Skip to content

About us

Story of Gagéo

The financial services company Gagéo was created by Nolwenn Simon, who is passionate about business development and financing projects.

The idea for Gageo originated with a champagne wine inventory financing operation in 2001, in which the consulting firm Nolwenn had set up acted as arranger. Thanks to the stocks, the operation obtained a Baa2 rating from Moody’s, higher than that of the company. Two years later, she experienced the power of pledge with delivery when the company went into liquidation, and the investors were reimbursed.

In 2017, Nolwenn proposed to several investors to create an inventory financing offer, with the conviction that inventory is a high-value asset, like trade receivables for factoring, and equipment for leasing.

The initiative is supported by Caisse Centrale de Réassurance, which has become a sponsor investor in Fonds Gagéo. Like the companies whose fundamentals have been shaken up over the past 3 years, CCR is a close partner in its DNA, with a business model that has been constantly evolving since 2016, having resulted in a French-style success story in the reinsurance world.

Alongside CCR, CARAC, BEI, BPI and MIF have joined forces in a club deal to form the €85 million GAGEO 1 fund, which has made a cumulative investment of €87 million. By offering financing with a maturity of 5 to 7 years, this fund is a laboratory designed to demonstrate the economic usefulness of inventory financing for companies, and the security of investors.

Driven by a desire to serve the economy, the individual founders, alongside Nolwenn, François Drouin and Nicolas de Lorgeril, bring their experience as bank directors.

With an enlarged team and a supervisory board chaired by Valérie Pancrazi, the GAGEO 2 fund currently being raised aims to expand the number of companies using inventory financing.

The new fund also finances industrial equipment and equipment leasing. Part of the funds is earmarked for environmental themes, and the circular economy as defined by the European Investment Fund’s Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability policies.

Gagéo, société de services financiers

Gagéo’s ambition is to generalize inventory financing for growing companies in the same way as factoring, which by 2022 will represent almost 70 billion euros in outstandings. Growing companies, or those involved in reindustrialization, need the inventory and investment financing they need to realize their ambitions.

Gageo’s ambition is also to create strong banking partnerships in order to structure the most suitable credit offers for customers, particularly short-term financing for intra-annual seasonality.

As you can see, Gageo is a fund with a mission to support national and European companies, giving them the means for local, sustainable development.

The Gagéo team

Nolwenn Simon

Nolwenn Simon

President and Founder

Didier L

Didier Lesourd

Credit Director

Charlotte R

Charlotte Ruelland

Development Director

Sandrine Bertrand

Sandrine Bertrand

Director of Operations

Jeremy

Jérémy Gervis

Investment Manager

Supervisory Board

Valerie Pancrazi

Valérie Pancrazi

Chairman of the Supervisory Board
of Gagéo

MURIEL BARNEOUD

Muriel Barnéoud

Member of the Supervisory Board
of Gagéo

Francois Drouin

François Drouin

Member of the Supervisory Board
of Gagéo

Issabelle Guillou

Isabelle Guillou

Member of the Supervisory Board
of Gagéo

Sebastien Jallet

Sébastien Jallet

Member of the Supervisory Board
of Gagéo

Nicolas de Lorgeril

Nicolas de Lorgeril

Member of the Supervisory Board
of Gagéo

Censors

Pierre Henri Cassou

Pierre-Henri Cassou

Censor

jean-michel-laty

Jean-Michel Laty

Censor

Nolwenn Simon

Nolwenn Simon

President and Founder

A graduate of HEC, Nolwenn is a recognized specialist in private debt funds. She developed her expertise in the securitization sector with LCL, Financial Security Assurance and GE Frankona Re. She is passionate about the markets and the power of capital to bring to life projects that make sense for our societies. In 1999, she set up Securitease, a company specializing in the creation of funds rated by a rating agency, enabling mid-sized companies to obtain financing on the bond markets, notably a securitization of Champagne wine stocks which obtained a BBB rating from Moody’s. In charge of structuring a leveraged debt fund at Weinberg Capital Partners-Alfina in 2011, she joined Sienna Private Debt (formerly Acofi) in 2012, where she set up several funds focusing on real estate, LBOs and local authority financing, before taking charge of the Leasing fund in 2014, which invests 200 million euros on behalf of major institutional investors. She is also a delegate to the Observatoire des Fonds de Prêts à l’Economie (OFPE), which participates in market discussions on the emergence of private debt funds, non-bank players in financing the economy. In 2017, Nolwenn founded Gagéo, to develop the financing of inventories, which are real assets that can be valued and mobilized for significant amounts, a financial innovation based on industrial expertise specific to each sector, at the service of company projects and investors who provide long-term capital.

