Our Team

Entrepreneur and blockchain enthusiast, Philippe Rodriguez has been passionate about emerging technologies for the last 25 years. He co-founded Avolta Partners in 2013 with Patrick and Arthur.

Prior to Avolta Partners, Philippe created Mixcommerce, a leader in e-commerce delegation solutions for brands, sold to LaPoste Group in 2012. He also co-founded the Electronic Business Group (EBG) in 1998.

Philippe is very active in European networks dedicated to blockchain and cryptocurrency. Since 2014, he is the president of the organization Bitcoin France. He is the author of a reference work on blockchain and crypto-money : “La Révolution Blockchain” published in 2017 by Dunod.

Philippe started his carrier as an engineer in Microsoft where he worked as Startup & VC Community Lead and then as Director of the Server & Tools Business unit. Philippe graduated from EISTI and holds an MBA from ESCP Europe.

Internet pioneer and public figure in the digital eco-system in France, Patrick has also been a serial-entrepreneur for 30 years. He has founded more than 20 startups and backed 30 others as business angel in the digital eco-system.

Prior to Avolta Partners, Patrick founded 24h00, a leading agency specialised in digital communication and social marketing, sold to Webedia in 2012. He was also Vice-President of France Digital during the last 4 years, and was one of the leaders of the “Pigeons” protest.

Self-taught man, he had many others lives as publisher of art books (Love Me Tender), press publisher (Photo-Revue, CD-Media, Internet-Reporter) and internet pioneer in France (ImagiNet, ROL Régie-On-line, Le WebMarchand).

Entrepreneur, process and data addict, Arthur co-founded Avolta Partners in 2013 with Philippe and Patrick.

Alongside to his activities in Avolta Partners, Arthur has had several entrepreneurship experiences (L’Oriento restaurants in Brussels, la Gazelle d’Or pastries in Paris and La Plantation pepper farm in Cambodia).

Prior to Avolta Partners, Arthur worked at BNPP CIB as an M&A Analyst in the SmallCap team. Arthur holds a Master in Finance from ESCP Europe.

Investment banker, active business Angel, Blockchain and crypto-currencies specialist, Philippe joined Avolta Partners in 2017 as Senior Partner.

Born and raised in the US and Canada, Phil attended Carleton University, then the ESCP. He worked in Investment Banking for over 25 years in London, Singapore and Paris. He ran Global Equity and Derivatives Flow sales for BNP Paribas and he was Managing Director of Equity markets at Merrill Lynch.

More recently, he was CEO of Alternativa a Fintech SME Exchange (MTF) and he was a founding member of the European Crowdfunding Network. He is involved in Blockchain and more specifically crypto-currencies. He has been an active business Angel with various Tech companies such as Vistaprint (US), Attenda (UK), DigitalKeys (FR) or Pepins (SW).

IT expert and VC specialist with a great trackrecord in helping companies to scale, David joined Avolta Partners as a Senior Partner for Southern Europe in  2015 and is based in Portugal.

After a Master’s in Social and Economic Administration and a Masters in Political Science, David Laurent began his business career at a communications/incentive agency. In 1997, he entered the IT market, where he got his first experience selling IT services and projects at Sitinfo. Later in 1998, he joined the ITS Group to organise and take responsibility for the Group’s sales and marketing management.

In 2007, David Laurent joined Grant & Partners as managing director. His experience in communications and IT provided a new impetus (both operational and financial) to the fund.

Thomas started his career as a financial journalist. He worked for Bloomberg, BBC World, The Independent, Le Figaro, BFM and LCI. He was the first one to cover the start-up ecosystem with a famous program named “Start-Up” as soons as 1998.

Always keen on technology and entrepreneurship, he then was a pioneer of web TVs in France when he launched in 2005 DECIDEURS TV a business, finance and tech web TV.

In his third life, he joined Avolta to help the bank to benefit from his extensive experience in the media and new media landscape. For him, the endeavour is still the same : getting to understand what drives entrepreneurs and helping them to develop their business.

Engineer, interested in data mining & statistical thinking, Pascal joined Avolta Partners in 2013 at Analyst position and became Associate in 2015. He worked on more than 40 A/B Series and M&A transactions in the Tech industry.

Prior to Avolta Partners, Pascal worked at SG as a financial auditor. He also co-founded a life science startup backed in A Series by Seventure in 2015.

Pascal graduated from EISTI in Computer Sciences and GEM Business School in Corporate Finance.

Jeremy joined Avolta Partners in 2018 as Head of our Advisory practice.

Jeremy began his career in 2005 at SGCIB as an M&A analyst, then joined Barclays Capital in the Coverage team (M&A + Debt advisory). He quit the bank in 2011 to co-found a start-up specialized in geo-located coupons app. In 2014, he was appointed COO at SmartAngels, a leading European crowdequity company, supervising +60 funding rounds for start-ups and SMEs.

Jeremy graduated from a Master degree in Economics and Finance from HEC.

Entrepreneur in the fashion industry, Eve joined Avolta Partners in 2013 as Business Developer. Eve is leading start-ups sourcing in France & Europe. Since 2017, she is also in charge of all Avolta operational processes in France and abroad.

Eve started her carreer in TV and radio production. She also worked for 10 years as an entrepreneur in the fashion industry as head of collection.

Eve graduated from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Art.

Legal expert, passionate about start-ups and finance, Baptiste joined in September 2015 as an Analyst. Baptiste has worked on more than 20 Series A/B and M&A transactions including Cityscoot, JulieDesk, MinuitUne and Crédit.fr.

Baptiste was previously M&A Analyst at ARFILIA holding and Junior Digital Consultant at E-Bridges in Shanghai.

