Francois Cornelis

François Cornélis is a veteran Belgian industrialist best known for leading the oil group Petrofina. He holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain). He began his career at Petrofina, and in 1983 became Vice-President of American Petrofina in Dallas. In 1990 he was appointed CEO and Managing Director of Petrofina, and in 1991 additionally Vice-Chairman (a role he shared with figures such as Etienne Davignon). Following the 1999 merger of Total and Petrofina, he became Vice-Chairman of the executive committee of the combined group; from April 2000 until his retirement in December 2011 he served as Vice-President of the Total (TotalFinaElf/Total) executive committee and President of its Chemicals division.

After his corporate career, Cornélis turned to fostering innovation in Belgium's chemical and life sciences sector through essenscia. In 2012 he chaired the first essenscia Innovation Award — the country's flagship industrial-innovation prize — and continues to serve as jury president. In 2013 he created the Innovation Circle, a permanent structure offering startups and SMEs free assistance and mentoring. He then co-created The Innovation Fund sa/nv, launched in February 2015, completing what the fund describes as a "one-stop shop" (Award → Circle → Fund) for innovative companies in chemistry and life sciences.

The Innovation Fund is a public-private vehicle backed by a large roster of industrial partners (including TotalEnergies, Solvay, BASF, Carmeuse, Recticel, Sioen, Soudal, Domo, Ravago, Arkema, Christeyns and Hutchinson) plus financial and academic institutions. It launched with roughly €13M in capital, grew to about €20M by 2016, and expanded to around €35M after a 2019 capital increase. Cornélis chairs both its board and its 18-member Investment Committee.

Beyond the fund, Cornélis has held numerous board and leadership roles, including Chairman of bpost, director positions at Sofina, Delhaize Le Lion and Carmeuse, Chairman of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, briefly CEO of Elia Group (2015), and Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium (RACB) since 2010.

• Invests in innovative startups and SMEs in chemistry and life sciences, spanning material science, biosciences, process technology, healthcare, cosmetology and recycling/cleantech.
• Backs projects "from early stage on, but after academic research and development has been proven and protected" — i.e., past pure research risk, with IP in place.
• Positions itself as smart, connected capital: alongside money, it offers access to a network of major industrial partners, expertise and mentoring (via the Innovation Circle).
• Primarily a co-investor / syndicate participant rather than a sole backer, frequently investing alongside regional funds (LRM, SFPI/FPIM), Capricorn, Gemma Frisius (KU Leuven), and strategic corporates.
• Deal flow is deliberately funneled from the essenscia Innovation Award, the Innovation Circle, universities, and corporate spin-outs — so proximity to that Belgian chemistry ecosystem strongly shapes what gets funded.
• Geographically anchored in Belgium, but "open to projects in neighbouring regions."