Fundraising Fox

Rodolphe Ardant

Founder

Founder & President at Spendesk

Paris, France

Writes $5K – $50K checks · typically $25K

FoundedSpendesk

About

Rodolphe Ardant built Spendesk into the first spend management platform in Europe to turn a profit. He founded it in 2016 with Guilhem Bellion and Jordane Giuly out of the eFounders startup studio — after meeting its founder Thibaud Elzière and agreeing that company expenses were a shared misery worth solving — and grew it to more than 200,000 business users handling some €20 billion of spend a year. Tiger Global led a $114 million round in January 2022 that made Spendesk a unicorn at $1.14 billion, the fifth French company to reach that mark in a single month, and the business broke even in the first quarter of 2025. He handed the chief executive's seat to Axel Demazy in late 2024 and stayed on as president, focused on product and direction. It was not his first exit: he founded the advertising company Wozaik, sold to Solocal in 2013, and was chief operating officer of the car-sharing company Drivy.

Beyond investing

More
Handed the chief executive's role to Axel Demazy in October 2024 and continues as founder and president.

From Rodolphe's own website — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder & President at Spendesk

Intro paths

In turn, Rodolphe can intro founders to Spendesk's investors below.

Co-founders at Spendesk

GB
Guilhem BellionCo-founder

Experience

  1. SpendeskFounder and Presidentcurrent2024 — present
  2. SpendeskFounder and CEO2015 — 2024Paris Area, France
  3. eFoundersFounder in residence2015Paris Area, France
  4. DrivyCOO2014 — 2015Paris Area, France
  5. Sotravo (Solocal Group)Project Director2013 — 2014Paris Area, France
  6. Wozaik - Acquired by Solocal GroupCo-founder, COO2008 — 2013Paris Area, France
  7. OC&C Strategy ConsultantsAssociate Consultant2007 — 2008Paris Area, France
  8. UBIFRANCEMission Economique - New Delhi2006New Delhi Area, India

Education

  1. École PolytechniquePhysics2003 — 2007
  2. Columbia EngineeringMS, Electical Engineering2006 — 2007
  3. Janson
  4. Janson

Skills & more

Start-ups28Entrepreneurship28E-commerce15Web Marketing3Digital Strategy8SEM3User Experience4Strategic Partnerships4SEO2Management Consulting5Mobile Marketing1Web Development
+11 moreAnalyticsBusiness DevelopmentCloud ComputingDigital MarketingWeb Project ManagementAffiliate MarketingDigital MediaProduct MarketingStrategic ConsultingStart-upOnline Marketing

Languages English · French · Italian

  • Google AdWords Qualified IndividualGoogle

From Rodolphe's professional profile.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Rodolphe Ardant?
Rodolphe Ardant built Spendesk into the first spend management platform in Europe to turn a profit. He founded it in 2016 with Guilhem Bellion and Jordane Giuly out of the eFounders startup studio — after meeting its founder Thibaud Elzière and agreeing that company expenses were a shared misery worth solving — and grew it to more than 200,000 business users handling some €20 billion of spend a year. Tiger Global led a $114 million round in January 2022 that made Spendesk a unicorn at $1.14 billion, the fifth French company to reach that mark in a single month, and the business broke even in the first quarter of 2025. He handed the chief executive's seat to Axel Demazy in late 2024 and stayed on as president, focused on product and direction. It was not his first exit: he founded the advertising company Wozaik, sold to Solocal in 2013, and was chief operating officer of the car-sharing company Drivy.
Where does Rodolphe Ardant work?
Rodolphe Ardant is Founder & President of Spendesk.
What check size does Rodolphe Ardant write?
Rodolphe Ardant typically writes checks of $5K – $50K.
What companies did Rodolphe Ardant found?
Rodolphe Ardant founded Spendesk.
Where did Rodolphe Ardant go to school?
Rodolphe Ardant studied at École Polytechnique (Physics); Columbia Engineering (MS, Electical Engineering); Janson.

Paths to reach Rodolphe

People who overlapped with Rodolphe at the same organization — a shared school or employer with one of them is a warm way in.

Founder mafias

Same school

Shared employers