Floriane de Maupeou leading for the firm. Crunchbase notes that Koyeb was acquired by Mistral. Koyeb's site says it is joining Mistral AI to build AI infrastructure.
Crunchbase also credits him with investments in Uniphore, Probabl, DeepIP and Odaseva. Years for these are not given in the sources reviewed.
In a French Tech Journal interview about Data Ventures II, Diard said Serena was looking beyond generative AI applications to the infrastructure layer. He named three themes for the fund:
- Infrastructure: the data stack for AI, covering data management, analysis and governance.
- Blockchain: tools for trust and data management.
- Quantum computing: cryptography, drug discovery, optimization and climate modeling.
He argued that most VC money goes to applications and that the technology behind them is overlooked. Serena's profile of him tags AI, blockchain, data, developer tools and enterprise software. Serena as a firm invests from seed to Series B and is based in Paris. Crunchbase describes his own expertise as enterprise software, data infrastructure, developer tools and AI. His known investments are mostly European technical startups, with a US base.
No personal angel check size has been published, so none is given here.
- Koyeb: serverless platform for deploying apps, later acquired by Mistral. Diard co-led the $7M seed (November 2023) at Serena.
- Kestra Technologies: listed by Crunchbase as his most recent investment, a seed round. Year not confirmed.
- Odaseva: named in his Crunchbase bio as an investment he led. Year not confirmed.
- Uniphore: named in his Crunchbase bio. Year not confirmed.
- Probabl: named in his Crunchbase bio. Year not confirmed.
- DeepIP: named in his Crunchbase bio. Year not confirmed.
- Fipto, Switstack and metrobloks: also named in his Crunchbase bio. Details and years not confirmed.
- Syroco: transport and energy research lab he co-founded in 2019 and chairs.
- crunchbase.com/person/bertrand-diard
- serena.vc/team-profile/bertrand-diard
- frenchtechjournal.com/investor-spotlight-serena-bertrand-diard
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/223508-62
- marketscreener.com/insider/BERTRAND-DIARD-A0G8KL
- koyeb.com/blog/we-raised-7m-to-simplify-app-deployment-with-our-global
- tracxn.com/d/companies/koyeb/__O7x6scxPkSTPAfmcw0wp7m4MXB_jLsHEGVKkatX
- linkedin.com/in/bertranddiard
Investing activity
Bertrand Diard has made 13 investments according to Crunchbase across 12 portfolio companies, and has seen 2 exits and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Bertrand Diard
Who is Bertrand Diard?
He is a co-founder and former CEO of Talend, a Partner at Serena Data Ventures, and Co-Founder and Chairman of Syroco. He invests in enterprise software, data infrastructure, developer tools and AI.
What does Bertrand Diard invest in?
His stated focus is data and AI infrastructure, along with blockchain and quantum computing themes for Serena's Data Ventures II fund. He has also backed developer tools and enterprise software companies such as Koyeb and Odaseva.
What is Bertrand Diard's check size?
No personal check size has been published. Serena's Data Ventures II fund is €100M, but that figure is for the fund and not his angel checks.
Has Bertrand Diard invested in AI startups?
Yes. He co-led Koyeb's $7M seed round at Serena, and Koyeb was later acquired by Mistral. Crunchbase also lists Uniphore, Probabl and DeepIP among his investments.
What stage does Bertrand Diard invest at?
His known deals are early-stage, including seed rounds in Koyeb and Kestra. Serena as a firm invests from seed to Series B.
How can founders reach Bertrand Diard?
His public LinkedIn profile is the main listed channel. A warm introduction from a portfolio founder or the Serena team is likely to work better than a cold message.
Is Bertrand Diard an angel investor?
Yes. Bertrand Diard invests personally as an angel and is Co-Founder & Chairman at Syroco. Crunchbase counts 13 investments and 2 exits.
Where is Bertrand Diard based?
Bertrand Diard is based in San Francisco, California, United States.