Julien Papon

Biography:

Julien Papon brings extensive corporate executive experience in automotive manufacturing and deep entrepreneurial insights into his adjunct faculty roles. He founded luxury cycling brand Vitess, and more recently VitessX, a unique private community of entrepreneurs, business owners & corporate leaders. Outside of IBU, Julien is also teaching a keystone course on Technology Entrepreneurship at the Schulich School of Business in partnership with the Lassonde School of Engineering (York University). Julien was a cycling columnist for the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail; he was on the board of directors of the Ontario Cycling Association and has been involved with various other not-for-profit organizations. Prior to Vitess, Julien was Managing Director at Globanex Corporation. He advised clients on Foreign Direct Investments & international technology transfers. He also founded Nexxit Capital, a specialty boutique focusing on deal origination & advisory work for LPs in the Secondaries Market. Before that, Julien was COO at an advanced manufacturing firm whose clients included Fortune 100 companies.

Before being recruited to grow that business, he was heading a manufacturing engineering division at a leading Tier1 automotive supplier. His team, located throughout NAFTA & Europe, successful launched programs for BMW, Audi, GM, Ford, Honda & FCA. His direct responsibilities covered strategic planning, program management, product Design for Manufacturing, manufacturing assets procurement, manufacturing engineering & production readiness. His team invested well over $100M in CapEx. He is both French & Canadian. He is an avid cyclist and runner. He holds an M. Sc. in Mechanical & Electro-Mechanical Engineering & an M. Sc. in Management of Industrial Systems from ENISE and Ecole Centrale in France, and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business & the Kellogg School of Management. He is a licensed P. Eng. in Ontario.