Born in 1964, Charles Beigbeder is an aerospace engineer and graduate of Centrale Paris. He began his career in 1989 at Matra Marconi Space (Airbus) before moving into investment banking, working between Boston, Paris, and London for Paribas and later Credit Suisse.

In 1997, he turned to entrepreneurship by founding Self Trade, a pioneer of online brokerage in Europe, later sold to Boursorama. In 2002, he created Poweo, France’s first independent electricity and gas operator, which helped open up the national energy market.

Since 2006, he has served as Chairman of Audacia, the investment firm he founded, supporting the growth of French SMEs and expanding into deeptech, venture capital, and real estate.

Driven by a passion for quantum physics, he launched Quantonation Ventures with Christophe Jurczak and Olivier Tonneau—the world’s first fund dedicated to quantum technologies. He later co-founded Expansion Ventures, focused on the New Space Economy, and Exergon, investing in industrial decarbonization technologies.

A strong advocate for French innovation, he serves as Secretary General of France Deeptech, a network uniting entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists to accelerate the industrial development of breakthrough technologies.

In 2023, he co-founded with Éléonore de Rose the Prix Bourrienne, an award celebrating excellence in science communication and the dialogue between science and culture.