Stephan Ouaknine
MANAGING PARTNER
Stephan Ouaknine is the founder and Managing Partner of Inerjys. With over 20 years of proven experience as an entrepreneur and investor, Stephan has been a visionary leader across multiple technology sectors, from telecommunications to clean technology. His career has spanned three high-tech ventures, working arduously on-the-ground to create significant shareholder value with three successful exits. He is known for his dynamic, results-oriented style and his commercialization focus in building self-sufficient and profitable companies. Stephan founded Inerjys with the insight that new deployment approaches and innovative technologies could overcome the challenges of the cleantech sector and power a better tomorrow.
Prior to Inerjys, Stephan founded Blueslice Networks, a leading provider of evolved Subscriber Data Management (eSDM) solutions for telecom carriers. Stephan led Blueslice from its foundation in 2001 until its acquisition in 2010 by Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC), which was subsequently acquired by Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). Stephan’s other successes include Emblaze (LSE: BSD), a next-generation mobile multimedia company which reached a $6 billion valuation during his tenure, and Airslide Systems, a leader in next generation signalling which merged with Cantata Technology and later acquired by Dialogic (NASDAQ: DLGC).
Stephan is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, the TED community, a speaker at the United Nations’ annual COP and a recipient of the Annual Honoree Award from the Canadian Technion Society. Considered as a thought leader, he is frequently invited to keynote speaker sessions on entrepreneurship, investing and the clean energy sector at global events. Stephan also currently sits on 6 company boards, including 2 as Chairman.
Dave Furneaux
ADVISORY PARTNER
Dave Furneaux has spent his 20 year career as a company builder and investor. During this time, he has played active roles in building some of the leading technology and Internet companies in North America. He also started and operates 2 investment companies; BlueIO and Kodiak Venture Partners.
A sample of successful companies include Aironet (IPO and acquired by Cisco Systems), ALIS (acquired by Karl Zeiss), Auroranetics (acquired by Cisco Systems), Enfora (Acquired by Novatel), Extreme Packet Devices (acquired by PMC-Sierra), Philsar (acquired by Skyworks), RMI (acquired by Broadcom), Smartcells (acquired by Merck) and Watchfire (acquired by IBM). Recent successes include BLAZE.io's acquisition by Akamai, WHERE.com's acquisition by EBAY, Channel Advisor's IPO on the NYSE and Appnexus's acquisition by AT&T.
Areas of interest include transformational technologies applied to personalized medicine, security, agriculture and food technologies and sustainable power generation.
Mickael Kanfi
OPERATING Partner
Mick brings 18 years of professional services experience to Inerjys, and is responsible for operations including investing and portfolio management. Mick founded Twist Image in 2000, grew it to one of the largest Digital Marketing agencies in Canada which was later acquired by WPP in 2014. As an entrepreneur who successfully managed an exit, Mick has seen all sides of the entrepreneurship journey. Throughout his career, Mick has worked with Fortune 500 companies in developing business strategies, marketing plans and has helped them transform their companies into the digital age.
For the past 8 years, Mick has sat on charitable and early-stage investment Boards, and mentored entrepreneurs. As a result, Mick not only brings his entrepreneurial experience to Inerjys, but he also brings the insights and learnings spanning across the diverse scope of industries he has worked with over his career. This vast experience is instrumental in helping the Inerjys portfolio companies with their commercialization challenges while also advancing the growth of the Inerjys team and portfolio.
Madeleine Bienvenu
Principal
Madeleine obtained her bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology from Sciences Po Paris. She spent her final year at Vanderbilt University, where she deepened her interest in business and management and their intersection with environmental challenges. Madeleine’s passion for sustainability-driven innovation and food technology in particular dates back to her early ages and she seeks to merge her mission to make our systems more resilient, environmentally viable, and ethical with her interest in business and innovation. In 2020, she returned to Sciences Po Paris at the School of Management and Innovation to pursue a Master’s in International Management and Sustainability.
Driven, adaptable, and a team player, Madeleine has held positions at Air Canada, Canadian National Railway, CN Investments, L’Oréal, and cellular agriculture startup, Jellatech, taking on a variety of roles from marketing, strategic communications, finance and investments, to CSR, research, and legal. Prior to joining Inerjys, she worked as an analyst at Paris-based venture capital firm Astérion Ventures. Madeleine is an unwavering optimist, never says no to a challenge, and is a firm believer in the power of technology to solve society’s greatest challenges.