Christine Cerrato

Christine Cerrato is an Investment Director specializing in regional SME and early-stage financing in southern France. She began her career at a large national bank, where she spent about four years financing and monitoring SMEs in the Lyon region. She then served for roughly seven years as head of business affairs (responsable des affaires) at SDR Méditerranée, where she developed SME financing across the PACA region through loans and lease/leasing (crédit-bail) products.

In 1996 she joined the proximity venture-capital company SAMENAR to build out a portfolio of investments in regional SMEs and small businesses, and from 2005 she also took on the development and management of the portfolio of the venture-capital company PROENCIA. This long track record in regional, hands-on capital investment positioned her for a fund-launch role.

In May 2014 she joined ACG Management to help launch and manage the regional PACA Emergence fund, and she has since driven the development and management of this financing vehicle as Investment Director. PACA Emergence, created in 2015 with an initial ~€19 million, has committed on the order of €23 million in participatory loans and equity across more than 200 regional company projects. Following ACG Management's rebranding to Smalt Capital, Cerrato continues at the firm and directs the RSI (Région Sud Investissement) loan/lending activity. She was educated at KEDGE Business School and is based in Marseille.

• Invests through regional public-private funds (PACA Emergence and its successor Région Sud Investissement) with a mandate to support economic development and job creation in the Région Sud.
• Backs TPE/PME at the creation, seed, and development stages — unlisted companies based in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
• Ticket sizes of roughly €15,000–€200,000, deployed as equity and quasi-equity (including participatory loans / prêts participatifs).
• Sector-agnostic: the fund supports "business leaders and project developers across all sectors" rather than a thematic niche.
• Emphasis on local, relationship-driven capital — Cerrato's whole career has been in proximity venture capital and regional SME finance, so the mandate is developmental and hands-on rather than high-velocity tech investing.