Although the corporate finance team may seem arcane to many, Charles readily explains it as the quantified translation of the company’s strategy. Despite having spent most of his studies and professional life abroad, it was back in France that Charles wanted to use his financial skills to support the development of our vertical farms. He studied in Montreal, in an English-speaking program at McGill university, driven by the desire to travel around and to improve his English skills. Upon graduation, Charles first worked for a year in New York before returning to France to complete his studies at HEC . He then worked for almost three years in Paris at Rothschild & Co. before moving to London and New York, eager to evolve in the major international financial capitals.
If Charles decided to return to France and join Ÿnsect, it is above all to align his work and his professional skills with his personal convictions. He believes that we can build a more sustainable and environmentally friendly world, and that this can be achieved through the development of new forms of agriculture, both regenerative and circular. Today at Ÿnsect, he feels that he is contributing to a project bigger than himself and is working towards a more sustainable future, with the ambition to reinvent the food chain. This willingness to be part of an adventure with global ambitions and a strong environmental and biodiversity impact became more acute when his son was born, a family change that led him to think about the future with a renewed sense of responsibility. Altogether, these various factors finally led Charles to join the Ÿnsect adventure in 2022 as Corporate Finance Director. If he chose Ÿnsect after almost 10 years in investment banking, it is because the company’s capital challenges contribute to the international development and growth of insect-derived products in the global food system, an issue that is dear for this connoisseur (and not just of insects).
Day-to-day, Charles works with the CEO, CFO and COO to articulate the company’s strategy numerically. He is also in regular dialogue with the group’s (prospective and existing) investors and lenders to address their questions and to communicate the company’s projection and ambitions. To that end, Charles spends a large part of his time working with several departments that comprise Ÿnsect: from engineering to R&D to sales, it is crucial for him to understand the issues at stake for each of them so he can better anticipate their needs. It’s this cross-functional approach that he values most in his daily work as it forces him to remain adaptable, the value that speaks to him most of all at Ÿnsect.
