Jean Philippe Mathieu

Jean-Philippe Mathieu is a Partner and Investment Manager at ORSA Fund, the evergreen investment vehicle that in 2026 rebranded from InvestSud — a Walloon SME investor founded in 1985 with more than 40 years of operating history. He is based in Liège and works with entrepreneurs across the industrial and innovation sectors of southern Belgium, providing equity and quasi-equity capital and taking an active board role alongside founders.

By background he is a chemist who moved into finance and investment. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and Management from HEC Liège (2006–2008), and earlier in his career worked at BNP Paribas Fortis before joining InvestSud. He describes himself as passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, and has been publicly profiled as part of InvestSud's team (including a "#MeetTheTeam" video feature alongside colleague Benjamin Cupers).

The firm he invests through — InvestSud/ORSA — operates as an open-ended ("evergreen") fund without imposed exit horizons, deliberately positioning itself as a patient, long-term partner rather than a fixed-life VC. It targets tickets of roughly €500,000 to €2,500,000 and supports companies through development, diversification, acquisitions, scale-up, and generational/ownership transmission.

• Invests permanent/evergreen capital in Walloon SMEs and start-ups — no forced exit timeline, emphasizing long-term partnership with entrepreneurs.
• Check size today generally €500,000–€2,500,000, via equity or quasi-equity; historically the firm also did smaller seed tickets (it invested ~€150,000 into NeuroMedia).
• Sectors: industry (production, equipment, construction) and innovation (healthcare, digital, sustainability).
• Active, not passive: InvestSud/ORSA typically takes a seat on the board and contributes skills complementary to the founders', not just money.
• On the NeuroMedia deal, Mathieu framed the investment as fitting squarely within InvestSud's strategy of diversification toward new markets, backing companies aiming to grow internationally and develop new products.