Our founding team
Xavier Duportet - President
Background: PhD in Synthetic Biology at INRIA and MIT | Masters of Engineering from AgroParisTech | Masters of Science from the Center of Interdisciplinary Research.
Eligo Bioscience: He is the CEO of Eligo Bioscience, a startup he cofounded during his PhD that is developing new modalities to engineer the microbiome using CRISPR and genetically engineered viruses.
Eligo has been awarded Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and has raised over 25M€ from prominent investors from Europe and Silicon Valley together with public funding from EU Commission and CARB-X.
Hello Tomorrow: Xavier is the founder of Hello Tomorrow. He stepped down from the role of President in 2019 to start Deeptech Founders and has transitioned to the Honorary President role.
Board and advisory roles: Xavier is a member of the Strategic Counsel of Université Paris-Saclay, he seats on the Scientific Advisory Board of Universcience, and is a board member of Green Spot Technologies.
Awards: MIT TR35 “French Innovator of the Year” | Forbes "30 Under 30" in Europe | "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum | “Entrepreneur Engineer of the Year” by the Norbert Ségard Foundation
Robert Marino - CEO
Background: PhD in solid state physics on Quantum repeaters | Masters of Sciences in chemical engineering from Chimie ParisTech, | Master of Sciences in fundamental & applied physics from Sorbonne University.
Robert has more than 12 years of experience in technology transfer and deeptech entrepreneurship.
Qubit Pharmaceuticals: Robert is CEO of Qubit Pharmaceuticals, a quantum-assisted drug design company. The company works alongside biopharmas to transform the way drugs are developed by moving from approximation to prediction. Robert, Qubit’s founding team and investors met through Deeptech Founders in early 2020. Awards: EIT headstart program | i-Lab prize | Innov-Up leader PIA | Pack Quantique program.
SATT Ile de France: he was a founding member of the SATT ile de France Innov in 2012, where together with François and Guillaume, they turned a business plan into a 40+ people company with transfers such as Diamconcept, the AbilyCare by Engie product line, Millidrop Instrument, …
PhD Talent: Robert founded PhD talent back in 2009 and during his time as President, he met with Xavier back in 2014 while he was launching Hello Tomorrow.
Le Lab Quantique: Robert is the cofounder and treasurer of Le Lab Quantique, a Paris-based Think Tank on the applications of Quantum Computing
Board and advisory roles: Robert is an advisory board member of Cryptonext Security and Ainos.
Guillaume Berteloot - Operating Partner
Background: PhD in fluid dynamics on dynamic particle deposition | Masters of Sciences in Fundamental Physics: Physics of Fluids from Université Pierre & Marie Curie | Engineeering degree from ESPCI ParisTech.
Experience: Guillaume has a diverse background, tackling innovation from both a start-up and corporate point of view as well as an extensive background in tech transfer.
After learning the ropes of business strategy in the Boston Consulting Group (working on innovation for several companies), he started to work in deeptech alongside Robert at SATT Ile-de-France, helping several start-ups in their first steps (Millidrop, Icon Photonics, Stanley Robotics...).
Having taken part in the Digital transformation of Renault within multiple projects, Guillaume has a focus on operations, agility, and business models. He has worked with 25+ projects inside Deeptech Founders, from medtech to urban planning, from AI to chemistry.
François des Portes - Operating Partner
Experience : as a former Tech Transfer Office deputy-CEO, as a former head of R&D business development of a Fortune 500 company, as a former Innovation Board Member of Alstom, and as co-founder of several deeptech companies, François has a broad experience of many of the challenges before each of the participating teams.
Background: François is a graduate of HEC Paris & Sciences Po and holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.
Focus : #industry, #consumer goods, #cleantech, #agrotech, #foodtech, #finance, #legal, #subsidies, #hard work, #critical problems