Pierre de Fouquet is co-Managing Partner and co-Founder of Iris Capital, a pan-european venture/growth capital Fund, specialising in media, telecom and IT.

He took part to the launch of the venture and growth capital arm within the French Caisse des Dépôts, in 1986; there, he has been in charge of the investments in cinema and television business, and more widely in the media sector. This activity, developed under Part’Com name after 1990, became independant end of 2003, as Iris Capital.

Pierre de Fouquet was involved in the management of the majority shareholdings in Lumière, a film library and movie production company, and in Coficiné, a bank specialising in TV and cinema bridge financing. He chaired Com-Dev Images, a holding company dedicated to investments in some French thematic channels pioneers (Canal J, MCM, Planète, CinéCinéma…) and was also in charge of many other investments, among others Alphanim, Canal + Belgique, Cinar (Canada), Computec (Germany), Coscient (Canada), Deficom (Belgium), Editions F1rst, Extrapole, France-Animation, Lagardère Images and RFM. Currently Pierre de Fouquet holds Board positions at Editions Montparnasse, Flach Film, Let It Wave, Naive, Rue des Ecoles and Sport.

Pierre is also the Chairman of the AFIC (the French VC and private equity association) and has been the former Head of its Venture commission.

Prior to joining Iris Capital, Pierre de Fouquet worked at the Caisse des Dépôts on strategic planning issues. He started his career as a researcher in economy and as a faculty member at University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). He is a graduate of Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and holds a PhD in economy of the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Pierre de Fouquet is a graduate of Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and holds a PhD in economy of the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Antoine Garrigues has been with the Team since 1993. He is responsible for all of the Team's investments in the communications and IT industries. He is currently on the boards of directors of BlueStreak, VTX SA (ex Smart Telecom), Demeter Partners SAS, Kiwi I Ventures (advisory board) and Amis. He was previously on the boards of Telesystem International Wireless, Wavecom, Magyar Telecom, AXS Telecom, SLP, Extrapole, E-via, Erenis, Kiala and N-Soft.

Prior to joining the Team, Antoine Garrigues was the Director of International Affairs and Development for Dassault A.T., a subsidiary of Dassault Group which specialises in banking computer systems and mobile communications. He was also responsible for corporate business development. His other experiences include being the head of export financial services of the railroad division of Schneider Group and being the project manager for the engineering work of the Caracas, Venezuela subway system. He was notably in charge of some of the Team's largest investments in the communications and IT industries including Thyssen Telecom, Portugal Telecom, Magyar Telecom and Telesystem International Wireless. Antoine Garrigues is a graduate of the French Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées engineering schools (Paris).

Sophie Dingreville joined the Team in 2002. She is responsible for investments in the media and entertainment industry, focusing in particular on the digital image processing sector. She sits on the boards of Bluestreak Technology (as observer), Rue des Ecoles and CapInTech (Association for creation of technological start-ups). She was previously on the boards of Let It Wave (sold to Zoran Corp), Citilog and N-Soft.

Prior to joining the Team, Sophie Dingreville was a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. Her consulting experience includes redefining strategy and organisation of IT departments for international companies and launching new Internet businesses. Earlier she worked as Project Manager for TPS (satellite television) where she was responsible for the technical relationships with international television and radio networks. In addition she coordinated the development of interactive TV and other multimedia services. Sophie Dingreville graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Paris), holds a pre-PhD degree in digital image processing from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and completed an MBA training course managed by McKinsey.

Curt Gunsenheimer joined the Iris Capital team in 2002. He is responsible for investments in the communications and IT industries, focusing on software and communications services. He is currently on the boards of Alyotech, Varioptic and DotSoft.

Prior to joining the Team, Curt was Vice President at technology investment bank Robertson Stephens in London. He was responsible for the European software and technology services sectors and participated in numerous IPOs, private placements and M&A transactions involving European and US technologies. Previously, he worked at Goldman Sachs in London, in the Communications & Technology and Corporate Finance departments, on a wide range of corporate finance and M&A transactions for leading European and US firms, primarily in the wireless telephony, cable, technology and media sectors. Curt studied at ESSEC (Paris), Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Boston).

Erkan Kilicaslan joined the Team in 2005 and is responsible for international investments in the media and entertainment, communications and IT sector, especially in the German speaking countries. He is currently on the board of Human Inference, Clear2Pay and 1-2-3.TV (as observer).

Prior to joining the Team, Erkan Kilicaslan was a Partner at TecVenture Partners, a Venture Capital fund based in Munich. He was responsible for investments in the software and telecommunications sectors and worked as a supervisory board member of numerous technology companies on issues around M&A, strategic positioning and technology growth management.

Previously, he worked at Technologieholding VC (now 3i Group) in Munich as Investment Manager for technology investments and as a Consultant at McKinsey & Company on corporate finance and technology projects. In addition, he has worked with Schlumberger Technologies in their Smart Card division in Paris as Ingénieur d’Affaires for Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

Erkan Kilicaslan has a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany, studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Electronique et de Radioélectricité de Bordeaux (ENSERB) and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School (Boston).

Guillaume Meulle has been with the Team since 1998 and is responsible for investments in the communications and IT industries, with a specialisation on the mobile communications sector. He is currently on the boards of directors of Amis and Bluestreak.

