Marion co-founded Ask Mona in 2017 with the goal of making culture more interactive and accessible by enabling conversations with artworks. Back then, they used custom-built NLP tools, and the idea of combining AI and culture was seen as niche. Today, Ask Mona works with major cultural institutions worldwide, leveraging generative AI to help organizations personalize content and better engage with audiences.

What began as a tool for museums has grown into a broader vision. Marion explains that curiosity has always been the core of their approach, whether it’s asking questions about a painting, a travel destination, or even a bottle of wine. Realizing this opened up new markets in education, tourism, and consumer goods. Ask Mona’s mission now spans any object or experience that sparks a desire to learn.

For Marion, accessibility isn’t just about physical access. It’s symbolic too. Many people feel intimidated or excluded in cultural spaces. Ask Mona’s tools aim to remove those barriers by letting users ask questions in their own words, via text or voice, and get tailored answers. This promotes a more inclusive experience, particularly for those who might not feel confident navigating traditional museum formats.

Marion’s work extends beyond entrepreneurship. As a lecturer, artist, and author, she approaches AI not just as a technical tool, but as a societal force. Her diverse roles allow her to both build and critique technology, emphasizing the importance of keeping human perspectives central in AI development. Her latest book explores how AI affects our attention and decision-making, urging reflection on how we use the tools we build.

Marion’s biography of Alice Recoque, a forgotten French AI pioneer, is part of her mission to spotlight accessible role models in tech. She believes in showcasing diverse paths into the AI field, especially for women and people from non-technical backgrounds. Her own journey, rooted in the humanities, is a testament to the value of interdisciplinary contributions to the tech world.

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Ilias Benjelloun’s journey began with identifying untapped talent in Canada’s tech scene and helping create community among builders. He transitioned from launching startups to developing programs at large institutions like Desjardins, where he helped align startup innovation with corporate goals. His goal has remained constant: unlocking value trapped by outdated structures and accelerating impact through strategic collaboration.

During his time at Desjardins, Ilias led several key initiatives including a $250M fund, a corporate accelerator, and a pre-incubator. What made these efforts unique was their grounding in local ecosystem needs, not top-down mimicry of Silicon Valley models. His philosophy is simple but powerful: start with what you have, listen to the community, and complement what’s missing. He was also an early advocate for integrating SDGs into innovation frameworks, proving that financial returns and social impact can go hand-in-hand.

Having traveled to innovation hubs in the Middle East, San Francisco, and beyond, Ilias observed a few standout patterns: corporate investors are entering earlier, opening doors more readily, and embracing a pay-it-forward culture that fosters genuine collaboration. By contrast, some ecosystems - including parts of Canada - remain more cautious, often waiting until startups are less risky. Ilias believes this risk aversion can be overcome through smart partnerships and shared learning.

Ilias is now focused on activating a massively underutilized force: the African diaspora in Europe and North America. These globally connected individuals hold cultural insights, technical expertise, and business potential that is often overlooked. He argues for shifting the narrative away from DEI as a moral obligation and toward viewing inclusion as a strategic business advantage, especially in sectors like climate tech, agtech, and water innovation where frugal solutions are in high demand.

To turn this vision into reality, Ilias advocates for partnerships with anchor corporates in target countries - like OCP in Morocco - and creating consortiums that lower the risk of startup collaboration. This requires intermediaries with cultural fluency and operational know-how to translate between regions. He sees VivaTech as a prime example of where these global bridges can be built, linking France, Canada, Africa, and beyond. His mission is to move from talk to action, harnessing innovation not just for returns, but for systemic change.

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Yannick Alléno is best known for revolutionizing French cuisine. But in recent years, he’s stepped into an entirely different arena—road safety advocacy. After his son’s life was taken in a senseless car crash, Yannick transformed his grief into action, founding an association to tackle road violence through legislative reform, youth support, and technological innovation.

At VivaTech 2025, Alléno launched the Impact initiative—the first platform rallying civil tech actors to combat road deaths globally. The effort brought together over 120 startups from 42 countries, proposing solutions spanning AI, sensor tech, vehicle safety systems, and behavior-change tools. Three standout projects were showcased:

• A steering wheel sensor detecting alcohol levels through perspiration
• A motorcycle safety application enhancing rider visibility
• A chemical grip agent reducing aquaplaning on roads

“Tech can save lives, and it can be a good business too,” Yannick says.

Beyond policy and startups, Impact uses art and storytelling to change public perception. Its signature performance, Fragiles, fuses dance, music, and testimonies - including from perpetrators of road violence - to humanize the statistics and engage younger audiences.
This intersection of emotional resonance and policy innovation is at the heart of the project’s approach.

Impact’s mission rests on three pillars:

• Legal reform: Contributing to the reclassification of reckless road violence as homicide in France
• Family support: Providing psychological and financial help to families, especially children impacted by the loss of siblings or parents
• Cultural transformation: Running awareness campaigns that challenge outdated narratives around driving, alcohol, and responsibility

From France to New Delhi, Alléno’s ambition is global. He’s seeking partnerships with governments, insurers, mobility companies, and tech leaders to embed road safety solutions at scale. Renault is already an anchor partner, providing both financial and strategic support.