Didier L

Didier Lesourd

Credit Director

With a Master’s degree in law and an Executive MBA from HEC, Didier’s career has spanned the full range of corporate banking functions, from the development of corporate services to financial analysis, commitment monitoring, bank management control and asset/liability management. In 2000, he became CFO of Crédit Agricole Nord Est, and in 2004 joined the Caisse d’Epargne de Bourgogne Franche Comté, as a member of the management board in charge of finance, commitments and real estate. In 2014, he created DL Expertise, became a certified coach, designed and led training courses in financial analysis and insolvency proceedings, and developed a consulting business on corporate credit analysis. In 2023, he joins Gagéo as Credit Director.

Charlotte R

Charlotte Ruelland

Development Director

After graduating from EDHEC business school in 2001, Charlotte began her career in transaction services at KPMG, where she obtained her DESCF diploma. When she joined Natixis in 2004, she became a financial analyst in the media sector and obtained her CIIA diploma. She moved internally to become Equity Sales. In 2009, she joined Deutsche Bank in the same business, contributing in 3 years to the top 3 ranking among France’s largest asset managers by reshaping team strategy and developing in-depth analysis for customers. In 2017, she left the bank for an entrepreneurial project and created the Alavia dental clinic in Levallois-Perret, where she brings together cutting-edge specialists who can benefit from a high-performance technical platform. The stability of the team and the organization put in place enabled her to free up her time, and she naturally returned to her first passion, finance. Proud of having created jobs and a project with ethics and conviction, Charlotte was looking for a project where she could find meaning. The specificity of Gagéo’s model and Nolwenn’s convictions in the fund’s ability to lend to companies that don’t always find financing was the challenge Charlotte was looking for. She therefore agreed to join the team to promote the model to companies and financial partners.

Sandrine Bertrand

Sandrine Bertrand

Director of Operations

Sandrine holds a DEUG in applied mathematics and a master’s degree in economics and management control from Paris-Dauphine University. She began her career in Comexposium’s management control department in 2000, and was appointed head of the department in 2009, before joining Viparis as financial manager, where she oversees accounting, quarterly closings, real estate asset valuation and investment project modeling. In 2017, as Administrative and Financial Director, she supported the entrepreneurial project Magicstay.com, a platform dedicated to business tourism, notably setting up business forecasts and reporting, and supervising outsourced support functions. In 2023, she joins Gagéo as Director of Operations.

Jeremy

Jérémy Gervis

Investment Manager

A graduate of Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Grande Ecole Program, Jérémy joined PwC’s M&A Transaction Services teams in 2016, where he carries out financial due diligence on large cap companies from a variety of sectors on behalf of Corporate and Private Equity clients. Prior to that, he worked in financial audit at Deloitte and in financial analysis at Nestlé.

Jérémy joined Gagéo in 2020 as an Investment Officer, in charge of a portfolio of clients, taking responsibility for investments and monitoring the borrowers in this portfolio. A keen sportsman, especially basketball, Jérémy values teamwork and carries out all his investment projects with the same intensity as on the court.

Valerie Pancrazi

Valérie Pancrazi

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Gagéo

A graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussée, and holder of a DESS 203 (Financial Markets) from Université Paris-Dauphine, Valérie Pancrazi was Head of Securitization at Compagnie Bancaire, before becoming Managing Director of Bear Stearns Finance in Paris. She joined AXA Ré (AXA Group’s reinsurance subsidiary) in 1999, then AXA Private Equity (now Ardian) in 2004 as Head of Management Mandates. In 2009, she founded VAP Conseils, a consulting firm. She is also an expert advisor to the Paris Court of Appeal and an independent director of Crédit Foncier de France and BPCE.

“Companies need time to realize their projects. GAGÉO’s five- to seven-year financing offers them long-term support.

