Back

Entrepreneurship, ecological transition, and industrial innovation — Yvan DE LA BAUME, IÉSEG alumnus and winner of the 2025 IÉSEG Entrepreneur Award, shares his journey with Virvolt, the company he joined as a partner in 2020. By converting traditional bikes into electric ones, Virvolt aims to make sustainable mobility more local, more affordable, and more accessible.

Can you tell us about Virvolt and its main mission?

Virvolt was founded in 2019. I joined the adventure a bit later, in 2020. Initially, the idea was to open physical shops where people could convert their regular bikes into electric ones. But over time, the project evolved. We shifted from a retail-focused model to an industrial one. Today, we design and manufacture our own electric bike motors and operate in two main areas: electrification kits for existing bikes, and support for e-bike manufacturers.

What made you want to join the project?

I’d wanted to start a business for a while. Before Virvolt, I worked in a completely different sector — foodtech — in two corporate roles. I was looking for an entrepreneurial project that had a real purpose, and I’ve always been interested in mobility issues.

I met Romain, the founder, kin of by chance, and we immediately clicked. That’s how I joined the venture. Rémi came on board a little later. Each of us has his own focus: Romain oversees finance, Rémi handles operations and product development, and I manage sales and marketing.

What’s Virvolt’s vision?

We observed that the electric bike industry is heading in the wrong direction: ultra-connected products, often imported from far away, and nearly impossible to repair — which goes against everything a bike should be: simple, accessible, and fixable.

Our ambition is to become a motor manufacturer that breaks from that model. We design motors that are easy to repair, affordable, and built with interchangeable parts. Most importantly, we manufacture them in France — at Flins, in a former Renault factory. All our products are designed to be durable and repairable.

We provide manuals, spare parts catalogs, and we’re currently applying for the Longtime label, which certifies product repairability. Through our kits, we’re also giving a second life to bikes that might otherwise be scrapped — it’s a true circular approach.

How does it work, in practice?

We design all our products in-house. Then we source parts, as much as possible from France and Europe. When we can’t produce locally, we source from Asia — but we’re gradually working toward full relocation.

Assembly is done in France: our mid-drive motors are assembled in Flins, and our hub motors in Lyon. From there, the products are shipped either to bike manufacturers or to our own offices, where we prepare the kits for our retail partners.

We sell exclusively through professionals. However, individuals can buy a kit via our website — they’ll just need to choose a certified retail partner for the installation. This ensures quality assembly. Our kits are available in about a dozen stores in Paris and around Lille, and we also work with French brands like Jean Fourche (based in Bordeaux) and Shwette Bicyclette (based in Toulouse).

You won the IÉSEG Entrepreneur Award this year. How will that help you?

The award came with €8,000 in funding, which we’re using to completely rebuild our website. Right now, the site only highlights our original B2C offering — the electrification kits — but we’ve also developed a B2B line to support manufacturers in launching their own electric bike ranges.

What have been the biggest challenges at Virvolt?

Our biggest challenge was finding the right positioning. Virvolt went through several pivots. We started out 100% B2C with our own shop, then opened five more. After that, we built a partner network — today, we have over 400 partners across France.

Eventually, we started designing and distributing our own motors. It required a lot of agility and adaptability, but we’ve now found where we bring the most value — and that’s where we’re focusing our growth.

How did your studies at IÉSEG help you as an entrepreneur?

IÉSEG is a generalist business school, so it gave me solid foundations in marketing, sales, management, and finance. As an entrepreneur, you have to juggle every aspect of a business — having that well-rounded background was a real asset.