Ludovic Copere
Sony Ventures at Sony Innovation Fund
San Francisco Bay Area
Overview
Work Experience
Senior Investment Director, Sony Ventures
2016 - Current
Sony Innovation Fund (SIF) is the venture capital arm of Sony Group Corporation and is dedicated to investing in and engaging with promising early-stage & growth-stage companies. Based in Silicon Valley as a core member of Sony Innovation Fund (SIF) since its inception, Ludovic leads startup scouting, due diligence, venture investment execution as well as portfolio management in many core SIF focus areas such as Mobility, FinTech, InsurTech, web3, PropTech, Drones, FoodTech, AgTech and Environment. Led investments in Arkose Labs, Truepic, Covr, Superpedestrian, Token, Cruz Foam, Iris Automation, Matternet, Delos, Sight Machine, Ridecell, Miles, Magic Cube, Botrista, Analytical Flavor Systems, Plunk, Sentera, Waffle and several other undisclosed ones.
Investor
2022
Born at MIT and raised in New York, Waffle is an all-in-one consumer InsurTech solution that meets all of your insurance needs in one easy-to-use platform. Available in all 50 States, Waffle provides customers nationwide with top-rated insurance products many of which have limited to no exclusions. Investors include Sony Innovation Fund, Barclays, BetterLabs Ventures, Verve Ventures, Techstars, and others. To learn more, please visit www.waffleinsurance.com.
Waffle Labs operates an insurance platform that offers customizable insurance plans.
Raised $5,417,383.00 from Goodwater Capital.
Investor
2022
Superpedestrian is a transportation robotics company located in Cambridge, MA. Founded out of MIT in 2013, Superpedestrian develops technologies for micro-electric vehicles that optimize safety, reliability, and performance. Superpedestrian spent over 4 years developing its proprietary Vehicle Intelligence System (VIS), which was first introduced in the company’s consumer product, the Copenhagen Wheel. Since 2018, Superpedestrian has focused its efforts on engineering and validating its new electric scooter for shared fleets. In 2020, the company launched its vehicles under the brand name LINK. Featuring the mature VIS platform, Superpedestrian’s fleet scooter can detect and protect against more than 100 common malfunctions. This platform of embedded computers and cloud software enables Superpedestrian’s scooters to autonomously protect from damage during and between rides. Within nanoseconds, the scooters can detect potential problems such as battery fires, short circuits, or failed brakes, and take corrective action to avert damage. Vehicle Intelligence prevents over 50% of issues that would cause other scooters to fail, and streamlines operations if issues arise. If the scooter can’t protect itself, it automatically becomes unavailable for rental and generates a detailed service ticket for repair. The result is a substantial improvement in vehicle safety for scooter riders and major cost savings for fleet operators. Superpedestrian is re-engineering micromobility, one vehicle at a time.
Superpedestrian is a venture-backed robotics company that develops lightweight electric vehicles with integrated online platforms.
Raised $261,700,000.00 from General Catalyst, Jefferies, Spark Capital, Antara Capital, Citi and FM Capital.
Investor
2021
Cruz Foam produces bio-benign foam and eco-friendly EPS-alternative solutions that power key industry leaders to be the catalyst for a cleaner environment. Cruz Foam’s patent-pending products are produced using an all-natural seafood industry waste material that creates a scalable, compostable alternative using the existing supply chain and at a similar cost. Current industry partners include consumer-packaged goods, consumer electronics, and B2B shipping.
Cruz Foam is a circular materials company offering certified compostable, protective packaging foam and other solutions
Raised $25,282,999.00 from SoundWaves, Seabird Ventures, One Small Planet, At One Ventures, Regeneration.VC and Helena.
Investor
2021
Founded in 2015, Truepic develops the world's most secure camera technology for mobile devices. Truepic is the pioneer of secure media provenance through its patented Controlled Capture technology, which empowers viewers to make better-informed decisions through high integrity photos & videos. The Truepic team is dedicated to restoring trust in every pixel of consequence, with the goal of having a shared sense of visual reality across the internet.
