Fashion Capital Partners

Francesco Maio is Co-Founder and CEO of Fashion Capital Partners, which invests in fashion and luxury technology startups. Previously an investment banker, he served as Partner and Equity Team Manager at Exane (later Exane BNP Paribas) and established the French brokerage office for Sal Oppenheim in Paris. Active as a business angel and board member in French internet startups since 2007, he has invested in over 20 companies and is a Founding Partner at the accelerator 50 Partners and a mentor at Le Camping.

Arnaud Blanchard is a Partner at Fashion Capital Partners with expertise spanning digital marketing disciplines including SEO, paid search, analytics, social media optimization, growth hacking, email and SMS marketing, web management, e-commerce, CRM systems, and customer support.

Bertrand Schmitt is the director of the Avatix agency in Périgueux, which he founded after a military career as a heliborne diver in the air force and the creation of a travel agency, Roll-life. The agency uses drones for exterior building maintenance across the Dordogne, serving professionals, local authorities, and private clients, with services including roof, façade, and cladding cleaning, water-repellent treatment, moss removal, and work on historic monuments. It has worked on more than 60 buildings totaling over 15,000 square meters.

Stefano Rodella is a conseillère en entrepreneuriat inclusif at CDEC de Québec, with a background spanning entrepreneurship, finance, and accounting across business, social economy, and teaching settings. Rodella holds an MBA in finance.

Yohan Ruso is President and Co-founder of Praditus, a soft skills evaluation and management coaching platform. The company operates across more than 40 countries with a network of over 100 coaches working in more than 20 languages, and has supported more than 800,000 individuals through its self-assessment, team dynamics, and 360-feedback offerings. Ruso previously worked at eBay for 10 years in various roles including Country Manager for France, and founded LeBonKado and Catherine Max before launching Praditus in 2014.