Bruno Bensaid

Current

Angel Investor at AAMA Shanghai Chapter
Managing Director at Shanghaivest Ltd
Founder / Organizer at Mobilemonday Shanghai

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Past

Vice-President, Business Development at Ventech China
China Business Development Director at Grapeshot
Partner at China Expansion

General Manager - China Licensing Unit at Faith Inc
General Manager at Asian Business Bridge Ltd & Shanghai Mobile Solutions Co Ltd
COO / Sales Director at IN-FUSIO Asia
Project Manager China at Freever (China)
Business Operations Lead Analyst, Professional Services Asia-Pacific/Japan at Cisco Systems
Strategy Consultant to Digital Video Group in China at Philips Electronics
Manufacturing and Investments Programs Analyst, Athens representative office at Dassault Aviation
Consultant - Graduate trainee at Accenture

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8 more...

Education

INSEAD
East China Normal University
Ecole nationale supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace

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Recommended

19 people have recommended Bruno

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Websites

Bruno Bensaid’s Summary

Angel investor, fundraising and strategy/board advisor to several China TMT startups.
Former China VP of a French leading venture capital firm.
Expert in the China Mobile and Internet industries, with strong network in venture capital & startups.
10 years of experience in the TMT sector in Asia (Cisco Systems) and China, with a proven track record in conducting market entry strategies, deploying/managing large scale technical projects and P&Ls;
Public speaker, moderator and organizer of high-profile mobile, internet and business conferences.
Aerospace Engineer (SUPAERO) and INSEAD EMBA.
Fluent in Mandarin, English & French.

Bruno Bensaid’s Specialties:

early-stage startup operations, angel investment and venture capital, mobile telecom, internet, technology and media (especially digital, China, Asia, public speaking

Bruno Bensaid’s Experience

Angel Investor

AAMA Shanghai Chapter

(Non-Profit; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

September 2008 — Present (1 year 3 months)

The AAMA Angels (www.aamash.com ; www.sh-angels.com) was launched in 2007 in affiliation with the Asia America MultiTechnology Association (“AAMA”), one of Silicon Valley’s leading business networks (www.aamasv.com). Our mission, as one of the first institutionalized angel groups in China, is to enable entrepreneurs based in the Shanghai area to raise angel or early-stage capital (from US$100K to $1M) from accredited angel investors – who can provide not only capital, but also operating expertise and relationships to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Managing Director

Shanghaivest Ltd

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

July 2008 — Present (1 year 5 months)

Shanghaivest Ltd is a boutique Financial Advisory firm providing fund raising consulting, strategic business development and M&A support to Chinese and European technology companies.
- Advisor and shareholder of a shanghai-based "private sales" e-commerce platform.
- Advisor of Beijing-based wifi value-added services operator.
- Member of AAMA Angel Group in Shanghai (www.aamash.com).
Founder / Organizer

Mobilemonday Shanghai

(Non-Profit; Wireless industry)

September 2006 — Present (3 years 3 months)

• Founder/Organizer of the Shanghai Chapter of Mobilemonday. Mobilemonday is the most developed mobile industry-related community and event organizer in the world, running in over 70 cities). Organizing monthly events in Shanghai with attendance of +100 executives of the mobile and online industry; as well as venture capitalists and media. www.mobilemondayshanghai.net
• Regular speaker and moderator at conferences on China, Mobile, Internet and Investment such as GSMA Mobile World Congress, GSMA Mobile Asia Congress , Ad:tech (China), WCIT (Malaysia) etc.
• Board Advisor to Ad:tech. Ad:tech is the leading interactive marketing conference in the world, organized in over 10 cities www.ad-tech.com.
Vice-President, Business Development

Ventech China

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

December 2007 — June 2008 (7 months)

French VC (EUR 350 Mil under management). Main tasks:
- Business Development - helping Ventech portfolio companies in Europe establishing strategic partnerships with local companies, conducting M&A operations etc
- building Ventech China's deal flow
China Business Development Director

Grapeshot

(Computer Software industry)

September 2007 — December 2007 (4 months)

- Conducted market research for Grapeshot, specialized in behavioral and contextual online ad targeting.
- Evangelized Grapeshot technology to China main portals, ad networks and agencies. Successfully initiated commercial trial with China #3 portal and #1 ad server (project stopped due to lack of funding).
Partner

China Expansion

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

June 2006 — September 2007 (1 year 4 months)