Truepic is a visual media platform used in bolstering the value of authentic photos and videos and evaluate their trustworthiness.
Raised $36,500,000.00 from Adobe, Hearst Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Stone Point Capital and M12 - Microsoft's Venture Fund.
Investor
2021
Sentera’s mission is to deliver time-sensitive agricultural insights that optimize decisions and improve outcomes. Our integrated software, sensors, drones, and analytics products make it easy to integrate in-field data insights with the digital ag platforms in use by more than 80% of growers and their advisors in North America. FieldAgent® by Sentera delivers in-season data, analytics, and insights to thousands of customers and millions of acres of land throughout the world via web, mobile, desktop, and API connection. Growers, agronomists, seed retailers, and supply chain managers use insights from our platform to improve the precision, efficiency, and sustainability of their businesses. Sentera strives to build an indispensable platform for understanding the story of a field.
Analytics and machine learning insights for digital agriculture.
Raised $62,439,193.00 from S2G Ventures, Continental Grain Company, S2G Ventures, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Akroyd LLC, iSelect Fund, KuE Capital, S2G Ventures, Continental Grain Company and Middleland Capital.
Board Observer
2021
Botrista provides beverage solutions to foodservice operators by leveraging easy-to-use equipment (the DrinkBot) alongside a line of pre-packaged ingredients (BiBs) to deliver a variety of craft beverages, including infused teas & lattes, flavored lemonades, iced coffees and more! Botrista enables brands to add a mini-cafe to their menu without the operational complexities. Operators can now offer high margin items without the investment in a full bar. Our system takes up just 5-sq ft and enables customizable drink recipes at the touch of a button. We automate the portioning, dispensing and mixing process to deliver a fresh and consistently blended product in under 20 seconds.
Our automated Robot Barista increase beverage incidents and overall profit for F&B operators
Raised $125,751,000.00 from Jollibee Food.
Investor
2021
Plunk is the first mobile app using AI and machine-learning to help you make the best financial decisions and grow your home’s value. Get real-time, data-driven insights, and personalized recommendations on the best ways to improve your home, project by project. Plunk also offers a new home renovation loan, which makes financing major remodeling projects simpler, faster and smarter.
Plunk is the first AI-powered and real-time analytics platform for residential real estate.
Raised $6,500,000.00 from Fortified Ventures, Roman Smolevskiy, Bossa Invest, California Association of Realtors, Unlock Venture Partners, Plug and Play, Sony Innovation Fund, Second Century Ventures, Vectr and Second Century Ventures.
Investor
2021
Covr partners with financial brands to provide life insurance solutions to their customers in an efficient, easy way that streamlines the process of selling and buying policies. Covr offers a choice of trusted life insurance products from leading insurance carriers, an easy way to compare rates, and the ability to purchase policies within minutes. Through its white label solutions, Covr helps financial institutions deliver a great experience under an existing brand their customers already trust. Covr currently serves over 25,000 financial advisors and over 20 million customers across over 30 financial institutions.
Multi-carrier, digital life insurance platform that is white-labeled and distributed through financial institutions
Raised $53,000,000.00 from Allianz Life Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Commerce Ventures, Fairview Capital Partners, Sony Innovation Fund, Stone Point Capital, Contour Venture Partners, Tribeca Early Stage Partners and Aflac Global Ventures.
Investor
2020
Token is an open banking payments platform driving the shift from traditional payment methods to bank payments with best-in-class, Pan-European bank connectivity, data and compliance capabilities. With Token’s complete toolkit, merchants, PSPs and banks create new capabilities and revenue streams through our broadest, Pan-European connectivity to over 3,000 banks. Token is both bank and developer-friendly, and multi-standard by design.
Education
Master's Degree
2003 - 2005
Master's Degree
2001 - 2005
Strategic Licensing: Advanced Skills & Tools
2014 - 2014
IP Licensing
2011 - 2011
Classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles
1999 - 2001
High School
1996 - 1999