MilliDrop was created following the discovery of microfluidic technologies by its cofounders in the USA. In order to produce a fully-automated system for microorganism culture and analyzing, the MilliDrop team came back to millimetre, drop-based level. MilliDrop’s technology at the Laboratory of Colloids and Dispersed Materials of the Paris School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry (ESPCI). Today, MilliDrop machines are deployed in several research labs, such as the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the ESPCI and ENS in Paris and Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
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Yamina Ghomchi – Chief Executive Officer
Yamina Ghomchi has an engineering degree from Telecom Physique Strasbourg and a PhD in Physics from UPMC, Paris. After completing her thesis at the Observatory of Paris, she worked for 4 years in the opto-electronics industry before moving into the world of start-ups. Previously, Yamina Ghomchi was head of the Technology and Innovation department that she created at Genomic Vision. Her role was to manage the team responsible for designing the successive versions of the technological platform used in conducting genetic diagnostic tests. Passionate about innovation and management of multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams, Yamina completed her education with an Executive MBA at INSEAD before joining MilliDrop.
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Laurent Boitard – Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder
Laurent Boitard graduated from the ESCPI ParisTech School of Engineering. After a PhD at Université Denis Diderot, he became interested in millifluidic technologies while research assistant at Raindance Technologies in the United States. There he demonstrated how these technologies could be applied in microbiology. He then created a model automating microorganism culture and analysis in the Laboratory of Colloids and Divided Materials at the ESPCI in Paris. Afterword, he developed the technology in the incubator at the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Institute (IPGG). After securing the intellectual property, he focused on industrializing the production of these fully automated instrument.
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Denis Cottinet – Chief scientific officer & co-founder
Denis Cottinet graduated from the ESPCI ParisTech School of Engineering. He then completed a PhD at Université Pierre et Marie Curie. In the Laboratory of Colloids and Divided Materials, he worked on demonstrating the potential for millifluidics in analyzing diversity within bacterial populations. He joined MilliDrop’s senior management in December 2015.
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Jairo Garnica – Chief Technology Officer & co-founder
Jairo Garnica completed a PhD at the University of South Australia. Before joining MilliDrop, he was responsible for the development of microorganism screening platforms in the Laboratory of Colloids and Divided Materials for five years. He is the co-inventor of three of the patents licensed by MilliDrop.
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Delphine Bénicourt – Software & Development Director
Delphine Bénicourt studied Fundamental & Applied Computer Science at Marne la Vallée University and has more than 15 years of experience in project development, project management and software architecture, particularly in highly complex embedded technologies. She brings her expertise in protocol development and follow-up, from the conception of a product to its entry onto the market. She has worked notably in the aeronautics, military and medical device industries.
Board
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Jérôme Bibette – Chairman & co-founder
Jérôme Bibette is Professor at Paris ESPCI and Director of both the Laboratory of Colloids and Divided Materials and Chemistry Biology Innovation Institute. He has written over 130 peer-reviewed articles, 55 patents and has co-founded 7 companies: MilliDrop, Ademtech, Raindance Technologies, Capsum, HiFIBio, Biomillenia and Calyxia.
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Jean-Marc Chermette
Jean Marc Chermette is a Doctor of Pharmacy graduated from Claude Bernard University in Lyon, and received two executive MBA from INSEAD and EMLYON Business School. He was successively VP Sales in major company of the health industry like Biomérieux, BioRad and Becton Dickinson where he served as Commercial Director for the Diagnostics Division. Since 2017, he is the CEO of Sebia, the world’s provider of equipment and reagents for clinical protein electrophoresis, in testing and in vitro diagnostic.
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Philippe Tramoy
After a double degree in biochemistry and immunology and genetics from Bourgogne University, he graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon. From the Company Administration Institute of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne (Finances Master’s Degree) and from HEC Paris (Intelli¬gence Marketing Master’s Degree). Recognized expert in the biotechnology sector, he has worked for Rhodia Corporate, Rhodia Chirex and Rhodia Pharma Solutions. In 2004, he founded CBDMT, a market & business intelligence company. Since 2013, he has been working as Investment Director for Seventure Partners’ Quadrivium 1 Seed Fund.
