François Badoual became chief executive of Total Energy Ventures, the France-based oil major’s corporate venturing unit, in 2012.

The team at Total Energy Ventures has a broad mandate. Badoual said: “We are chasing all kinds of energy innovation opportunities. This is not just the clean-tech space but also our classical focus of oil and gas. It is all sectors, which could be pertinent to Total as an energy company, encompassing all business units and branches of the group from upstream, to downstream, to new energy. The sectors include energy efficiency, C02 reduction and water-treatment. It also looks for new businesses for Total’s retail operations. This is a large spectrum and we are scouting as business intelligence for these sectors.”

He was previously managing director of Total’s exploration and production in Algeria between 2009 and 2012, and deputy managing director in Angola from 2006 to 2009. He has 24 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Among many different roles at Total, he has also previously worked in the new ventures identification group. He graduated as a civil engineer.