My first step into Venture Capital—and a lesson in entrepreneurship.

In my previous post, I wrote that structural change only becomes real when entrepreneurs transform ideas into operational business models.

Over the coming weeks, I would like to illustrate this through a few companies I have recently had the privilege to discover.

This is also the beginning of a new personal journey.

After more than three decades leading and advising established businesses, I have started investing as a Business Angel.

It is a different world.

Faster.

Less predictable.

Closer to the customer.

And, perhaps surprisingly, full of optimism.

One of my very first encounters was with Laboratoire ÜMA.

Its mission is both simple and ambitious: helping women improve their quality of life during and after menopause through natural, science-based, hormone-free solutions combining herbal medicine and micronutrition.

What impressed me was not only the mission itself.

It was the execution.

A founder with remarkable clarity of vision.

An unwavering belief in his products.

A disciplined commercial approach.

And early business results demonstrating that purpose and performance can go hand in hand.

Too often, we hear that Europe has become too cautious.

That France can no longer produce tomorrow’s champions.

That innovation inevitably happens somewhere else.

My first experience as a Business Angel tells me a different story.

I discovered founders who think big.

An ecosystem capable of providing expertise, mentoring and capital.

And investors willing to back entrepreneurs prepared to solve real problems.

Supporting the well-being of half of humanity through natural and evidence-based solutions is both an ambitious mission and a meaningful one.

I sincerely wish the entire ÜMA team every success they deserve.

For me, this first steps has been more than a financial commitment.

It has been a reminder that innovation is alive, entrepreneurship is thriving, and optimism is still a rational strategy.

Next week, I’ll share another company tackling a completely different challenge—but with the same entrepreneurial energy.