| Pascal Cagni | |
| Office: | Business France chairperson |
| Education: | Sciences Po, Stanford University, HEC Paris, Strasbourg III University |
| Nationality: | French |
| Birth Date: | 28 October 1961 |
| Birth Place: | Cernay (Haut-Rhin), France |
| Term Start: | 2017-09-14 |
| Office2: | France Ambassador for International Investments |
| Website: | Business France https://www.businessfrance.fr/en/about-us-governance |
| Awards: | Knight Ordre national du Mérite (2006), Knight Legion of Honor (2021) |
| Termstart2: | 2017-09-14 |
| Predecessor1: | Seybah Dagoma |
| Predecessor2: | Muriel Pénicaud |
| Profession: | Business executive |
Pascal Cagni, born on October 28, 1961, in Cernay, Alsace, is a French business executive. After participating between 2000 and 2012 in Apple's development as vice-president and general manager of Apple Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) region, in 2014 he founded the European venture capital investment fund C4 Ventures. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the board of directors of the Business France[1] [2] French government agency and Ambassador Delegate for International Investments by French President Emmanuel Macron.[3] [4] [5] [6]
Born on October 28, 1961, in Cernay (Haut Rhin), Pascal Cagni studied at the Lycée Scheurer-Kestner in Thann. According to the French newspaper DNA, "he grew up in a multicultural environment, combining the rigor and seriousness of Alsace with the creativity of his Lombard Italian origins".[7]
He is a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) public service section (1984), the Paris School of Advanced Business Studies (HEC Paris MBA, class of 1986)[8] and the University of Strasbourg III Robert Schumann in business law (1984).
He completed the Executive Program for Growing Companies (EPGC) at Stanford University in 1997 and was an auditor for the 63rd National Session of the Institute of Higher National Defense Studies (IHEDN) in 2010.
He is married with four children: Inès, Diane, Paul, Charles.
In 1986, he joined Booz Allen Hamilton as a strategy consultant. In 1988, he joined Compaq as Marketing Manager. He left Compaq in 1991 to join Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) and set up the group's first Southern European branch in Nice, before taking over as head of marketing and business development for the European region in London.
He joined Packard Bell in 1995, helping to set up a global engineering, production and operations center in Angers with over 1,500 employees. He played a critical role in establishing a new R&D, manufacturing facilities and operations, creating over 3 000 jobs in the Loire Valley (western France). He also established a pan-European sales and marketing structure. In 1997, he became Vice President, General Manager Europe of Packard Bell, the main division of the NEC Computer International group, formed by the merger of Packard Bell, Zenith Data Systems, Brett and NEC. Under his leadership, Packard Bell became the number one player in the European consumer PC market.
In 2000, he was recruited directly by Steve Jobs, who appointed him vice-president and general manager of Apple Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA). In 12 years, under his leadership, Apple EMEIA posted, quarter after quarter, the strongest growth in the Apple group, with sales rising from $1.3 billion to over $40 billion[6].
He also strengthened the positioning of the Apple brand with the creation of the Apple Premium Reseller (APR) network, a concept exported by Apple worldwide, representing to date more than 1,200 stores with sales of over $8 billion, and the establishment of Apple Shops.
He left the Group on October 31, 2012.[9]
In 2014, Pascal Cagni founded a venture capital investment fund called C4 Ventures with Christophe Walewski, Olivier Huez and Boris Bakech. He was later joined by Michel Sassano (2018) and Eric Boustouller (2022), former President of Microsoft France and Western Europe.[10]
Based in Paris, the company supports entrepreneurs as majority lead investor in Series A and co-investor in subsequent rounds. It has invested in over 48 fast-growing companies around three major themes: Smart Hardware, Future of Commerce and Future of Work, based on technologies (artificial intelligence, Web3, blockchain, cybersecurity, quantum computing) leading to a paradigm shift in IT.
Between 2014 and 2022, C4 Ventures has supported half a dozen unicorns,[11] placing the VC in the top 10 of French early-stage investors.[12]
Its second fund C4 Ventures II, regulated by the AMF, opened in Paris in 2020[13] and already has two unicorns to its credit: DriveNets, a company that offers telecom service providers a faster, more cost-effective way to grow using not just hardware, but software and cloud computing, and PsiQuantum, a Palo Alto-based startup developing a quantum computer using photon-based qubits.
