This couple, both graduates from KEDGE, sold their company for 45 million dollars.

We have already said this in previous articles: great love stories and businesses are born every year in the classrooms at KEDGE Business School. Rachel Delacour and Nicolas Raspal's (both ESC alumni, class of 2013) adventure combines two wonderful stories. 

It is no coincidence that the Figaro Economie published a long article about them just a couple of weeks ago: the company they created together, BIME Analytics, is a huge success! The company, which they created in 2009, provides a business intelligence software solution. After growing the company for 6 years, they've just sold it for 45 million dollars to Zendesk, a company in California.  

If you want to know how it all started out for this unconventional duo, we have to go back to the halls of KEDGE Business School in Marseille. After their studies, ESC class of 2003, Nicolas decided to pursue a degree in engineering, whereas Rachel entered the workforce, as Head of Controlling for Bata, the shoe brand. It was only after Nicolas entered the workforce and was hired as Business Intelligence Manager for the Bon Marché, that they came up with the idea for BIME. 

"We realised that we shared similar frustrations in our jobs. From a user standpoint on my end, and from a technical viewpoint for Nicolas. Creating your own company can be a crazy idea, but in our case, we complement each other both professionally and personally, which is really the key to our success." Rachel explains, looking back. 

Six years after creating the company, the couple now have two children, and they decided to accept a take over bid for 45 million dollars, as well as shares for their employees. Even though they sold their company, the two partners are still employed by Zendesk: Rachel is the General Director for Zendesk Explore, whereas Nicolas is the Director for Analytical Technology. 

Rachel is still very attached to the school, where she met her partner and their story began, and will also be a member of the Strategic Comity for Entrepreneurship at the Daniel Carasso KEDGE Accelerator, which will be inaugurated on March 23rd in Marseille.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE ON LE FIGARO

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