Jade Le Maître

Timeline

1. By 2014

   Engineering and human–robot research

   She graduates from the EPF School of Engineering in Sceaux and the Munich University of Applied Sciences, and gains her first robotics experience in research, on a project about human–robot interaction. She then works in the communications directorate of Pierre and Marie Curie University, and in 2014 she is a social-media specialist and speaker at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.

2. 2016–2017

   Co-founding Hease Robotics

   After two years at Innorobo, where she works with Bruno Bonnell on marketing and events for French robotics startups, she co-founds Hease Robotics in Lyon in November 2016 and becomes its CTO. Its Heasy robot, built for retail and customer service, debuts at CES 2017, and Vinci, Leclerc and Keolis deploy Hease robots in 2017.

3. 2017–2018

   Forbes women in tech lists

   In 2017, she is a silver national laureate in the "Promising Woman Business Executive" category of the Les Femmes de l'économie prize. Forbes includes her in its 2018 lists of Europe's Top 50 Women in Tech and The World's Top 50 Women in Tech, and Women in Robotics names her among 25 women in robotics to know about in 2018.

4. 2018

   Launching Lyon-Is-AI

   In March 2018, she and Amélie Cordier answer questions about designing social robots at a Girlz In Web Lyon event, and in May 2018 she joins a round table on AI and social robotics at CPE Lyon. By December 2018, Hease Robotics has raised $2.3 million, and she has launched Lyon-Is-AI to promote the French AI ecosystem and co-founded the Social Robots Community.

5. 2019

   A fire ends Hease Robotics

   Between 2016 and 2019, Hease Robotics sells more than 50 mobile, interactive information-kiosk robots, with commercial production starting in early 2019. A fire at the Bel-Air Camp incubator in October 2019 destroys the company's offices, production facilities and stock, with damage estimated at more than one million euros, and Hease Robotics shuts down in November 2019.

6. March 2022

   Director general of Proxinnov

   In March 2022, she becomes director general of Proxinnov, a technical center for industrial robotics. Her appointment follows work as an expert for the European Commission on robotics, artificial intelligence and human–robot collaboration.

7. 2024

   A battery-dismantling pilot line

   In June 2024, she presents Proxinnov's team of engineers and technicians working on automation, robotics and AI, with a 1,000 m² pilot plant in La Roche-sur-Yon and a 200 m² site in Normandy. In September 2024, Proxinnov wins France 2030 backing for Ligne Pilote 4.0, a flexible, open-source robotic line for dismantling batteries and small appliances, which she presents as a ready-to-use solution for companies.

8. As of October 2026

   Leading Proxinnov

   She is director general of Proxinnov, where she sets the strategy and runs the center with technical director Nicolas Pouclet. In June 2026, she opens the sixth Full Robotics trade show at Proxinnov's pilot plant in La Roche-sur-Yon.