Yannick Marion IFC 2013: aiming for innovation to transform the industry

From archery to Industry 4.0, Grenoble École de Management graduate Yannick Marion's career path is one of precision, resilience and innovation.

A former top-level athlete, he now applies the same discipline and strategy to reinventing industrial production methods. With a bold vision and unwavering commitment, he intends to turn industry into a lever for sustainable innovation.

From top-level sport to entrepreneurship

At the age of  11, Yannick Marion discovered archery and quickly rose through the ranks to become a top-level athlete at the age of 14 and a member of the French national team. More than a sport, this discipline teaches him extreme concentration, stress management and self-control. Skills that will prove invaluable in his future entrepreneurial career.

Following his studies in strategic marketing at GEM , he developed a passion for industrial transformation. He then decided to transpose the principles of agility and performance he had learned on the racetrack to a sector in the throes of change.

Beelse: a pioneering first venture

In 2015, Yannick launched Beelse, a visionary startup dedicated to additive manufacturing and cloud manufacturing.His ambition: to enable companies to produce parts solely on demand, without unnecessary storage or superfluous transport. This innovative approach quickly caught on in industry, earning the company several awards:

• Inclusion in the Top 100 Challenges startups,
• Labeling by the Solar Impulse Foundation for its ecological impact,
• Adoption by major manufacturers keen to optimize their production.

However, in a difficult post-Covid context, a failed fund-raising drive led Yannick to take the painful decision to close Beelse, in 2023. A major setback, but one that only strengthened his resolve.

ARKTEK: an entrepreneurial transition

Far from giving up, Yannick rebounded in 2024 by founding ARKTEK, an investment holding company designed to structure his activities and support projects with high impact potential.

At the same time, he developed a broader project, directly stemming from his experience with Beelse: to create a unified on-demand production platform, designed to support the ecological and digital transformation of industry.

Its ambition is clear: to transform industry into a driver of responsible innovation, serving local communities and future generations. 

The project, which will officially take the form of a technology startup in the coming months, was born of a strategic alliance between a Franco-American entrepreneur, a software expert, a former Google employee and an international investment banker. Together, they share a common ambition: to rethink industrial production chains in the age of digitalization and sustainability. 

For him, industry is not just about technology, but a human and collective adventure.

With ARKTEK, Yannick Marion continues to set his sights high. And he intends to hit the mark...