Alexandre Mars

Alexandre Mars began his career as an entrepreneur at the age of seventeen. Over the course of years of tireless work launching and developing successful startups, he sold two of his companies to Publicis and BlackBerry. Nevertheless, creating tech ventures was never his end goal. His entrepreneurial successes afforded him the financial security to fuel the much larger social ambitions he had harbored since his youth: to be of use to society. That’s why Alexandre decided to leverage his entrepreneurial skills, network, knowledge, wealth, and influence to scale his impact and contribute to a more just and fair society. To foster that mission, he first created Epic, a global foundation that helps empower and protect children, youth, and our planet by bridging the gap between impactful nonprofits and individuals and businesses seeking to enact positive change. In 2019, the Harvard Kennedy School published a case study on Epic, highlighting its innovative new model for social impact. A firm believer that the private sector also has a crucial role in making our society more just and sustainable, Mars founded blisce/, a leading B Corp investment firm committed to investing differently by reconciling economic, social, and environmental performance. Since its inception, blisce/ has invested in companies such as Spotify, Headspace, Pinterest or Too Good To Go. True to his commitment to social justice, Alexandre also founded INFINITE, a social EdTech that supports students from underprivileged backgrounds in their access to the world’s most renowned schools and universities and in their first steps into the professional world, through an innovative student loan offer. INFINITE’s mission is to encourage the success of talented young people in order to contribute to the creation of a new generation of leaders, more representative of the richness of our society. Mars’ passion for sports and his commitment to greater social justice also led him to become an Ambassador and Board member of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He is actively contributing to the challenge of ensuring the social legacy of this unique event, beyond the competition itself. He is also the host of the podcast PAUSE, in which he invites artists, business leaders, writers, entrepreneurs, athletes, and activists to share the secrets behind their professional and personal journeys. Mars is the author of Giving: Purpose is the New Currency (HarperOne/HarperCollins, 2019), and Mission Possible: How to Build a Business for Our Times (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2022), from which he has developed a masterclass. Mars has been named a Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian award order, a “Top 50 Philanthropist of The Year” (Town & Country), one of “The 50 Most Influential French People” (Vanity Fair). He practices krav-maga and long-distance running and has completed the Paris and New York marathons. He is married, has four children, and enjoys traveling the world with his family.