Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
Today, we’re joined by Alexandre Mars, the French entrepreneur and philanthropist behind Blisce, one of Europe’s pioneering B Corp-certified venture funds. From bootstrapping his first business at 17 to building and selling multiple startups across Europe and the US, Alexandre has seen both sides of the entrepreneurial journey — the grind and the freedom.
In this conversation, we explore his evolution from founder to impact investor, the trade-offs between wealth and purpose, the challenge of defining “impact” in venture capital, and why Europe’s next tech era will depend on bridging public policy, capital, and purpose.
🎯 This Episode’s Themes
From serial founder to purpose-driven VC
Freedom, discipline, and the real cost of entrepreneurship
Defining “impact” beyond ESG checkboxes
The family office origins of Blisce and its transatlantic playbook
Europe vs. the US: culture, failure, and ambition
The new wave of tech sovereignty — and why it matters
Why investors must step into the policy conversation
🎧 Here’s What’s Covered:
00:19 | Welcome & Origin Story - From a 17-year-old entrepreneur to serial founder and philanthropist
02:37 | Freedom Redefined - What “no boss” really means when clients become your new one
05:44 | Sacrifice & Grind - Why success without discipline doesn’t exist
08:12 | From Founder to Investor - The transition from building to backing
11:03 | Birth of Blisce - From family office to impact VC
13:32 | Series A to B Sweet Spot - Why Blisce focuses on post-revenue scale-ups
15:08 | Returns & Responsibility - Outperforming funds while doing good
17:21 | The Problem with Defining Impact - Why dogma kills nuance
21:05 | Europe vs. US - Risk, failure, and ambition across cultures
25:47 | The Role of Tech in Society - Investing with purpose, not just profit
28:19 | Sovereignty & Scale - Europe’s AI and data independence moment
31:02 | Policy & Venture - Why investors can’t stay silent in the public debate
34:29 | Paris as a Rising Hub - Why France is building something real this time
You can watch the episode here, or add it to your queue on Apple or Spotify 🎧 (chapters for easy navigation available on both).
✍️ Show Notes
Freedom: The Illusion and the Evolution
Alexandre started his first venture at 17, driven by two things: a need for money and a love of freedom.
“I didn’t want a boss,” he laughs. “Then I realized clients are worse — because they all think they’re your boss.”
That lesson defined his approach to business: success isn’t luck, it’s grind and sacrifice. True freedom, he says, is not the absence of work, but the ability to pursue what gives you purpose.
“At 17, freedom meant no boss. At 40, it means doing something useful for others.” — Alexandre Mars
From Family Office to Blisce: A Venture Built on Values
After selling several startups and moving to New York, Alexander began investing his own capital - first as a family office, then as a structured fund.
Blisce was born from a desire to invest in technology that improves lives, not just in pitch decks that sound good. Today, it leads and co-leads Series A and B rounds in the US and Europe, with a focus on companies that pair scalability with societal value.
“If we want impact to matter, we have to outperform. Otherwise, it stays a side pocket.” — Alexandre Mars
Impact Without Dogma
Alexandre’s take on impact investing is pragmatic. He refuses to get caught in ESG box-ticking or ideological purity tests.
For him, Spotify is as much an impact story as Too Good To Go or Headspace — because democratizing music and access is also social progress.
“Ask ten people what impact means — you’ll get ten answers. What matters is the founder’s intent and execution.”
Europe vs. the US: Two Worlds, One Ambition
Having lived and built in both ecosystems, Alexandre sees the cultural gap clearly.
In the US, failure is a badge. In Europe, it’s a scar.
He’s bullish, though, on the shift he sees among young European founders — more ambition, more clarity of purpose, less fear.
“If you say you don’t dream of succeeding in the US, you’re lying to yourself. But you can now dream big from Europe.”
Tech Sovereignty & the European Bet
From AI to cloud infrastructure, Alexandre believes Europe’s next decade depends on building its own backbone. He’s backed companies like Stockholm’s Evoc, working on European hyperscale cloud, and praises Mistral as proof that world-class AI can come from Paris.
“If you’re in defense or healthcare, do you really want your data in someone else’s hands?”
Still, he warns against isolationism:
“We can’t live in a bubble. The goal is European strength, not European walls.”
Investors in Policy: The Missing Voice
Alexandre argues that founders are too busy to shape policy and investors must fill that void.
He spends increasing time with policymakers to ensure tech is seen as a force for good, not just a tax target.
“If we don’t join the public debate, others will write the narrative for us and we might not like it.”
💡 Investor Takeaway
Alexandre Mars embodies the shift from founder capitalism to purpose capitalism: proving that discipline, impact, and outperformance are not mutually exclusive.
In an era where Europe is redefining its tech sovereignty and societal goals, Mars’ Blisce sits at the intersection of values and venture, not as charity, but as a competitive edge.
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