The awards ceremony for the 18th edition of the BFM AWARDS took place on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. The jury, which included some thirty former winners, rewarded the Chairman and CEO of Groupe Gorgé, Raphaël Gorgé (photo), for his remarkable entrepreneurial career.

Each year, the BFM Awards celebrate leaders and companies that represent the best of the French economy by presenting them with prizes. The “BFM Entrepreneur of the Year” award is based on criteria of leadership and excellence, since the development of the company, its capacity for innovation and the entrepreneurial character of its Manager are analyzed.

Raphaël Gorgé has been Chairman and CEO of Groupe Gorgé since 2011. He joined the group in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer after a 10-year career in finance and technology. Upon his arrival, he initiated a strategic restructuring of the Group to reduce its dependence on the automotive sector and to invest in sectors of the future, in particular autonomous drone systems through its subsidiary ECA Group.

Since 2010, Groupe Gorgé has invested €150M in Research & Development (R&D) with the conviction that drone systems would play a major role in the naval sector. These efforts resulted in 2019 in the award of one of the largest contracts won by a French medium-size company, representing €500M over 10 years. This program involves integrated drone systems for underwater mine hunting for the Belgian and Dutch navies.

In 2022, thanks to an audacious operation led by Raphaël Gorgé, Groupe Gorgé won the acquisition process of iXblue. The combination of iXblue with ECA Group creates a French champion in cutting-edge technologies, which operates under a new identity, Exail. The new group ranks among the world’s leading players in the fields of robotics, maritime, aerospace and photonics.

Groupe Gorgé is a high-tech industrial group driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture. The Group generated revenue of €178 million in 2021. The Group is listed on Euronext Paris Compartment B (GOE).