Bertrand Distinguin

Bertrand Distinguin is a Managing Partner and one of the co-managing directors of GO Capital, a Rennes-based seed and venture capital management company operating since 2003 across Western France. He brings roughly 16 years of experience in seed and venture capital, layered on top of a substantial industrial operating career that includes about five years working internationally across Asia and the United States.

He began his career at Mitsubishi Electric, where he set up a microelectronics component manufacturing unit. He then joined MPO, the world's leading manufacturer of optical disks, where he launched and managed the group's Asian subsidiary before returning to run the French plant and coordinate industrial development for the American subsidiaries. This operator background — building and running industrial businesses across continents — is a defining feature of how he approaches deep-tech and hardware investing.

Distinguin subsequently moved into venture capital by managing "Bretagne Jeunes Entreprises," where he completed more than 30 investments in innovative Breton companies, before helping build GO Capital into one of the leading technology investors in the region. He now serves as one of the firm's three co-managing directors alongside Aude-Claire Kermarrec (Dewailly) and Jérôme Gueret.

He holds an engineering degree from SUPÉLEC (one of France's top engineering grandes écoles) and a DESS (postgraduate degree) in Corporate Finance from Rennes 1 University — a combination of technical and financial training that maps directly onto GO Capital's deep-tech, science-heavy portfolio.

• Stage: Seed and early-stage venture; GO Capital positions itself as an amorçage (seed) and venture investor that leads and supports rounds and reinvests through a company's growth.
• Sectors: Five priority verticals — health/medtech, digital, cleantech and energy transition, industry (including Industry 5.0), and the marine economy.
• Thesis: "Sustainable innovation at the heart of territories" — GO Capital backs "visionary entrepreneurs who are developing breakthrough technologies" while promoting "sustainable solutions in our territories."
• What makes him say yes: A strong scientific/technological edge, credible entrepreneurs, and defensible deep-tech IP — reflecting his own engineering-plus-finance background and industrial operating career.
• Ambition: In a 2025 interview he framed GO Capital's strategic goal as dedicating "1 billion euros to private equity," signaling a push to scale the firm's assets and check-writing capacity.
• Hands-on support: He describes the firm's role as to "inform, guide and support" founders in their decision-making, positioning GO Capital as an active, supportive lead rather than a passive check.