Disruptive Innovation And Leadership: The Adrenaline Of The Faktory


The Faktory is a dream come true of an entrepreneur who’s mission is to realize the dreams of other entrepreneurs, inventors and creators. Pierre L’Hoest, founder of EVS – a Belgian company known all over the world for its TV slow motion technology – is the founder and president of this future-oriented company. “I continue what has always fascinated me: contributing to the emergence of innovative products, be inspiring and bring them to a higher level than one could imagine.”
For the daily management, he can rely on Simon Alexandre (General Manager), Yves Joskin (Technological Adviser) and Jean-Pierre Pironnet (Investment and Financial Adviser).

According to statistics, 80% of all start-ups do not reach the age of 3, and 1 new product out of 2 fails to break into the market. Pierre L’Hoest and his team want to challenge the trend by offering entrepreneurs more than an incubator, but a growth accelerator and personal coaching instead.

As an accelerator and private investment fund dedicated to technology start- ups, The Faktory creates and collects business ideas with high potential in niche markets, oriented towards innovations and new technologies. More specifically, in the areas of information and communication technology (ICT) , health, environment and broadcasting. The Faktory, naturally open to the academic world, is aimed at entrepreneurs and owners of disruptive technologies. “Experience shows that becoming a leader in a market with an innovative product is very difficult, but far from impossible. Our goal is to support human ventures likely to launch these innovative products in a successful way, while being in harmony with ethical development,” says Pierre L’Hoest.

This ethical development begins with total respect for each founder of the start-up. A respect for the people, but also for their project. After the selection phase, a financial and HR-support up to € 100,000 per start-up is made available during the acceleration period so that it can emerge. If applicable, this support is followed by a capital injection ranging from € 250,000 to € 2,000,000, and never exceeding a 50% equity stake. The founders of the start-up will also receive experience and advice provided by the team of The Faktory, but also through a network of international experts on which The Faktory relies. Submissions are welcome and can be made directly via www.thefaktory.com.

The Faktory is currently situated in the Business Center of the Liège Airport. By 2015, the company will move to its own offices, where it will welcome its projects on a site measuring about 2,000 m2 in the city center of Liège. The building, introducing the architecture of tomorrow, will combine spaces dedicated to start-ups, biodiversity areas, urban agriculture and housing. The objective of The Faktory is to provide a place where entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation meet, and draw inspiration from other disciplines in order to launch new technology companies that will be important tomorrow. Simon Alexandre, General Manager: “Wallonia is rich in talent and technological innovations just waiting to be transformed into industrial ventures. Providing guidance, advice and sufficient resources in a completely integrated way, in order to make entrepreneurs save time, that’s the challenge.”

For more information, contact Simon Alexandre (General Manager) at [email protected] or +32479812736.

Pierre L’Hoest
Founder and President of The Faktory

Pierre L’Hoest graduated from the Academy of Architecture in Liege, with specializations in IT, 3D modelling, and video simulation.
Successful serial entrepreneur and businessman, Pierre L’Hoest co-founded in 1994 the first company EVS, located in Liège. EVS Broadcast Equipment SA manufacturing live outside broadcast digital video production systems. In 1998, he successfully launch the IPO of EVS on the Brussels stock exchange.

Pierre has personally designed the remote control panel which became an industry standard still in use for replay and slowmotion. Pierre has been board member and CEO of EVS until September 2011. 
In 1997 he received the OSCAR export price for the international development of EVS. Awarded Manager of the year in 2004 by Trends-Tendance, he received in 2011, the Innovator price from INSEAD for transforming live broadcasting on television and for the persistence of his entrepreneurial drive.

With The Faktory, Pierre L’Hoest from his successful entrepreneurial experience aims to support young skilled entrepreneurs by offering them a new and unique private environment combining acceleration coaching and private equities through his own investment fund. His objective with The Faktory, is to strengthen technology and business creation by combining them with art and human sciences.

Simon Alexandre
EVP General Manager and Partner

Simon is General manager and Partner of The Faktory. From 2008 and 2013, Simon was CEO of CETIC, the Center of Excellence in Information Technology and Communication in Charleroi. He led a team of 50 researchers working in applied research in the ICT industry.

With a master in History (UCL 1999) and Computer sciences (UNAMUR 2001), he is initially specialized in software development methodologies, and since 2008, has been heavily involved in the development of innovative technological projects in e-Health.

His career in the world of applied research led him to work daily with industry on technological innovation projects. Passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, he founded in 2011 CETIC’s first start up CareSquare active in the area of eHealth.

Within The Faktory, from now and in the upcoming years, Simon and his team will closely work with the startups in a business oriented and multi-disciplinary approach in order to develop new successful industrial activities. In close collaboration with the Founder, he will design and lead this unique and innovative entrepreneurial place for high tech startups.

Jean-Pierre Pironnet
Investment and Financial Adviser

Jean-Pierre graduated in medicine at the ULG (1975).
He participated in the creation of EVS alongside P. L’Hoest. He held various positions at EVS (Director, Marketing director and Financial director). In 1998, as EVS Financial director he managed with Pierre L’Hoest the EVS IPO.

In recent years, he became the lead financial and investment advisor of P. L’Hoest, in his various investment projects. In parallel to his activities within EVS, he is shareholder of various corporations in Liège.

Yves Joskin
Technological Adviser and Partner

Yves Joskin graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Liège (Belgium) in 1978.
He founded TDV (Digital Video Techniques), a company that pioneered digital video solutions between 1978 and 1988. TDV introduced the first video mosaic multiplexer used in cable television. In parallel, Yves Joskin held positions of researcher and teacher in several research centers and schools (Centexel, ULg, ISIL). In 1989, he was the technical founder of Euresys, a company that holds an enviable position in the markets of machine vision and digital videosurveillance.

He was responsible for the development of all Euresys’ products, and set up a very efficient engineering team. In 2005, he became CTO of the company and drove its technological orientation until 2012. From its inception to today, Yves Joskin contributed to the strategy of Euresys as a member of the board.

In 2013, he joined the project Faktory of Pierre L’Hoest, as a partner and technological adviser. The mutual trust between Pierre L’Hoest and Yves Joskin dates back to the 80s and 90s, when the latter developed the hardware products in the beginnings of the company EVS.

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