Jean-Marc Lazard (EDHEC 1996) : nominee for the EDHEC Entrepreneur award 2017

In 2012, convinced that the value of data is all about how it is used, Jean-Marc Lazard created OpenDataSoft, the first online platform designed to make all data shareable and easily reusable.

As a pioneer of open data as a way to support the initiatives of public stakeholders on transparency and innovation, in 2012 Jean-Marc quickly expanded his market to companies in the private sector to help them innovate with their data. After 5 years, more than 100 major cities, public administrations and companies in 13 different countries have placed their trust in OpenDataSoft as a way to share their data between staff members and with their partners: examples include Paris, Brussels, Toulouse, Eindhoven, Potsdam and Lille, as well as Veolia, Schneider Electric, Saint-Gobain, Solvay, BPCE and SNCF.

After raising €6.5 M from investors including Salesforce Ventures and Caisse des Dépôts, being named as one of the top 10 most innovative partners of Amazon Web Services for its Smart Cities solution, and signing partnerships with General Electric and Cisco, in 2016 OpenDataSoft established its first team in the US (10 out of a total staff of 50).

To support the company’s mission to promote openness, transparency and innovation, the senior management team at OpenDataSoft have also made “well-being” and meaningful work essential drivers of development, with a Chief Happiness Officer sitting on the executive committee, systematic sharing of company metrics with staff members, and the introduction of circles inspired by Holacracy.

Find out more about : www.opendatasoft.fr

The award

The EDHEC Entrepreneur of the Year prize is awarded to an Edhec entrepreneur who has decided to take a leap into the unknown and has contributed to EDHEC’s image as a creator of talent by their taste for risk and adventure.
Their daring and sense of innovation will have impacted on the winner’s sector or region, or on the vision others have of the sector. .

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