Financiers Workshop – Paris

Piedad Rivas, works at the European Commission European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA) Piedad has a background in Law with specialisation studies in Human Right Law. Through her work in MEDIA and COSME programmes she has built experience in creative industries in the audiovisual industry sector, and in the manufacturing sectors of fashion/textile, footwear and lifestyle. At the European Commission, she has worked for the EU COSME programme, through which the European Union (EU) supports SMEs competitiveness and internationalisation such as DeFINE network of incubators. She is now working for the European Innovation Council supporting innovation and visionary entrepreneurs to scale up new ideas and projects into the market. Piedad enjoys working with creative industries. She is a great supporter of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the richness resulting from connecting people and diverse skills. She is convinced about the potential that European creative industries and small businesses have as a driving force to generate local innovation and added-value to create jobs and reply to important societal challenges. The fusion between creativity and innovation and new technologies can definitively generate positive impact in European local communities and the environment.

Thierry has 20+ years of experience in the communications and entertainment industries. After graduating in Paris he worked in London as a business consultant for entertainment companies and telecom operators, then in France and Germany in business development for Vivendi, and then for ARTE – the Franco-German TV station – in Strasbourg. Thierry then completed an MBA at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and at UCLA in Los Angeles, where he specialized in film financing and e-commerce. In 2012, he graduated from the European Executive Programme of the Ecole National d’Administration (ENA) in France. For Media Deals, Thierry is in charge of developing the investment network across Europe and managing the network’s Investment Forums, which regularly bring mediatech companies and investors together for pitching sessions. With regard to this, he supports the network’s investors in identifying investment opportunities and in carrying out due diligence with a focus on cross-border transactions and exit strategies. He was also the project director of Media Deals’ EU project ImMediaTe, which examined financial mechanisms for digital media between five European clusters (Barcelona, Rome, Malta, Paris, and Amsterdam) and is now the director of the new DG Connect project European Investor Gate (EIG). Thierry has also been developing different creative industries funds for the film, music, and video games sectors. He is a regular speaker at conferences and summits on content and technology as well as an expert for the European Commission on regulations for investment in the digital sector.

Experienced Show Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the events industry. Skilled in Marketing Management, International Event Management, Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Sponsorship, and Art Direction. Strong operations professional with a DESC focused in Marketing, Project management from Grenoble Ecole de Management.

Giusy is Fashion Technology Accelerator's Chief Executive Officer and she has 10+ years experience in the investment and startups area. She has been Investment Manager at Italian Angels for Growth, business angels network with 14M€ invested. Previously, she was innovation specialist at in Intesa Sanpaolo bank, running a program which supports business development of tech start-ups. Earlier, she had working experience in the United States working first as Researcher at the Kauffman Foundation then at the Mind the Bridge as coordinator of the incubation program in San Francisco. She has also been involved in consultancy projects to develop entrepreneurial ecosystem in different countries. She is lecturer at the major Italian Fashion Schools such as Instituto Marangoni and Domus Academy.

Graduate of the University of Paris IX Dauphine and IFM Management Program, Delphine le Mintier – Jonglez is, since 2013, Investment Director at Bpifrance in charge of the investments in fashion and luxury. She is in charge of sourcing the deal flow, analyzing investment proposals, negotiating the transaction with the management team and following the portfolio (Eric Bompard, Officine Générale, Roseanna, Bonne Gueule, Le Gramme, Horace…). She started in Private Equity in 2007 at Natixis Private Equity as an Investment Associate for Mode et Finance the capital risk investment company founded by Didier Grumbach which aims to take minority stakes in early-stage French fashion companies in order to finance their growth. Prior to Mode et Finance, she was retail coordinator at Lancel.