2016 GEM of the year awards ceremony

The GEM Alumni network has announced the 2016 GEM of the Year Awards. The recipients, Antoine Garault, Arnaud de Vergie, Quentin Romet, Nino Zambakhidze and Jean-Philippe Imparato were chosen among the GEM Alumni involved in the development of GEM’s brand. The awards were handed out at the GEM Gala which took place on Saturday, January 28th.

2016 GEM Buzz of the Year

Antoine Garault - GEM MSE 2006 – ESC 2004

France Insectes - Founder and Director 

www.france-insectes.com

Antoine represents the 4th-generation of entrepreneurs from the Garrault family. From his great-grandfather’s slaughterhouse, to selling insects as pet food, to finally using maggots as fishing bait, he never lacked ideas or the talent to carry them out! But what makes Antoine stand out is his ability to drum up enough attention to make his company the talk of the town, including his newest endeavor: anthills …

Press, television – he references his double major at GEM every chance he gets in order to highlight our school. In this way he is one of the most communicative members of our network.

2016 GEM Start-up of the Year

www.homunity.com

Created in September 2014 by Quentin, Arnaud, and Charles, Homunity is a crowdfunding platform that specializes in financing real estate projects, advertising, layout planning, or renovation all completed by professionals. It was IncubaGEM, the school’s incubator program, that helped the start-up get off the ground. Since then, we’ve followed its evolution: in 2016, a dozen projects were financed representing close to 5 Million euros, and the company settled into its offices in Paris. Frenchweb headline “Homunity among the top 5 start ups revolutionizing real estate!” It’s everything we’d hope for them. 

* ESPI : Ecole supérieure des Professions Immobilières

2016 GEM Entrepreneur of the Year

Nino Zambakhidze - GEM MBA 2016

President Georgian Farmers Association
Founder Georgian Buziness Zone

Nino’s beginnings as an entrepreneur date back to 2005. After creating a coffee to-go chain, Nino decided to top off her morning brew with a dash of high-quality fresh milk after a friend bought two cows on a whim. Her business quickly diversified as she worked to resolve each new problem she encountered. She became interested in fodder and livestock while planting orchards and developing cheese and milk production. Founder of the Georgian Business Zone, she also shares her expertise as President of the Georgian Farmers Association. Her goal is to support local Georgian farmers through training, collective sales and distribution, development of agronomics, and the use of new technologies. She has contributed to propositions to change legislation in the agriculture sector, and she is the first Georgian woman to represent “Invest for the Future”, an organization started by Hillary Clinton that strives to unite women through entrepreneurship.
Named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the GEM Alumni in Georgia Club, Nino has demonstrated that the skills she acquired during her MBA program can also be applied to agriculture.

2016 GEM of the Year

Jean-Philippe Imparato - GEM ESC 1988

Chief Executive Officer of the Peugeot brand
Member of the Executive Commitee

Chief Executive Officer of the Peugeot brand and member of the Executive Committee, Jean-Philippe’s career began in 1991 at Peugeot in the Sales Department. As Regional Director, in 1997, his career path takes a turn towards the international. He travelled the world for the PSA Group – South America, Italy, China – for increasingly diversified projects that ranged from studying the organization, to quality control, all the way to supplier relations. In 2013, he became Director of PSA Retail, his promotion to Chief Executive Officer in 2016 attracted press attention and numerous positive reactions across social media platforms.
Consequently, he has showcased our school and become a true ambassador of GEM’s brand.

GEM of the Years Awards Previous recipients