Maëlle Gavet (born May 22, 1978) is a French businesswoman, author, and entrepreneur.

Birth and education

Gavet was born in the Paris region of

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

, France in a “lower middle class” home. She started her first business organizing children's birthday parties in the Paris suburbs when she was 16. She studied Russian language in school in order to increase her chance to get into an elite college. In 2000 she graduated from

the Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. ** Sorbonne Chapel *The University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) **Its components/successor ...

, in 2002, from the

Institut d'Etudes politiques de Paris An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, and in 2003, from the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lettres et Sciences humaines. Gavet speaks French, Russian and English.

Career

After college, Gavet joined the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

and worked there from 2003 to 2009. She left there as a principal, having lived in France, UK, India and South Africa. In 2009, Gavet joined OZON, "The Amazon.com of Russia," as Sales and Marketing Director. She was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of OZON Holdings in July 2011. Gavet led the company through two rounds of funding, 2011 ($100 Million) and 2014 ($150 Million). In February 2012 Gavet led OZON to acquire Sapato.ru, Russia's online shoe and accessory retailer. In May 2014, OZON acquired a stake in the Russian eBook distribution platform, LitRes.ru. Gavet then joined

The Priceline Group Booking Holdings Inc. is an American travel technology company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and based in Norwalk, Connecticut, that owns and operates several travel fare aggregators and travel fare metasearch engines inclu ...

in June 2015 as executive vice president of Global Operations. In January 2017, following the abrupt departure of CEO Darren Houston, Gavet joined Compass, Inc. as COO. In September 2019, Gavet publicly announced she would leave Compass, Inc. in October 2019. In 2020, Gavet wrote the book, Trampled by Unicorns, about technology and empathy. She was also raising money from investors to buy a technology company. In January of 2021, Gavet became CEO and a board member at Techstars. On May 22nd, 2024, Maëlle Gavet announced her departure from Techstars.

Mentions

Gavet entered into several international ratings, including one called "The world’s most powerful women — Women to watch", made by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''. She also took 10th place out of 100 in a list of "Most creative people in business" by ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

'' and 26th place in rating 40 under 40 by Fortune. She has been ranked as one of the top 100 French young leaders by Le Figaro and Choiseul 100: * In 2014 she was ranked #96 * In 2015 she was ranked #39 * In 2016 she was ranked #4 In 2014 she was listed fifth among Times Magazine's List of The Top 25 Female Techpreneurs. In 2015 she was listed as one of 50 most powerful tech women in Europe by Inspiring 50 and the European Commission. In 2016 she was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.YGL 2016
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References

External links

* * * Max Chafkin
Is this Jeff Bezos of Russia? ''Fast Company''
* Maelle Gavet
Investors should give Russia a second look. CNN
* Maelle Gave
Russian ecommerce is reaching a tipping point. It’s time that Europe and the US took note. The Next Web
* Forbes Most Powerful Women Europe
Russia, The Inside Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavet, Maelle 1978 births Living people Businesspeople from Boulogne-Billancourt French chief operating officers French women chief executives Women corporate executives Women corporate directors ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni Sciences Po alumni