Francois Gerard

Francois Gerard is the founder of Helpper and is based in Antwerp. He founded Helpper in February 2017 and served as its chief executive until May 2022, since when he has sat on its board. He has been managing director of Incite since August 2014, founded Leap Factory in February 2023, and co-founded Studio 55 in February 2024.

Before founding Helpper, Gerard was client director at Bagaar from September 2014 to April 2016. He worked as a project manager at Empact from September 2009 to August 2014, and began his career as a management consultant at Accenture, where he worked from December 2005 to April 2009.

Gerard studied applied economics at the University of Antwerp, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 2002, and completed a master's degree in the same field at KU Leuven in 2004. He then took a master's degree in international business administration at the Escuela de Administracion de Empresas, and followed an executive programme in retail and distribution management at Solvay Business School from 2012 to 2013.