As the sponsor of the class of 2019 from the BBA programme in Lille, Amaury Flotat was present at the graduation ceremony on 4 October. He is the president of YNCREA Hauts de France and EPA (Entreprendre Pour Apprendre) Hauts de France, former president of LMI Innovation, and himself a graduate of the EDHEC BBA programme (1998).

Read about the profile of this serial entrepreneur/sponsor and the values he cherishes …

Entrepreneurship in the genes!

From a student project to the wonderful entrepreneurial adventure of AFG

Now aged 44 and originally from the Nord Pas de Calais region, from the youngest age Amaury Flotat had an appetite for investing in collective projects: his father was an entrepreneur and his family were politically involved in civic life, so it was only natural for him to engage more and more as his education advanced, serving as class representative, organising sports events in secondary school, and later becoming president of the student committee at EDHEC, where he pursued his post-secondary studies.

With an inbuilt appetite for entrepreneurship, he decided to set up his own firm while still a student on the EDHEC BBA programme, teaming up with two student friends to create a company specialising in the creation of websites – and that was back in 1997. Although that initial experience was technically a success, Amaury very quickly had to face up to his own “personal reality”: in order to share the experience of setting up a firm with others, he needs to be “humanly compatible” with them. And so a clash of values and ethics with one of his partners resulted in the quick decision to continue his adventures heading up a new project.

As a majority partner, Amaury pursued the development of AFG with his associate. Together, they spent 10 years developing ambitious projects and turning AFG into a strong growth company, moving from 0 to 150 employees and picking up several awards: Trophées des Gazelles for businesses posting the highest growth levels in 2005, Deloitte Fast 50, etc.

In 2013, mindful of the need to innovate in an ultra-competitive sector, Amaury decided to pursue the AFG adventure alone, building the transformations he felt were necessary for the company. The gamble paid off! AFG is now a consultancy and digital engineering business driving the digital transformation of its many clients.

In 2017, to offer his staff and clients the very best, Amaury decided to join the Neo-Soft group: AFG will now be in a position to enable Neo-Soft to continue its development and strengthen its regional roots while at the same time boosting its growth in its traditional areas of expertise with the aim of becoming a market leader in the digital transformation of retailing.

Photo: Maxime Dufour Photographies