Approximately half of our graduates run their own companies at some point in their careers.  Others join high growth ventures, lead entrepreneurial projects within corporations or focus on social entrepreneurial ventures. Some work with entrepreneurs as angel, venture capital or private equity investors. INSEAD is proud of their achievements and impact. We are developing a profile-library of young alumni who we have identified as high-potential entrepreneurs.

Matthieu had not intended to buy a company post INSEAD. In fact he hadn’t even taken any of the entrepreneurship electives preferring to concentrate on finance courses that he thought would help him land a job in M&A upon graduation. Despite this just four years after graduation he found himself the co-owner of Automatisation Systèmes Mécaniques a company based in the French Riviera that specialized in industrial automation.

Read more

Co-Founder:

Taylor Street Baristas

Harris + Hoole

“The province of coffee geeks”

When Australian-born Nick Tolley studied at INSEAD he expected to leave with a job in banking, consultancy or industry. In fact during the year he changed his mind completely. His INSEAD experience convinced him that none of the above were the career path he wished to take. He would later go on to found Taylor Street Baristas with his siblings Andrew and Laura.

Read more

Producer of the world’s first contact-free, pee-controlled washroom gaming and advertising system – installed in men’s urinals…)

Read more

Giles Andrews had always been passionate about all things automotive having owned and driven an eclectic selection of vehicles over the years. So when he graduated in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University it was a natural step for him to work in the motor industry. Yet in 2005 he became co-founder and eventually CEO of www.zopa.com of the world's first online peer to peer lending sites.

Read more

Gonçalo took his first step into entrepreneurship by working as a freelance consultant. In 2005 he launched his first internet company and now has four ventures including an online shopping centre and online art gallery (www.clubefashion.com – Portugal; www.fazzione.com - Indonesia, south-east Asia; www.artchezmoi.com – global; www.brandsbreeze.com -Iberia; going global)

Read more

“We’re passionate about delivering authentic travel experiences which allow you to feel and appreciate the world for all its beauty and history. With cross-cultural teams who genuinely care about our guests, and a physical presence in all of our destinations, we integrate our extensive travel consulting knowledge and operational strengths to create unforgettable journeys.”

Alexander spent most of his MBA year in Singapore where he met Parikshat Laxminarayan. They both knew they wanted to start a company but weren’t exactly sure what. During the year at INSEAD they developed their website and brochure for their venture, Enchanting Travel. On graduation the company was incorporated.

Read more

“Drawing its inspiration from the history of fashion, and the story of a family, Emilie Cousteau is a label that means storytelling as well as dressing- or undressing.”

Read more

The mystery that Michel de Rovira believed surrounded entrepreneurs was soon removed when he started INSEAD. “I quickly realised I could actually become one of those strange entrepreneur people!!"

The story of Michel&Augustin really began before Michel was at INSEAD. He and his high school friend, Augustin Paluel-Marmont, spent some time together discovering the delights of Parisian boulangeries. After consuming numerous pain au chocolats and baguettes, their knowledge was compiled in a guide published in 2004 “Le guide des boulangeries de Paris”. Meanwhile Augustin had been mulling over an idea for creating a food company in the same vain as Ben and Jerry’s the popular American ice cream company. Their starting point for the new brand was inspired by a US brand that stated ‘food should taste good’.

Read more

When Victor Augais left his native France for New York to work as underwriter for a French political risk insurer he had no idea he would co-found a successful five-a-side football venture with revenues of 6million euros within just a few years.

Victor studied Business at the French Grande Ecole, HEC, where he graduated in 1999 with a major in entrepreneurship. He left for New York where he worked as an underwriter for a French political risk insurer. After two years he returned to Paris where he did a stint at the Boston Consulting Group as an intern. He had had a contract offer that expired after 2-years. It was still valid for a few months so Victor decided to take it as the market was really bad in 2001. But he only lasted a year “I had nothing to do - with no experience and I knew I was going to be fired!”

Read more

Yann Lechelle first began programming software when he was just 11 years old. While in High School, he co-developed an online community platform (at the time called a BBS or Bulletin Board System!) running on Atari ST paired with a hacked Minitel. He went on to found Etheryl, kickyourapps.com and appsfire.com

When INSEAD called to say that Yann had been accepted on the MBA course he started developing a prototype of what would become his first successful venture - Etheryl. This was a platform for students that had been admitted to the course, to exchange ideas and information prior to arriving on campus, called NetVestibule.

