Sébastien Ricard

Co-Founder & CEO LumApps

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

Sébastien Ricard co-founded LumApps in 2012 and is its chief executive. LumApps sells an employee experience platform, which it now calls an AI Employee Hub, that works with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. It brings company communications, tools, learning and workflows into one intranet for office and frontline staff. Under Ricard it raised Series A, B and C rounds and then, in 2024, took majority investment from the private equity firm Bridgepoint in a deal valued at $650 million. He and the other founders kept stakes. LumApps reports more than 10 million users, and Gartner and Forrester both rate it a Leader in intranets. On 8 September 2026 the company announced that Sébastien Cano will take over as CEO on 1 December 2026, and that Ricard will then become Executive Chairman.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded LumApps in 2012 with Lionel Grivel, Elie Mélois and Olivier Chanoux.
• CEO of LumApps, which has headquarters in Lyon, France, and Austin, Texas, and reports more than 10 million users, with customers including Zapier and Genuine Parts Company.
• Led the company through Series A, B and C funding, including a $70 million round in 2020 with investors such as Goldman Sachs’ growth arm, Eurazeo, Bpifrance and IRIS.
• Was CEO when Bridgepoint’s majority investment was announced in May 2024, in a deal valued at $650 million. The founders stayed with the company and kept equity.
• Announced in September 2026 as LumApps’ Executive Chairman from 1 December 2026, when Sébastien Cano becomes CEO.

Professional Journey

LumApps was registered in France in October 2012. Ricard co-founded it with Lionel Grivel, Elie Mélois and Olivier Chanoux, and in his words the aim was “to transform how businesses connect, inform, and engage every employee, anywhere.” Its platform integrates with both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Ricard has summed up the product as “a single digital front door” to the applications employees use every day.

The company raised venture funding through Series A, B and C rounds. TechCrunch reported that the most recent was a $70 million round in 2020, which valued LumApps at $255 million. Its investors included Goldman Sachs’ growth equity business, Eurazeo, Bpifrance and IRIS. By 2024 LumApps had about 600 employees and offices in Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, near Lyon, in Paris and in Austin, Texas, and it described its growth as profitable.

In May 2024 LumApps announced that Bridgepoint, through its Bridgepoint Europe VII fund, would become majority investor in a deal valued at $650 million. The existing venture investors sold their stakes. Eurazeo alone reported more than €210 million in gross proceeds. Ricard and the other founders stayed on and kept their stakes. Ricard called the partnership “a logical and significant step in LumApps’ growth trajectory”. The plan set out at the time was to speed up international expansion, product work and acquisitions, and to move from packaged intranets into the wider employee experience market.

On 8 September 2026 LumApps announced that Sébastien Cano, a former senior executive at Thales and Gemalto, would become CEO from 1 December 2026, working from the company’s US headquarters in Austin. Under that announcement Ricard becomes Executive Chairman, stays involved in long-term strategy and governance, and hands day-to-day operations to Cano. “Thanks to our customers and partners, LumApps has become the global leader in employee experience,” he said in the release.

Education

No education record was found in any source reviewed.