This isn’t bad luck, it’s preventable. And we can act now.

Association Antoine Alléno – Official site of the initiative

Impact Project – Civil tech movement for road safety

VivaTech – France’s biggest tech & innovation event

Sesamers – Discover the events and people shaping the future of innovation

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SOSV wasn’t always a billion-dollar fund—it began as a scrappy experiment. Ten years ago, the team was writing $50K checks. Today, it’s a global operation with $1.5B under management, backing 60+ new startups annually and running two specialized programs:

• HAX for hard tech (robotics, industrial, mobility)
• IndieBio for biotech, food, health, and sustainability

Their formula? Hands-on acceleration + deep labs + strategic follow-on capital.

“We’re not just investors—we’re builders. We have scientists and engineers on staff to help startups go from prototype to product faster.”

Ben’s career spans Asia (Japan, Korea, China), Silicon Valley, and Europe. While SOSV is a US-based fund, its hard tech accelerator HAX was originally launched in Shenzhen and has since relocated to Newark, NJ. Its biotech program IndieBio began in San Francisco and later expanded to New York City. Today, ~50% of SOSV’s portfolio is US-based, with the rest spread across Europe, Asia (notably Singapore), and LATAM.

SOSV focuses on:

• Climate Tech: From Neptune Robotics cleaning ship hulls to AI-powered food formulation
• Health Tech: With over 100 investments, including 20+ in women’s health
• Biomanufacturing: Startups using biology to produce materials, pharma, food, and solvents sustainably

Frustrated with event inefficiencies, Ben built his own internal toolset—combining spreadsheets, Python scripts, and LLMs—to run high-efficiency online matchmaking events. These have drawn thousands of VCs and startups, focusing on niche verticals like:

• Biomanufacturing
• Women’s Health
• Climate Tech (with over 1500 participants and 800 investors)

“If it takes me more than an hour to do a repetitive task, I’ll just build a tool to automate it.”

And yes—SOSV has invested in eight startups discovered through these very matchmaking events.

SOSV is known for spotting winners in categories others overlook. Their portfolio spans everything from plant-based AI-designed food (NotCo) to microbe-based mining. As Ben puts it:

“We’re not afraid to invest in the things that don’t have a category yet.”

Ben spoke at over 300 events—but not for ego. As a self-described "trained shy person," it was a way to build visibility without cold outreach. For founders, the lesson is the same:

“It takes three signals to make a tiger. If people hear about you on stage, in media, and from someone they trust—they believe.”

In other words, visibility builds credibility.

SOSV – Early-stage investor in deep tech and biotech

Hello Tomorrow – Global Summit for science and deep tech innovation

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What started as a niche academic research project has become a deep tech startup operating across Europe and Latin America, with millions raised in private funding and grants. Strong by Form developed Woodflow, a technology that turns natural timber fibers into 3D-formed structural materials, enabling strong, lightweight, and carbon-reducing alternatives to concrete, aluminum, and even steel.

Their design-driven approach doesn’t just replicate wood planks—it reimagines wood as a high-performance composite, shaped by nature's logic and modern computational design.

Though most of the founding team hails from Chile, the company was strategically incorporated in Spain to operate within Europe’s innovation and regulation ecosystem. Today, the team is 27 people strong and split across Chile, Germany, and Spain.

“Europe is tough on regulation—but it’s also where real scale is possible,” Andres explains.

Yes, their iconic waveform-style logo was sketched in five minutes. Yes, it was inspired by Joy Division. But that aesthetic also represents the undulating structural logic behind their composite designs. Andres’ co-founder Jorge, an architect-turned-engineer, originally developed the idea while studying at ETH Zurich. His mission? Create the lightest, most material-efficient structural slab possible—starting with carbon fiber but pivoting to wood for scalability and sustainability.

Strong by Form’s founding trio came together through long-standing friendships and complementary skill sets—engineering, digital fabrication, and startup acceleration. When Jorge and Daniel realized they had a revolutionary process but no path to market, they called Andres, who had just left venture capital. He joined to build the business—and soon they were securing grants, awards, and investor interest from forestry giants and mobility leaders alike.

At JEC 2025, Strong by Form unveiled a bike frame prototype made entirely from Woodflow, designed using composite logic rather than milled timber. It's a visual and functional proof that their stamped biocomposites can handle form, function, and strength—without carbon-intensive inputs.

“This bike isn’t a gimmick—it’s a signal. We’re building with wood the way carbon fiber is used in aerospace,” says Andres.

While construction remains their core focus, Strong by Form is expanding into automotive and micromobility. BMW was one of the first to express interest back in 2019—and is now working with the startup on large-scale, interior and exterior vehicle components. A million-euro grant is fueling development of their advanced pressing process, and they’re now actively engaging new partners in bikes, transportation, and e-mobility.

Strong by Form’s investor cap table is as unconventional as their tech: four corporate investors (including Europe’s top timber producers and construction leaders) and a mix of impact-oriented VCs. Andres admits they had to throw out the startup rulebook.

