Grégoire Vigroux: "I believe that entrepreneurs have a growing role to play in shaping a meaningful world"

CAPITAL: What acquisitions did you make, directly or through owned companies, in 2020 and 2021, respectively? What was the value of each transaction?

Grégoire Vigroux: In July 2020, I sold my Romanian startup Fenix ​​to Recommerce Group, 14 months after I launched it. It was the fastest exit ever for a Romanian startup.

Founded in 2009 and based in France, Recommerce Group is one of the European leaders in buying and selling refurbished smartphones. The company sells millions of devices and operates in 20 European countries.

In Romania, we sell our refurbished smartphones through our partners Orange, Auchan, Cora, Carrefour, Evomag and Cel.ro.

As a Senior Advisor, my current role in the Recommerce Group is to support the company's growth in Romania and other countries in the region. With my active support, we will be in Bulgaria and Greece in 2022.

CAPITAL: What were the mistakes from which you learned important lessons in doing business?

Grégoire Vigroux: My biggest and most successful business is CallPoint New Europe, now called TELUS International Europe. The company, which I co-founded in 2007 and for which I continue to work as a director and board member, is one of the largest outsourcing companies in Eastern Europe. The company currently has 5,000 team members.

I also failed with a start-up this year. A corporate mobile carpooling app; the project seemed very promising at first. The results of the market research were encouraging, but the timing was not right, due to the pandemic, and the large corporate company that pledged to support the project gave up. Unfortunately, my business partners and I decided to "finish" the startup just before it was officially launched rather than start it. Stopping the project was difficult, but necessary, as it was unlikely that the business would take off quickly enough in those circumstances.

The main lesson I learned is that I should not have put my blind trust in the corporation that promised to support the project. I used to be more naive in business and take people's words for granted. From now on, I tend to be more careful. As an entrepreneur, you learn every day!

CAPITAL: What investments do you have in the real estate sector both in the country and abroad?

Grégoire Vigroux: I am making ongoing investments in real estate, offices, residential and commercial space through three investment firms.

The largest real estate project I am currently involved in is Amber Forest. It is the largest green real estate project in Romania (700 ecological homes built on a plot of 310,000 sq m, located in Tunari / Otopeni).

CAPITAL: In what areas have you invested this year and in what areas do you intend to invest in the future?

Grégoire Vigroux: Startups, startups, startups! The most recent startup I have invested in, launched on November 4, 2021, is bonapp.eco.

bonapp.eco is a Romanian startup that aims to combat food waste. The app, available on iOS and Android, connects users with local food retailers such as shops, restaurants, gas stations, bakeries, cafes and hotels. Through the application, users can purchase food that is close to the expiration date, with a discount of up to 80%.

Among the first partners to join the bonapp.eco mission in Bucharest are Accor, Cora, foodpanda, PENNY Romania, Starbucks and Up (formerly called Chèque-Déjeuner), and other partnerships will be announced by the end of the year.

The launch in other cities in Romania is planned for Q1 2022, while the expansion in other countries in the region will start in Q2.

CAPITAL: What are your hobbies and what are your favorite holiday destinations? What social responsibility projects have you been involved in and why did you choose them?

Grégoire Vigroux: My favorite destination for a relaxing holiday is Zighy Bay. Located on the Musandam Peninsula in Oman, where the steep mountains plunge into a turquoise sea on a beautiful sandy beach, this resort in Oman offers a wide range of luxury villas, each with a private pool and amazing dining experiences.

I belong to the global French Tech community, for which I work as a co-founder and president in Romania.

I currently support several NGOs, primarily HOSPICE Casa Sperantei, which treats patients with life-limiting conditions and rare diseases. I also lead the TELUS Foundation in Romania, which distributes EUR 100,000 per year to Romanian NGOs.

I believe that entrepreneurs have a growing role to play in shaping a meaningful world. Our success must come responsibly. Profits for the purpose. Progressive growth. Prosperity through philanthropy.

CAPITAL: How has the COVID-19 crisis affected you financially?

Grégoire Vigroux: There are three types of business in times of crisis. First of all, the ones that fail because they are too fragile or unprepared. Second, those who are simply trying to cope with the storm by reducing costs and delaying investments. Thirdly, those who take risks, hire more people and engage in bold investments, trying to turn the crisis to their advantage.

I belong to the last category. I'm an adventurous entrepreneur. I see opportunities where others see risks. That's why I launched my Romanian startup Fenix ​​on April 6, 2020, right in the middle of the coronavirus storm, at a time when retailers were closing their stores, when most companies were training their employees to work from home and when financial markets down nearly 50 percent in one month. I was lucky - I sold Fenix ​​14 months later to the European leader, Recommerce Group.

Even though the coronavirus crisis is not over yet, we set off with the Romanian startup bonapp.eco, which fights food waste, on November 4th. In the first 2 weeks, we have already had 5,000 downloads and we estimate that we have sold 500 bonapp packages so far. My goal is to be able to affiliate 5,000 locations and sell 30 million packages by 2023.

After all, isn't entrepreneurship really about such risks? I always look on the bright side. I am an optimistic startup. If I weren't, I wouldn't be an entrepreneur in the first place, would I? Therefore, I am always confident in business and I put my hopes in the value propositions of my companies rather than in the somewhat more discouraging general indicators of the economy.