Baptiste holds a Law degree from the University of Assas and graduated from the EM Lyon Business School in Corporate Finance.

Engineer and deep-tech enthuthiast, Claire joined Avolta Partners as Analyst in January 2016. Claire has worked on more than 10 Series A/B and M&A transactions including Cityscoot, MinuitUne, C-Radar and Patatam.

Claire was previously researcher at the fluid dynamics lab of UCSB, IT consultant at Areva and aerospatial R&D engineer at Airbus Group.

Claire graduated from ENSEIRB in both Engineering and Mathematics, and also from the EM Lyon Business School in Corporate Finance.

Passionate about finance and tech, Vincent joined Avolta Partners in January 2019 as an Associate within the Advisory practice.

Vincent was previously member of the BPCE Inspection department for two and half years where he worked on advisory and audit missions in France and in the US. He started his career in M&A at Edmond de Rothschild, and at SGCIB US and CMCIC where he worked in sales and on quantitative models.

Vincent graduated from GEM with a master’s degree in Management and holds a MSc in Finance.

Engineer and crypto enthusiast, Jean joined Avolta Partners in January 2018 as an Analyst, working on both fundraising and M&A transactions.

Jean was previously Operations Manager at FinChatBot, a South-African fintech start-up developing AI-powered chatbots for the financial industry. Prior to that, Jean was a Ventures Analyst in a tech incubator and accelerator based in Cape Town.

Jean graduated from CentraleSupélec and holds a Master Degree from the Imperial College London in energy and finance.

Tech-savvy and passionate about innovative and disruptive models, Augustin joined Avolta Partners in April 2018 as Financial Analyst to work on both fundraisings and M&A transactions.

Augustin previously contributed to the launch of two foodtech startups in Australia with a strong focus on business development and operational efficiency: Foodora (Rocket Internet) and Quandoo (Recruit Japan).

Augustin graduated from EM Lyon Business School and holds a Degree in Business Auditing and Finance from the University of Oslo.

Fascinated by entrepreneurs seeking to capture value by delivering disruption that cuts across industries.

Axel joined Avolta Partners in 2018 from Tandem Capital Advisors, a top-tier Belgian boutique investment bank, where he has been involved in M&A transactions and other strategic and financial advisory assignments, mainly in the energy, infrastructure, and food & beverage sectors. He has also worked at PwC in the International Tax & Transfer Pricing team, and at Innovity, a Belgian management consulting firm, where he advised clients on internationalization strategy and innovation financing topics.

Passionate about technology, Axel contributed to the expansion of Uber in the Benelux as an Operations & Logistics Coordinator where he focused on Driver growth, experience, and analytics. A Belgian national, Axel holds a BSc in Economics & Management from the UCLouvain, as well as a joint MSc in Corporate Finance from both the UCLouvain (Louvain School of Management) and KU Leuven.

Fascinated by technologies that are reshaping industries from top to bottom, Max joined Avolta Partners in July 2019 as a financial analyst to work on both fundraising and M&A transactions.

Before joining Avolta Partners, Max deepened his technical and entrepreneurial knowledge by working in commercial and operational positions in foodtech start-ups: first at Foodora (Rocket Internet) and then launching Mealpal France.
Max graduated from EM Lyon Business School where he studied corporate finance and holds a law degree from the University Paris X.

Start-up and Tech enthusiast, Enzo joined Avolta in July 2019 as an Analyst on fundraising and M&A transactions.

Prior to Avolta, Enzo worked at Navya, a leading start-up in the autonomous vehicle industry and as financial analyst at Natixis and Zurich Insurance. Enzo graduated from EM Lyon in Corporate Finance.

Data driven and tech-savvy, Alexandre joined Avolta Partners in July 2019 as a M&A analyst.

Prior to joining Avolta, Alexandre worked on fund of funds operations at BNP Paribas and as a VC analyst at Omnes Capital, with a special focus on deep tech startups. Alexandre graduated from ESCP Europe specializing in corporate finance and entrepreneurship.

Passionate about finance and investing as catalysts of change, Eliott joined Avolta Partners in August 2019 as an Analyst. Before joining Avolta, he amassed comprehensive academic qualifications in financial modeling and industry research to top his political sciences background.

Eliott is currently enrolled at EDHEC Business School, and holds a Masters in Finance from the University of Westminster. He completed his undergraduate studies at the International University of Rabat, Morocco.

Passionate about finance and fintech, Jean-Jacques joined Avolta Partners in June 2019 as a consultant within the Strategic Advisory division.

Prior to joining Avolta, Jean-Jacques developed his knowledge in startups and technology by developing a software based platform in education. He also integrated an incubator in Lille and spent a year working on his project whilst networking. Furthermore, he was previously an analyst in Fund Risk Management at the Royal Bank of Canada in Luxembourg where he contributed in the digitalisation of the bank. Jean-Jacques graduated from Grenoble École de Management(GEM) with a Bachelor degree in Management and finance and holds a MSc in Finance.

Green Tech & corporate finance passionate, Yasmine joined Avolta Partners in July 2019.
Prior to joining Avolta, Yasmine was management controller at Canal +. She also has several internship experiences within the financial sector.

Yasmine holds a masters degree in Management from Audencia Business School and a bachelor degree in economics and finance from the Catholic University of Lille.

Passionate about European startup ecosystem with focus on fintech, Ugo joined Avolta Partners in July 2019.

Prior to Avolta he was Venture Capital analyst at NCI, an investment funds based in Lille. He has also been involved in the business development of the French startup Click&Boat. Ugo graduated from Skema Business School in corporate finance.