Pierre-Olivier Barennes

Pierre-Olivier co-founded Citizen Capital with Laurence in 2008. He has 30 years of experience in finance, including 27 years in private equity. After holding various financial positions, notably with the Schneider Group in Istanbul, Turkey, Pierre-Olivier Barennes joined Bridgepoint Capital in 1998, one of Europe’s leading mid-cap LBO funds, where he became a director.

During his career at Bridgepoint, Pierre-Olivier invested in companies with 100 to 10,000 employees, supporting their development in sectors such as industry, transport and logistics, distribution, and real estate development. He contributed to some of the fund’s most successful transactions in Europe (average multiple of 3x on investments).

At Citizen Capital, Pierre-Olivier oversees investment activities and overall fund management. He has directly led some fifteen investments (including Deepki, OpenClassrooms, and Ipso), completed eight exits, and currently supports five portfolio companies. Pierre-Olivier brings to the fund his expertise in selecting and executing transactions and supporting portfolio companies. He also oversees the management of the company.

Pierre-Olivier is a graduate of HEC and is fluent in English.

Among his areas of interest, he is particularly sensitive to education and issues related to work, civic engagement, health, agriculture, and climate transition.