The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Ludovic Copéré, Sony Innovation Fund
In his nomination of Ludovic Copéré, Austin Noronha, managing director at Japan-headquartered electronics producer Sony’s corporate venturing unit Sony Innovation Fund, said: “Ludovic brings 13 years of global experience at Sony in venturing, innovation and strategy, with roles spanning three continents working at various business groups and intellectual property.
“Since he joined my team five years ago and moved to Silicon Valley, Ludovic has helped strengthen and expand the strategic scouting and partnership activities between startups and a wide range of Sony’s business units.”
Copéré first joined Sony’s France-based office as an analyst at its business development and innovation group in 2004 before he was promoted to assistant manager at the digital home and mobile Europe division four years later. He then worked at Sony’s UK, US and Japan offices as a strategist, before moving finally to San Francisco, California, as a director at Sony’s growth ventures and innovation subsidiary headed by Noronha.
Since Sony Innovation Fund’s inception in July 2016, Copéré has overseen its activities. For example, he launched and drove the unit’s activities in the automotive sector for US-based mobility software developer RideCell, in the unmanned aerial vehicle sector for US-based drone delivery services provider Matternet, in the industrial sector for wearable ergoskeleton developer StrongArm Technologies and in blockchain.
He said: “All these areas can now be considered major focus areas for Sony Innovation Fund and I am at the forefront of its further expansion into each one of them.”