China Expansion is an M&A advisory firm founded in 2006, supporting French and European VCs and their portfolio companies in the Telecom, Media and Technology sectors on their China investments. Led/leading the following projects:
- Advised French flower e-commerce site on a China acquisition;
- Successfully identified strategic partners for a French IPTV software company in China and Asia;
- Advised a Paris-listed online marketing agency on possible acquisition or strategic partnership;
- Advised a French leader in VoIP and online person-to-person services on acquisition options.
General Manager - China Licensing Unit

Faith Inc

(Public Company; 51-200 employees; 4295; Telecommunications industry)

June 2002 — May 2006 (4 years )

• Created and implemented a partnership program to train and license music creation tools and content to largest ISPs in China including Sina, Sohu and Tom.
• Set up and operated a “boutique” ringtone production unit selling to China ISPs in 2003-2004.
General Manager

Asian Business Bridge Ltd & Shanghai Mobile Solutions Co Ltd

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Telecommunications industry)

April 2002 — May 2006 (4 years 2 months)

General Manager. Technology Incubator in which I took leading roles in client companies, structuring and managing the operations of several mobile telecommunications companies entering the Greater China market.
COO / Sales Director

IN-FUSIO Asia

(Privately Held; Wireless industry)

April 2002 — August 2005 (3 years 5 months)

• Participated in an Asian fund raising exercise and set up of In-Fusio Asia offshore and onshore entities. Led negotiations on the acquisition of an ISP in Southern China.
• Signed & renewed mobile game download & SMS distribution agreements with China Mobile. China Mobile contract led to the opening of a nationwide connection helping grow revenue from $100K to $3 Mil in 3 years and increasing subscriber base to 5 million.
• Set up a 24x7 customer service and engineering support team. Closed a money-losing game studio.
• Grew the employee base from 8 to over 35 in 3 years.
Project Manager China

Freever (China)

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Telecommunications industry)

April 2002 — February 2003 (11 months)

• Marketed and operated a leading European community SMS-based service in China.
• Successfully negotiated an additional contract with China Unicom.
• Closed the business amidst changing regulations and mounting competition from local portals.
Business Operations Lead Analyst, Professional Services Asia-Pacific/Japan

Cisco Systems

(Public Company; CSCO; Computer Networking industry)

March 1999 — April 2002 (3 years 2 months)

• Managed risk and profitability of the Cisco Systems Professional Services organization in Asia-Pacific. Actions included negotiating contracts, driving margin & revenue booking / recognition.
• Involved in closing deals with all countries and operators in the APAC region (Singtel, Starhub, Bharti, Maxis, Globe, CHT, Docomo, SKT, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Telstra, TNZ, etc).
• Led Asia teams on the implementation of processes and policies compliant with GAAP standards.
• Received Cisco Achievement Program Award, December 2000, for major contribution to operations.
Strategy Consultant to Digital Video Group in China

Philips Electronics

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Consumer Electronics industry)

July 1998 — December 1998 (6 months)

Established distribution strategies for Philips Electronics PDA products in China - 1998.
Manufacturing and Investments Programs Analyst, Athens representative office

Dassault Aviation

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Aviation & Aerospace industry)

December 1995 — August 1997 (1 year 9 months)

• Negotiated and managed industrial programs (technology transfer and outsourcing) at Dassault Aviation – based in Greece - 1996-1997.
• Analysis of different investments and counter-trade deals for Dassault Aviation in Greece, UAE and Africa. - 1995
Consultant - Graduate trainee

Accenture

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Management Consulting industry)

May 1995 — August 1995 (4 months)

Validated business model, P&L and balance sheet of new telecom operator in France, and benchmarked the automobile spare parts industry at Accenture – 1995.

Bruno Bensaid’s Education

INSEAD

EMBA , Business Administration , 2009 — 2010 (expected)

Activities and Societies:

Entrepreneurship, PE, VC
East China Normal University

Diploma , Chinese Language and Culture , 1997 — 1998

Activities and Societies:

Class representative.
Top 2 student for the whole year.
Ecole nationale supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace

MSc , Aerospace, Telecommunications , 1992 — 1995

Top 3 student out of 25 in Major Telecommunications

Additional Information

Bruno Bensaid’s Websites:

Bruno Bensaid’s Interests:

Venture capital, angel investment, mobile and fixed telecommunications, internet, convergence, digital marketing and advertising, e-commerce, cleantech, aircraft, wushu (Chinese kickboxing), tennis, football, raising my children, Chinese culture and language, learning new languages....