Fabrice was born in Nice, France and attended Princeton University in the US (like other notable investors including Ryan Moore), where he graduated summa cum laude. He was also awarded the Halbert White Prize as the most distinguished economics student and The Wolfe Balleisen Memorial Prize for best thesis.

His first job after Princeton was as a consultant at McKinsey. He then decided to branch out on his own. In 1999, he founded Aucland S.A., a European auction site, sold his shares in 2000, and then founded Zingy, a mobile content company.

Fabrice describes his most meaningful moment as an entrepreneur as the day Zingy became profitable. Building the company from the ground up had been a constant struggle — he couldn’t pay salaries 27 times over the course of about four years.

Somehow, he kept plugging away until August 15, 2003, when the company finally reached profitability. On that day, he paid off his $100 thousand credit card debt — but more importantly, he knew that he and his partner “had become the masters of our own destiny. We no longer depended on third parties.“

He went on to sell Zingy for $80 million in 2004 at the age of 29. In 2006, he founded OLX, a global version of Craigslist that was operational in over 90 countries and 50 languages, with more than 150 million unique visitors per month. The company was acquired by the South African media group, Naspers, in 2010.

During the time of his multiple ventures, Fabrice had been investing in 10-25 startups a year, but unofficially. Following successful exits from Zingy and OLX, he decided to make it official. He partnered with Jose Marin to found FJ Labs, a VC firm that focuses on early investments. In 2016, the firm secured $50 million in financing from Telenor, a Norwegian telecom operator. In 2018, the firm gained another $175 million in investment, which was followed by $260 million in 2023.

Despite being a VC firm, the founders consider themselves angel investors. They don’t set terms or take board seats. They decide whether to invest after about two calls in one week. Fabrice describes FJ Labs as a fund that does “angel investing at venture scale.”

Notable Investments

Fabrice Grinda’s investment philosophy is grounded in a deep belief in marketplaces and network-effect businesses, a theme that runs through both his personal and institutional portfolios. In addition to co-investing through FJ Labs, he has made hundreds of personal angel investments, often identifying transformative businesses at their earliest stages.

Grinda personally invested in companies such as Palantir Technologies, Delivery Hero, Revolut, and BlaBlaCar, long before they became household names. His global scope is evident in his backing of startups in Brazil (Loggi), Germany (Foodpanda), France (Vestiaire Collective), India (Delhivery), and Turkey (Trendyol).

He is known for making fast decisions — rarely taking board seats or setting terms — and aims to support founders as efficiently as possible. His goal, as he puts it, is to do “angel investing at venture scale.” This approach has led to over 1,100 investments across more than 50 countries, spanning sectors like logistics, fintech, proptech, and online marketplaces.

In the News

In 2012, as his 40th birthday approached, Fabrice made headlines when he sold multiple properties and other possessions and embarked on a journey to visit friends and family around the world. His idea was based on research that spending money on experiences is more rewarding than spending money on possessions.

Over the next three years, Fabrice lived as a digital nomad, working remotely while visiting more than 50 countries. His story was featured in The New York Times, TechCrunch, and on his personal blog, where he reflected on happiness, productivity, and the meaning of success.

After his travels, Fabrice bought a small apartment in New York and started organizing large annual get-togethers for his family and friends in the Dominican Republic.

Fabrice Grinda is also known for openly sharing his investment theses, personal productivity hacks, and startup lessons through speaking engagements and his blog. He has been a featured guest on major podcasts and VC panels, where he discusses topics like marketplace dynamics, founder psychology, and the speed-versus-quality tradeoff in early-stage investing.