Seeding entrepreneurship in emerging countries

“To younger women, I say: never underestimate your own abilities. To future female entrepreneurs? Do something that matters to you with people you respect, who share your same values.”

Alisée de Tonnac is co-CEO and co-founder of Seedstars, a global organization that creates impact in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. Born in France and raised in Switzerland, she graduated first from HEC in Lausanne and then from Bocconi with a Master’s in International Management in 2010. She says: “I’ve always been a good student: good grades, always diligent. I chose Economics because it had an international slant.” Today she’s among the most influential women in the tech sector. It’s no coincidence that she was named a Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneur, and an Innovation Fellow by Wired UK.  She explains that she has realized her dream of creating something that has a positive impact on the world.

She describes her transition from employee to starter-upper as follows: “I found my first job through Bocconi at L’Oréal in Milan. But I quickly realized that it was not my environment or my culture. I stayed there for two years, but I felt like a number in a big multinational and I knew I wasn’t building anything that was really mine. So, thanks to the fact that I met the founders of Seedstars at university, I joined them. I dropping everything and entered the startup world at the age of 24. It helped that I had no real responsibility, I didn’t have my three children yet, plus my parents supported me,” she adds.

So de Tonnac traveled the world. With the idea that talent is everywhere but resources are not, Seedstars focuses on emerging countries: from across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. What started as a pitch competition back in 2013 has since grown into a powerhouse organization that can help develop and support ecosystems in frontier markets through entrepreneurial programs, startup investments, coding academies, and backing for fund managers. The company marked its tenth anniversary in 2023 with a decade milestone of $100 million in impact funds catalyzed in emerging markets.

Now de Tonnac coordinated numerous teams, and tells us that she has developed a leadership style that focuses on the concept of diversity and transparency. “There are now nearly 100 collaborators in the organization. We choose people with different backgrounds, skills and ideas because that’s the only way to innovate sustainably. It has also helped me so much to join the boards of other companies through our investments and support activities. It is an experience that has broadened my horizons tremendously.”

As for being one of the few women founders, she says: “I have never experienced being a woman as a disadvantage, but becoming a mother made me realize the biases linked to the world of women and the tendency of men and women to underestimate their abilities.” But as she says: “We can do it. I always tell myself that you only have one life to live. You can’t separate who you are at work and who you are in your family. It’s not an easy fit and I can’t say I have the perfect recipe. But, for example, I take my three children with me to conferences. I feel I have a responsibility to show everyone that it’s possible.”