Jean Michel Karam
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Jean Michel Karam
Jean Michel Karam was born November 14, 1969 in Jdeideh, Lebannon. This Franco-Lebanese engineer and inventor is primarily an entrepreneur in the field of microelectronics, and most recently in the cosmetics industry.
Education
Arriving in France in 1990, he received an Electrical Engineering degree in 1993 from the Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Paris (ESIEE-Paris) and a Master’s degree in Microelectronics from the Université de Paris VII. In 1996, he received a PhD in Microelectronics from the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG).
Career
In 1994, he began his career as a research engineer at the TIMA-CM (Techniques de l'Informatique et de la Micro-électronique pour l'Architecture Informatique) laboratory in Grenoble, France. This Research & Development center placed under joint guardianship with the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the INPG allowed him to make his first weapons as the Research Director headingup a team of researchers.
Focused on the design and fabrication methods of MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), his research team grew rapidly. Three years after its creation, itregrouped 35 researchers and became a renowned European reference in MEMS research.
In November 1997, Jean Michel Karam founded his first company, MEMSCAP, a supplier of innovative products based on MEMS technology. During its first two years, Jean Michel Karam raised more than 13 million euros from venture capitalists in order to develop his company and finance his research programs.
On March 2, 2001, MEMSCAP had its IPO, going public on the Eurolist C of the NYSE-Euronext, Paris (code ISIN: FR0010298620-MEMS), raising 101 million euros (140 million US dollars), on a basis of 430 million euros of market capitalization. This enabled Jean Michel Karam to establish his company as a leading player in the market for high added-value MEMS.
In 2002, Jean Michel Karam initiated research on applied technology in dermatology and skincare within INTUISKIN, at that time a fully owned subsidiary of his MEMSCAP Group. In 2010, in association with a group of investors and key figures in the cosmetics and luxury world, he decided to spin-off INTUISKIN from MEMSCAP. In this context, he launched the skincare brand IOMA, born from the collaboration between advanced-technology experts and dermatology and cosmetics specialists, of which the previous president of Thierry Mugler, Véra Strubi, presently a member of the board of directors[1]. Today, Jean Michel Karam is Chairman and CEO of both MEMSCAP and INTUISKIN/IOMA.
Additionally, Jean Michel Karam is a Business Angel investing in start-ups specializing in advanced technology and works as a consultant for technology companies and investors. He also continues to be involved in innovation and research – he currently owns more than 50 patents – as well as contributing to numerous scientific and economic publications.
MEMSCAP
MEMSCAP is the European leader of MEMS and is a supplier of innovation solutions based on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). The leading supplier of micro-electronic systems, a large portion of MEMSCAP sales are from the export market.
To date, MEMSCAP has acquired 6 companies: one in Norway (2002), one in the United States (2002), three in France (2003, 2005 and 2007) and one in Israel (2003)[2].
Today, MEMSCAP has transitioned from software design for producing microsystems to designing the microsystems themselves. The focus of MEMSCAP centers on three principal acitivities[3]:
- Aeronautics : more than 80 % of airplanes are equipped with its pressure sensors.
- Optical communications : sale of fiber optics devices, such as variable optical attenuators. The company controls 70% of the world market for variable optical attenuators.
- Medical and biomedical: its blood pressure sensors equip intensive care and surgery rooms as well as the artificial heart made by the French company CARMAT, who made a remarkable debut on the stock market.Furthermore, the MEMSCAP devices areintegrated in a pill containing mini-cameras and revolutionizing colonoscopies, enabling the detection of colon cancer without a surgical procedure[4].
INTUISKIN
Today, INTUISKIN is a world leader in dedicated skincare technologies[5]. Created in 2002 by Jean Michel Karam, INTUISKIN is a company dedicated to applied research in technology, science, dermatology and skincare.
IOMA
Although research associated to IOMA started in 2002, the commercial launch of IOMA brand occured in 2010. The brand is born of a unique collaboration between experts in advanced technology, led by Jean Michel Karam, and specialists in dermatology and skincare.
Today, IOMA is distributed in more than 500 points of sale in France, including the Marionnaud and Beauty Success retail networks. In the USA, IOMA is distributed at Saks Fifth Avenue and in the UK, IOMA is at Harrods. IOMA is currently expanding its distribution to all Europe and Asia. The brand is currently present in Spain, Austria and Ukraine.
Unprecedented, in the beauty industry, IOMA applies the most advanced imaging and probe-based techniques, powered by MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology, combined with targeted and customized skincare regimens, for an entirely customizable treatment program with quantifiable, optimized results.
A breakthrough in skincare, IOMA uses MEMS-based technology to analyze skin below the surface, and prescribe a completely customized skincare regimen in a way never possible before. An entirely holistic and integrated approach to skincare, the IOMA devices will also be able to track and measure results over time, truly earning the moniker "Evidence Based Skincare".
Awards
Jean Michel Karam and his company have won over 10 international awards including :
- U.S. Commercial Service (USCS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce – Award of Excellence for international commercial development (2012)
- SEMICON MicroNanoSystems Innovation Award (2009)
- European Semiconductor/Wacker Siltronics Award for best European start-up company (2001)
- Deloitte &Touche Technology “Fast 50” First Prize for Rhone-Alps region, France (2001 and 2002)
- Euronext Special Prize for “First listed company in Rhone-Alpes Region” (2002)
- AGEFI Grand Prize of Venture Capitalist (2002)
- The French Stock-IT Award for the company with the highest growth (2001 and 2002)
Association LEYLA
In 2007 in Bernin, France, Jean Michel Karam founded the LEYLA Charity, named for his mother who passed away in 1995, at age 48, from amylose, a rare and orphan disease.
The purpose of this foundation is to fight against rare or neglected diseases and, according to its founder, "spare other families this same kind of suffering".
Their areas of interventions are many, including scientific education and training, and research. His scientific committee is responsible for awarding grants for the theses and doctorates dedicated to studying these types of diseases, and following the progress of these grantees.
The scientific and ethical committees bring together eminent professionals such as Pr. Christian Massot, chief of internal medicine at CHU in Grenoble and Marcel Foulon, President of the Appeal Court of Paris.
