Francois Fc

Francois is an innovation director, today working at Merck as Technology and Innovation lead, leading the advanced drug delivery platform.

He coached several teams to derisk ideas following different innovation frameworks. He has done so at Nestlé, for project PangaeaX (to support youth to save the Ocean with the explorer Mike Horn), for Activation 2022 at HUB Neuchâtel, and been engaged in various startup Schools or accelerators (Genilem – YCombinator – Innosuisse).

François drives innovation initiatives and draws 15 years of experience in various environments, -first as a scientist, then as a project manager, and also as an entrepreneur as he designed “Ginger”, a startup concept, aiming to deliver surprise experiences for busy established couples. He also created a podcast about innovation and entrepreneurship inviting several key actors in the field to discuss critical topics.

He helps teams create the future, grow leadership, and overcome blind spots of companies to build impact-driven innovation. He uses a broad range of innovation frameworks that he used throughout the years such as Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Strategyzer’s toolbox, Effectuation, Concept-Knowledge or UX Design.

François received a Ph.D. and Master’s Degree in Food Science and holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

François Capel started working for Merck in 2020.

He speaks French and English.

As a scientist, I started my career in R&D in Fine fragrance (IFF), Food industry (CPW) for 10 years where I developed my skills in project management and innovation management. I then created a startup on my own for one year before going back to corporate as Technology and Innovation lead (Merck group). I have a lot of side activities linked to innovation such as a coach or a startup judge for different structures (mass challenge | Hub Neuchâtel | PangaeaX…) as well as being a podcast host on the topic of innovation and entrepreneurship.

I have an academic background in Food Science (MSc, Ph.D., and post-doctoral position). Since then I have developed myself in the field of project management (PMP) and innovation (CK methodology, Effectuation, UX Design) and entrepreneurship (MBA from Power MBA).