Profile banner
Henri Deshays

Henri Deshays

General Partner at Newfund — invests in early‑stage France↔US startups

henri
Palo Alto, California
Joined July 2025
Favicon imagenewfundcap.com
Favicon imageblog.newfundcap.com
Favicon imagekauffmanfellows.org
Favicon imagelinkedin.com

Network

20.1K connections
🎯
VC General Partners
🤖
AI/ML Innovators
📈
Newfund Investors
🚀
StartX Community
📊
Finance Leaders
⚕️
HealthTech Innovators
🤝
Fairmarkit Team

Summary

Bridge between French founders and US investors: Henri leverages deep networks in France and Silicon Valley to help early‑stage French startups scale in the US—introductions, board support, hiring and go‑to‑market guidance are core to how he adds value. newfundcap+1
Operator‑turned‑investor: Henri founded ModeWalk (acquired by Moda Operandi) and served in strategic/operator roles at StartX before moving into VC, giving him founder empathy and hands‑on experience with product, go‑to‑market and early hiring. foundersnetwork+1
Early‑stage investor focus: At Newfund he invests across SaaS, marketplaces and health/healthtech and prioritizes strong founder-market fit, team execution and long‑term commitment—favoring operators who can scale from 0→1 and internationalize. newfundcap+1
Networked mentor and community contributor: Kauffman Fellow and active mentor/jury member for multiple French startup programs, reflecting a strong emphasis on founder development and ecosystem building. kauffmanfellows

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Meet the latest French founder who moved to the US and raised $100M

July 1, 2022

Newfund blog post describing Nfinite's US expansion and the role Newfund (and Henri) played in helping the company scale and raise international rounds.

Favicon imageblog.newfundcap.com

The 10 commandments of doing business in the US

Advice on cultural and operational adaptation for French startups expanding to the US (author page lists this as part of his 'Road to the USA' writing series).

Favicon imageblog.newfundcap.com

A data-driven approach to an early US expansion

Article outlining Newfund's perspective and playbook to support early international expansion from France to the US.

Favicon imageblog.newfundcap.com

Hobbies

Mentoring and jury participation for French entrepreneurship programs (UBI.io, The Refiners, NETVA, The Family). kauffmanfellows

Notes

KLKemal Levisaid that if they needed advice on a challenging property or venture capital deal,
HDHenri Deshays
would be among the first people they'd reach out to.

Jan 2, 2026

FVFrançois Véronsaid
HDHenri Deshays
is one of the most active and respected angel investors they know.

Nov 10, 2025

DADorian Averbuchsaid they've seen
HDHenri Deshays
make a positive impact through their angel investments in the startup community.

Oct 23, 2025