In August 2017, Pascal Cagni was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Business France agency and Ambassador Delegate for International Investments by French President Emmanuel Macron.
He works to promote and enhance France as a host country for international investment, notably at major economic events, by regularly explaining the reforms carried out in France, by maintaining permanent, high-level contact with foreign investors or by leading networks of influence on the economic and international stage.
Since taking up his post in 2017, he has met face-to-face with over 800 foreign business leaders,[14] and France has steadily risen in the European economic attractiveness rankings, reaching 1st place in terms of the number of international projects in 2019.[15]
In particular, Pascal Cagni helped set up the now annual Choose France Summit in Versailles, an event initiated by the French President in 2018. The 6th edition took part in May 2023. With a total of 28 announcements, worth a total of €13 billion in investments and accounting for more than 8,000 jobs (excluding Manpower interim positions), the sixth “Choose France” Summit confirms France’s place as a leader in Europe for foreign direct investment (FDI).[16]
Since 2019, Pascal Cagni has been the president of the jury for the Choose France Awards jury, honoring foreign investors who have chosen France.[17] The 5th edition of this annual meeting of investors, organized in partnership with the States of France (États de la France) in November 2023, rewarded GSK, Amadeus, FedEx and Iveco Group.[18]
Pascal Cagni is also one of the central players in the Scale-Up Tour initiative, launched by Emmanuel Macron in 2018, whose primary aim was to boost foreign financial investment in French Tech start-ups. Having become Scale-Up Europe[19] in 2021, the project now aspires, more globally, to federate major European innovation players to achieve an effect of scale and foster the emergence of a continent-wide tech ecosystem.In January 2024, Pascal Cagni took an active part in several key events such as the Destination France Summit, bringing together public and private players for exchanges around French know-how, innovation and investment opportunities,[20] as well as state visits to India and Sweden (the first one since 2000), and the World Economic Forum in Davos, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and a delegation of 20 French start-ups.[21]
In 2018, Pascal Cagni was appointed a member of the Quirinal Treaty working group, an initiative driven by Emmanuel Macron and Paolo Gentiloni, which aims to improve Franco-Italian relations and cooperation, particularly in the fields of industry and culture. "We are culturally, linguistically, historically and economically very close. But for a long time this closeness was taken for granted, without being nurtured like the Franco-German relationship with the Elysée and Aachen Treaties," he recalls in his interview with Club Italie-France.[22] The aim of the Quirinal Treaty is to increase cooperation between France and Italy on a wide range of subjects, including the economy, technology, industry, defense, space policy and foreign policy. In each of these areas, Pascal Cagni has helped to establish clear commitments. Among them: the establishment of a joint support program for technological innovation for SMEs and start-ups, to stimulate their cross-border cooperation. The Treaty, signed by Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi on Friday November 26, 2021, is very rare in Europe: it is only the second treaty signed by France after that of the Elysée, initialed in 1963 with Germany, completed by that of Aachen in 2019.
Pascal Cagni has also been an independent director of Banque Transatlantique (CIC Group) since 2006.[23]
He was a non-executive director of Kingfisher Plc (2010–2019),[24] a member of Vivendi's Supervisory Board (2012-2017)[22], and a non-executive director of Style.com, the Condé Nast Group's online sales site (2015-2017).[25]
In 2014, he led a strategic review of the Net-A-Porter Group on behalf of Richemont and drew up a recovery plan including an improved sales strategy and information systems, preparing the group for its merger with Yoox.
Pascal Cagni is a member of the Cercle Outre-Manche[26] ], which aims to highlight best practices in France and the UK. He was also appointed French Foreign Trade Advisor to the UK in 2009.[27]
Since 2014, he has been a member of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG), which makes recommendations on the future of Internet governance.[28]
Pascal Cagni received the insignia of Knight of the National Order of Merit of France from Christine Lagarde in 2006.[29]
In January 2021, he was decorated Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, for his commitment to the public interest in the economic field.[30]
Pascal Cagni created The Cagni Foundation in 2011 to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to higher education, art and culture. He is also one of the main benefactors of the HEC Foundation.[31]