Read more

Frédéric had already started his company on a small scale before beginning INSEAD in 2007. He had designed a website for carpooling in France. However, he soon realised that just having a cool website wasn’t enough - he needed to have a business plan if the idea was going to be successful!

“INSEAD taught me the skills to build a business model for the site. I chose INSEAD primarily because of the entrepreneurship classes that were offered. I had actually wanted to start a company when I was 21 but then got distracted by working!”

Read more

When Neils graduated from INSEAD in July 2010 he had already begun his car leasing company dedicated to the INSEAD community. The idea had come to him during his time on campus but it was during one the bootcamps that the venture really started to take shape.

Neils Cotter spent the early part of his childhood in Saudi Arabia before his family settled in the US. He holds dual French and American nationalities. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris for a year as part of a study abroad programme from Duke University, where he obtained a BS in Civil Engineering in 2001. After graduating, he joined the US Air Force as Chief of Engineering for the largest intelligence training base in the US.

Read more

Nicolas Petrovic – CEO of Eurostar; Director and Co-Founder of OP Systèmes (winner of the 2003 INSEAD Business Ventures Competition).

Nicolas combines a full time job as CEO of Eurostar with an entrepreneurial career as part of OP Systèmes’ founding team. In 2003, during his year at INSEAD, he began working on a business plan for an engineering company that specialises in transforming non-recyclable waste into energy. “Our company takes its name from its mission: create zero-pollution system solutions.”

Read more

On a trip back home to North Carolina, Chad Myers (MBA ‘04J) met up with a friend and advisor, Sandie Barrie Blackley, and told her he was looking to get back into entrepreneurship. At that stage of his life, some two years ago, Myers was teaching at INSEAD and running the school’s International Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Blackley suggested that her work with dyslexia treatment was ripe for technological innovation. “We talked more and learned of our mutual interest in helping people with reading disabilities because we have both have had family members who were struggling readers as children,” Myers told Knowledge

Read more

Rustam turned his back on a promising career in banking to start a social enterprise in India – taking risks not only financially but sometimes life threatening to reach the poorest parts of India with one goal: to improve their living conditions.

During his time at INSEAD Rustam and a fellow student were awarded third place in the Business Venture Competition with their project “Singlepoint.” The initial plan was to provide customers in India with a single point of contact for accessing all the services required in their daily lives – including healthcare services, travel and transportation services as well as social and domestic services.

Read more

Technology, business and development were Sameer Hajee's greatest passions – but how could he combine them all to find the ideal job? Become a social entrepreneur with his company Nuru Design was the answer!

In 2003 he found himself with six months to kill before starting his MBA at INSEAD. He moved to Afghanistan to work for a telecom start-up in Kabul that was looking for people to help expand mobile services to remote areas throughout Afghanistan.

Read more

From psychiatrist to entrepreneur in less than a year!

When Frank Drummond began INSEAD in 2005 he had no idea that just a year later he would be partner in a French mobile phone business targeted at the senior end of the population. A qualified medical doctor, Frank had worked as a psychiatrist and later became interested in the administrative and managerial side of medical practices.

Read more

Yolanda is determined that Ubiqi Health will be successful and she is used to hard work and discipline as a former professional figure skater, national champion and competition judge.

During Yolanda’s time at INSEAD she took the New Business Ventures course where she teamed up with students from the Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, California). It was ths course that marked the beginnings of Ubiqi Health. This venture aims to empower the millions of people with chronic conditions by helping them take control of their health. Their holistic approach includes a mobile phone application, web reports, and a social network, all which enable patients to better understand and address their condition. 

Read more

When Walter Faulstroh began mixing water with different flavours and colours in his friend’s kitchen who would have thought five years later he would be selling the business to one of the largest global drinks manufacturers?

Walter Faulstroh had three ambitions in life to write a book, act in a film and start his own business. By 2009 the first two he had yet to realise but the latter he had not only achieved but had successfully sold his bottled water company to one of the largest global drinks manufacturers.

Read more

Internet, media and retail have always been close to Rodrigo’s heart