MURIEL BARNEOUD

Muriel Barnéoud

Member of the Supervisory Board of Gagéo

After graduating from Arthur Andersen, Muriel joined La Poste’s Finance Department, then moved to the Mail Department, before becoming Industrial Director, where she steered a major transformation project for the Group to overhaul its industrial logistics and services tool. CEO of Docaposte from 2011 to 2016, she developed digital offers and solutions, before taking on responsibility for the Group’s societal commitment in 2017. In 2023, she joins Orpea’s Executive Committee as CSR and Quality Director. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris with a DESS in finance and taxation, Muriel is also a director of listed companies and an elected member of the CCIR Paris.

Francois Drouin

François Drouin

Member of the Supervisory Board of Gagéo

François Drouin began his career in the infrastructure sector, before joining Caisse des Dépôts and CNP. By merging 14 companies, he created and chaired the Caisse d’Epargne de Midi Pyrénées. He subsequently became Chairman of Crédit Foncier de France, which he modernized and merged with the former Comptoir des Entrepreneurs and Banque La Hénin, before heading OSEO from 2007 to 2013. In 2013, he helped create ETI Finance, co-founder and key business partner of Gagéo.

“Companies have development and growth projects that they don’t always manage to finance with traditional players. GAGÉO offers them an alternative solution to achieve them.”

Issabelle Guillou

Isabelle Guillou

Member of the Supervisory Board of Gagéo

A graduate of HEC Liège and a certified independent administrator from EM Lyon, Isabelle has extensive experience in financial management in industry, retail and real estate, notably with companies such as Circuit Foil Luxembourg, Le Printemps, Virgin Stores and Rue du Commerce, where she managed high-stakes transformation, divestment, LBO and restructuring projects. After leading numerous transformation projects as Altarea Group Performance Director, Isabelle has been a member of the Altarea Investment Managers management team since June 2022.

Sebastien Jallet

Sébastien Jallet

Member of the Supervisory Board of Gagéo

In 2020, Sébastien Jallet was appointed Investment Director, with responsibility for steering the CCR Group’s investments. Previously, Sébastien was Head of Fixed Income Insurance at Ostrum Asset Management, after having been Head of Fixed Income Management at Generali Investment France. He began his career at Prepar Vie (Groupe Bred Banque Populaire), where he held a number of different positions. Sébastien is a graduate of ENSAE and holds a DEA in Probability from the University of Paris VI.

Nicolas de Lorgeril

Nicolas de Lorgeril

Member of the Supervisory Board of Gagéo

Nicolas de Lorgeril has managed subsidiaries of agri-food groups undergoing restructuring, such as Bongrain, Grands Moulins de Paris and Pioneer France, and also founded an SME wine company that is currently expanding rapidly. He then steered the reforms of major public-sector groups, such as ONF, Crédit Foncier de France and OSEO, and advised major financial groups. In 2013, he took part in the creation of ETI Finance, co-founder and key commercial partner of GAGEO.

“Industrial equipment often has a longer economic life than its depreciation period. The GAGEÉO Fund enables companies to fully exploit the value of these assets.”

Pierre Henri Cassou

Pierre-Henri Cassou

Censor

A graduate of ENA and Ecole Polytechnique, Pierre-Henri Cassou worked for 11 years at the Direction Générale du Trésor, then for 16 years at the Banque de France, as General Secretary of the Comité de la Réglementation Bancaire et Financière. In 2001, he joined Deloitte as a partner in charge of regulatory consulting for financial institutions, becoming Senior Advisor from 2009 to 2013. He then founded PHC Conseil SAS, where he advises financial institutions on adapting their organization and offering to the current economic environment.

“Corporate assets, inventories and equipment, can now be valued and used as leverage for medium- to long-term financing.”

jean-michel-laty

Jean-Michel Laty

Censor

After graduating, Jean-Michel Laty joined Banques Populaires, where he spent his entire career. After the Inspectorate, he joined one of the Banques Populaires, Bics, where he became General Manager in 1987 until 2003. He then became Chief Executive Officer of Bred Banque Populaire until 2012. Within the Group, he was also Chairman of Banque Populaire du Luxembourg from 1996 to 2007.

“The solution proposed by the GAGÉO Fund is a first in France. Complementing the traditional banking system, it offers a new source of financing for SMEs and ETIs.