Jean-Jacques Degroof, an experienced global venture investor and financial professional, has spent more than seven years as a teacher of entrepreneurship and innovation management at several business schools throughout Europe. More recently, his efforts as an educator and mentor have emphasized the support of young technology start-up groups. Jean-Jacques Degroof has worked in various areas of the financial industry and in academia over the course of his career, from his time as a private banker in Brussels, Belgium, to his work as a researcher at the MIT Industrial Performance Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has also held board positions with companies including Ventos S.A., an investment management company based in Luxembourg, and Forerun, Inc., a medical software business in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Mr. Degroof studied management and labor studies at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. He graduated summa cum laude with honors. He later completed management courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management. He has continued to engage with various MIT communities, such as the MIT Educational Council and the Alumni Association.