Press Release

Renowned industry experts join Syroco’s strategic advisory board

Marseille, September 9, 2020 - A few months after its launch, Syroco added to its strategic advisory board two heavyweights of the entrepreneurial ecosystem: Patrick Boissier and Francesco De Leo. The startup generates innovation through the achievement of pioneering feats. Its lab organization that brings together industry and academia invents new technologies to serve the economic and environmental performance of many verticals. This approach has caught the attention of these recognized industry leaders who are keen on new challenges. 

A unique model

Shortly after its inception, Syroco was able to convince experts from the industrial world to join its Advisory Board. These experts were convinced by the relevance of the startup’s approach - putting innovation at the service of the planet and of the economy. Co-founded among others by Alex Caizergues, world kitespeed champion and multiple World Sailing Speed Record holder, and by Bertrand Diard, founder of French unicorn Talend and of VC fund Serena Data Ventures, the company applies an innovation process promoting the expression of collective intelligence to verticals that are often unfamiliar with a startup model. Its purpose: co-create innovative engineering solutions with a positive impact, initially focusing on reducing the carbon impact of maritime transportation. 

Patrick Boissier and Francesco De Leo were won over by this approach, which is in line with their own convictions, and aspire to put their expertise at the service of Syroco’s growth.

We are proud to welcome industry and entrepreneurial leaders to our strategic advisory board,” says Alex Caizergues. “Their commitment to Syroco is a clear validation of our vision, our business model and the potential impact of our innovations on the environmental and economic performance of the transportation and energy industries.”

Two experts in the maritime and technology worlds

An expert of the requirements and challenges of the naval industry, Patrick Boissier is an experienced executive who has held management positions within industrial groups such as Alstom, Cegelec, Les Chantiers de l'Atlantique and DCNS (now Naval Group), before serving as chairman of the Group of Naval Construction Industries and Activities (GICAN). 

For Patrick Boissier: “Going beyond established principles and giving new impetus is a necessity. Syroco is conquering these new territories and I wish to bring them my technical and entrepreneurial experience. The team is developing new technology solutions to achieve ultimate goals: they are pioneers.

Francesco De Leo, world renowned opinion leader in the field of information and communication technologies (former Managing Director of Telecom Italia), is also an avid sailor and an advisor to Emirates Team New Zealand, the current America's Cup defender. Founder and Executive Chairman of Kaufmann & Partners, but also of Green Comm Challenge, which focuses on investments in green technologies in the United States and Europe, he also teaches corporate strategy at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome.  

According to Francesco De Leo: “Model changes, innovation and achievement are the driving forces that have carried my career. Syroco offers an unprecedented alliance of pioneering achievements and technological developments capable of contributing to the most important challenge: energy transition. I am delighted to accompany them on the path to success.”