Undertake : meet Franck Gayraud (IENAC93), CEO of ARCURE

"Take a short break with ENAC Alumni summer issue and discover articles from our previous mag"

Can you talk about you and your company ?

I am Franck Gayraud. I am 43-year old with 20 years of professional experience. I have 3 different backgrounds : music conservatory, ENAC and MBA. My career started in space and aeronautics within large groups which taught me a lot. In 2009, I started my entrepreneurship adventure with my associate. We created Arcure, an innovative industrial company specialized in industrial sensors and equipment for the prevention of pedestrian-vehicle collisions. Our company employs today 20 persons. It sales its products in 16 countries and realizes a financial turnover of about 3M€. Our annual increase has been near 65% since several fiscal years.

How did you get the idea of your company ?

The idea was born through discussions with different contacts within the industry (our first customers) and in research labs. It was needed to find an efficient solution to protect pedestrians around heavy plant machinery and the CEA had an image processing technology available to do this. We tried to develop our solution with our first customers in order to meet their requirements. There was an opportunity but it was hard to identify and many directions possible when we started.

You are working today in a different sector than the one you learnt at the ENAC. Can you explain how Arcure benefits from your aeronautical experience ?

My engineering background and my aeronautical experience were decisive in our ability to set up a strong industrial organization and a quality system to make a reliable product. It was at Arianespace company where I learnt these significant words: quality and system. This initial field training of the engineering jobs with experienced people never left me.  We may not have the agility and creativity of Google’s employees, but our products have gained a reputation of robustness and performance at the world’s best level.

What was the importance of your contact network during the creation of your business ?

I am sorry to say this : my network has been quite useless so far. ENAC Alumni network is very oriented to a different industry from mine and it has a few entrepreneurs. With the INSEAD network, I received few advices about starting company. Only my professional network was used to get in contact with subcontractors or partners. It is certain that all business creators in France go through similar steps and an ENAC Alumni entrepreneur network would be very useful to provide advice to those who wish to get into it.

How does ENAC Alumni can help you ? And what could you bring to the association ?

The purpose of ENAC Alumni is to federate networks and in particular an entrepreneur one to share experience and expertise. I participated during several years in animating and managing ENAC Alumni (I was secretary and treasurer). Also, I facilitated business training courses for alumni. I am always ready to help new entrepreneurs in starting their own projects.

Do you have any message to our Alumni who wish to get into the entrepreneurship adventure ?

Go for it ! I have nothing better to tell them. Entrepreneurship is a great adventure which offers incredible opportunities for self-fulfillment, taking responsibilities while giving freedom and motivation difficult to meet in large groups. I have enjoyed working in large firms, but it has been 7 years since I am an entrepreneur without a day loosing motivation: it would probably never happen if I stayed an employee.

Edit: this article is from December 2016. Today, Arcure is listed on the stock exchange and has established in the United States. The company also plans to conquer China and Japan.

Find the whole file "They have undertaken... and you ?" in the Mag#18 of ENAC Alumni