Next year Denis Champenois will be chief executive of Innovacom, for many years the key corporate venturing unit of France-based utility France Télécom before its independence this past year.
During his time at France Télécom he has managed five consecutive fund investment programmes and was named chairman of Innovacom in 2000.
He also started Technocom, which he described as the first significant French fund dedicated to spin-offs from the company research and development organisation.
He has held seats on the boards of many communications companies in France and Europe, including Editions Glénat, Algety, NetCentrex and Madrid Film.
In 2000 he launched the Wireless Internet Venture Association, for telecommunications VCs from Europe and Japan.
Between 1988 and 1993 he founded investment funds Voltaire Image, specialising in media, and Amaya Films, focusing on film and television production.
From 1984 to 1988, Champenois was manager of the finance and holdings department of FranceTélécom’s finance division. He is a graduate of the French business school HEC and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Postes et Télécommunications.