Prior to joining the Team, Guillaume Meulle was financial project manager at France Telecom Mobile International for 4 years. He was in charge of the financial part of France Telecom's acquisitions in Belgium (Mobistar), China, India and Denmark. In addition, he had an operating role in the Lebanon subsidiary and was responsible for the Fixed-Mobile-Internet convergence project. Guillaume Meulle is a graduate of the National Institute of Telecommunications engineering school (Evry, France).

Since joining the Team in 1998, Erik de la Rivière has been in charge of investments in the media and entertainment industry, focusing notably on audio-visual and publishing businesses. He is currently on the boards of directors of 1-2-3. tv, Naïve and Wild Bunch. He was previously on the boards of Bayard Presse International, Canal J, Ciné Groupe, Déficom, Groupe Tectis, ITI, Lagardère Images, Madrid Film, MCM, TravelHorizon, SES Communication, Apach Network and FastBooking.

Prior to joining the Team, Erik de la Rivière was in charge of equity investments in the media and entertainment sector at Banque Worms in Paris, where he also managed a specialised venture capital fund, Média Investissement. He was a board member of Sopromec, a venture capital subsidiary of Banque Worms, as well as Chairman of Voltaire Images, an investment company for majority interests in technical service providers to the audio-visual and film industries, which he sold to France Telecom. In addition, he was Chairman and CEO of Amaya Films, an audio-visual rights and production company set up by Banque Worms. He started his career in the Capital Markets Department at Banque Worms. He is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) School of Management.

Since joining the Team in 2000, Alexander Wiedmer has been responsible for investments in the IT industry. He is currently on the boards of directors of Datamars, Omniperception, Babel Technologies, Kiala SA, Kotio SA, Neocase and WStore Europe.

Prior to joining the Team, Alexander Wiedmer was international marketing director for multimedia rights at Universal Content (Toronto), a licensing agency for multimedia content. He had previously created a consulting company in the field of communications marketing and event management in Canada. Alexander Wiedmer studied at Upper Canada College (Toronto), McGill University (Montreal) and the University of Western Ontario (Hons. BA Phil.) and holds an MBA in Technology Management from Theseus International Management Institute (Sophia-Antipolis, France). He has held various pro bono positions on boards and committees of educational organisations. He has Swiss and Canadian citizenships.

Alain Ries advises Iris Capital as a Venture Partner, bringing his expertise and management experience to our portfolio companies. He is involved with the IT and Communications industries across Europe.

He was previously co-founder, President & CEO of InfoVista SA, a French company that sells service level agreement and performance measurement software for telecom operators. He took the company public in 2000 on both Nasdaq and the French Nouveau Marché. At that time, InfoVista had annual revenues close to €30 million and more than 230 employees, with subsidiaries in the US, the UK, Germany and Singapore. Previously, he co-founded Arche Communications SA, a leading French network value-added reseller with revenues of €15 million when it was acquired by Siemens in 1995. He also founded Institut ERIS in 1994, a training company specialised on Cisco products that was acquired by Global Knowledge Network, Inc. Prior to that, he worked for 3Com Southern Europe as Head of Pre-Sales. Alain Ries is a graduate of the Ecole Centrale de Paris engineering school and completed an MBA from the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Henri de Lapparent founded the venture capital organisation of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations in 1986. He is currently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Iris Capital, and Chairman and CEO of Part'Com S.A. responsible for the management and divestment of the remaining Part'Com portfolio. He was also Chairman of the Board of Coficiné, a French bank dedicated to bridge financing of TV and cinema production. He is currently on the boards of directors of ICV, C2A Databail, Outremer Telecom and Pyramid Ventures (advisory board). He was previously on the boards of Cofira-SFR, BDDP, Babel, Com-Dev Images, IB Finance, Ifcic, Lumière and Mediamobiles.

Prior to founding the Team, Henri de Lapparent was an advisor to the CEO of the CDC Group, responsible for defining its strategy in the communications sector. Prior to joining the CDC Group, he was Director of R&D at the French National Audio-visual Institute (INA) and Director of the French Computer Systems Agency in charge of the implementation of computer systems backup initiative in the early 1980s. Henri de Lapparent is a graduate of ENSAE, the French National School for Statistics and Economic Management.

Pierre Chevallier has been with the Team since 1988. He is General Counsel of Iris Capital in charge of administration, HR, public relations and investor relations. He is currently on the boards of Abry Participations, Noicom and Kiwicom. He was previously on the boards of Com-Dev Images, Lumière, MCM, Canal J, Amaya Films, France Animation and Ellipse Programs.

Pierre Chevallier has had over 12 years of experience in the communications industry during which he has worked for both the private and public sector. He was General Secretary of Octet, an agency of the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs for the development of new communications technologies and Managing Director of Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) - Audiovisual, a subsidiary of the broadcasting group specialised in the production of animated cartoons. He was General Manager of Cofimage Soficas (film financing mutual funds). Pierre Chevallier grew up in Japan and is today actively involved in the development of Franco-Japanese exchange programs in the communications sector. He is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Grenoble and holds an MA in Political Science and a Law degree from the University of Grenoble.

Christophe Blanche joined the team in 2006. He is responsible for the back office as well as the company’s financial issues.

Prior to joining the Iris Capital team, Christophe worked for seven years for PricewaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg in the audit practice, providing him an experience in the private accounting practices sector. Christophe is graduated from the Institut Supérieur du Commerce de Paris, he also holds the Luxembourgish Certified Public Accountant degree

Supported by our administrative staff, we are a team of 15 dedicated investment professionals combining skills in communications, international operations and private equity.