“The first thing you're told is to avoid corporates. Well, our first investor was a corporate,” he laughs.

The result is a founder journey that doesn’t follow Silicon Valley tropes—but proves that material science innovation can (and must) be funded differently.

Strong by Form – Woodflow technology for carbon-neutral construction & mobility

JEC World – Global leader in composites innovation

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What started as a DIY surfboard made from recycled cardboard quickly turned into a deep-tech material startup. François initially entered—and won—an innovation competition in California. But the surf industry was too niche, so he pivoted to a broader mission: replace carbon-intensive materials in furniture, mobility, and industrial design.

Airboard transforms recycled cardboard into composite sandwich panels, competing directly with wood, aluminum, and even honeycomb cores. Their breakthrough lies not just in the material—but in the machinery they’ve developed to treat and mold the waste without water or high energy use. The result: lightweight, strong, and fully moldable bio-based composites.

Unlike traditional manufacturers, Airboard isn’t building one big factory. Instead, they’re creating a scalable machinery platform, inspired by models like Tetra Pak, to enable local production at the source of waste. This distributed approach is designed to keep emissions low and business margins healthy.

Developing novel materials is hard. Developing machines to produce those materials is even harder. François shares how most of Airboard’s progress has been self-funded or bootstrapped—and why fundraising is now critical to accelerate R&D and scale production. The team is currently raising €2 million to build next-generation machines and meet growing demand.

Airboard’s journey was accelerated by attending JEC World 2024 as a visitor. There, François connected with Techstars, joined their sustainability accelerator, and gained exposure to investors and industrial partners. A year later, Airboard returned as an exhibitor—now part of JEC Startup Booster, the Innovation Planet, and the bio-based materials showcase.

• Bio-based & circular: They reuse waste without water or chemicals.
• Low-energy manufacturing: Their machines are analog, efficient, and easy to deploy.
• Custom shaping: Thanks to composites, the material can be molded into complex designs.
• No sanding: Their process eliminates time-consuming post-processing steps.

François isn’t chasing headcount or mass centralization. His vision is a network of local microfactories, embedded in places where cardboard waste is abundant. From automotive OEMs to IKEA-style furniture producers, he believes Airboard machines could sit within customer facilities, enabling on-demand, sustainable material production.

When asked what’s most needed for real sustainability in the composites industry, François doesn’t cite regulation or capital. He says: time. Time to think differently, to explore outside the box, and to develop better systems. “The most valuable thing in the world is time,” he says—something big manufacturers often lack.

Website: [Coming soon — follow updates on Trashboard]
Instagram: @trashboard
LinkedIn: François Jaubert
Currently raising: €2M to scale production and finalize next-gen machines

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Matt’s career began in the energy sector during a pivotal time of deregulation in California. This early exposure to innovation within legacy industries laid the foundation for a lifelong pursuit: helping large corporations and startups work together to drive transformative change. After 15 years in VC, a stint as an entrepreneur, and a move into corporate venture capital, Matt now leads Syensqo Ventures, a fund backed by one of the world’s largest materials science companies.

Spun off from Solvay in 2024, Syensqo is a €7B global materials company focused on high-performance, sustainable solutions. Its venture arm—an €80M evergreen fund—invests globally in startups developing advanced materials, often at the intersection of mobility, circularity, bio-based products, and AI-powered materials discovery.

Unlike traditional VCs, Syensqo Ventures looks for strategic alignment. Startups that can benefit from Syensqo’s deep material science expertise, infrastructure, or supply chain are most likely to receive investment. “I want to know what Syensqo can do to help accelerate your business,” says Matt.

The team invests early—typically at seed or Series A stages—when startups are still figuring out product-market fit and need help with technical validation, de-risking, or market entry. With six team members across the US, Europe, and Asia, they invest globally and often co-invest with financial VCs. They can lead rounds if needed, with typical check sizes ranging from €250K to €3M, and reserves for follow-ons.

• Biomaterials: As demand grows for sustainable consumer products, bio-based inputs are becoming more relevant.
• Composites & Circular Design: Syensqo is prioritizing innovations that enable lightweight, recyclable, and high-performance materials for aviation, automotive, and consumer goods.
• AI & Materials Discovery: While AI is lowering the cost of discovery, commercialization still requires partnerships, manufacturing, and distribution—areas where corporates play a key role.

Matt emphasizes that innovation doesn’t belong solely to startups or corporates—it’s a shared journey. Syensqo runs internal R&D, collaborates with universities, and co-develops products with startups. "There’s no frontier—just partnerships that accelerate solutions."

Syensqo publicly reports on circular sales, using a metric developed with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This isn't just marketing—it's part of how the company defines and measures sustainability goals across its value chains. For startups, this signals a strong alignment in building products that are recyclable, bio-based, or reduce environmental impact.

While the team sees startups following similar patterns globally, they tailor their approach by region—with specific networks in Europe, North America, and Asia. They're active co-investors in funds like Sofinnova and IndieBio, particularly in the biotech and advanced materials space.

Website: Syensqo Ventures
LinkedIn: Matt Jones – Syensqo
Company LinkedIn: Syensqo

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