Interview

Former IUM students who are starting their own business in Monaco

IUM
From left to right: Manila Di Giovanni, Inès Bensalah and Lars Langhein- All rights reserved

Virtual reality, sustainable fashion, caviar… These students’ dreams have come true in the Principality. 

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Three different paths, but the same destination: entrepreneurship. Graduates of the International University of Monaco, Manila, Inès and Lars agreed to tell us about their inspiring journey from their studies to setting up their own businesses.

Manila Di Giovanni, making virtual a reality

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Manila Di Giovanni at the Experiential Yachting Forum – All rights reserved

The youngest of our trio, Manila Di Giovanni is only 22 but she has already launched her own start-up, DWorld, which employs eight people and has enabled the creation of Monaco’s very first virtual twin. It’s a project that was carefully thought out over several years: from a very young age, Manila wanted to go into virtual reality, and she learnt all about it thanks to a number of internships in Asia. Having originally intended to continue her thesis at the IUM, the young woman decided instead to ask the university to change her registration, so that she could become a self-employed entrepreneur.

“I wanted to get started straight away,” says Manila. “I wanted to create Dworld: a virtual economy based on a real city. When we started out, we had the opportunity to discover SmartCity, run by Frédéric Genta. We presented the project to him. It would enable virtual visitors, for example, to visit the Oceanographic Museum, buy and try on clothes in the shops, visit yachts, flats, etc. “

And it’s also thanks to the IUM that this major project has come to fruition. After hesitating for a long time between the Universities of Milan and Monaco, the young Italian finally opted for a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the Monegasque establishment, because of its international dimension and its excellent reputation with companies. “The IUM really provides a lot of opportunities, but it’s up to you to grasp them.(…) You can organise your time as you want, you are independent. So you need to know what you want to do next. (…) As for my project, the teachers trusted me, gave me guidance and advice… One of them even joined DWorld later. She became our branding consultant,” she says.

In March, the young woman even received the Monte-Carlo Woman of the Year Award, in the presence of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene.  They didn’t tell me until three hours before the ceremony,” she laughs. I had left all my dresses in Italy, but by some miracle I had a business suit in Monaco. (…) I was very moved by the award, I couldn’t stop crying. When I started out, nobody understood what I wanted to do. I had a lot of doubts. The award proved to me that my project made sense.”

Manila Di Giovanni and her “DWorld family” are thriving and she has no intention of stopping there. After taking part in the Upaint street-art festival, the young woman already has a number of projects in mind for her company, particularly in the property sector. To be continued!

Inès Bensalah, sustainable fashion designer

Inès Bensalah at the “Freiner la fast fashion” (Putting the brakes on fast fashion) conference organised in conjunction with the MCFW, which she coordinates – © Mission pour la Transition Énergétique

At 25, Ines Bensalah is busy on all fronts. Eco-responsible fashion designer, conference speaker, lecturer at the IUM, coordinator of Monte-Carlo Fashion Week… It has been one project after the other since the young woman left her native island for the Rock. “I discovered the IUM when I was in 4th year of high school in Corsica, and I signed up just after graduation in 2016 for a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration specialising in luxury, which I got in 2019,” says Inès, who has never looked back. “I really wanted an English-language school with an international outlook that would enable me to network. Here, I feel like I’m in a cocoon. Everyone knows everyone else and that creates infinite opportunities.”

It was meeting Federica Nardoni Spinetta and her unfailing determination that earned Inès the “Made in Monaco Award” at the Monte-Carlo Fashion Week (MCFW), even though she hadn’t graduated yet. “I also won the Entrepreneurship Awards at my graduation ceremony,” she adds with pride. “During my studies, I had already got everything ready ahead of time to launch my luxury ready-to-wear brand using leftover fabrics from haute couture houses,” continues the founder of Inessa Creations.

While her classmates were very supportive at the time, she can still count on IUM alumni today. “I made some good friends at school and we’re still in touch. It’s not unusual for us to help each other with our businesses.” Inès’ entourage includes a well-known face in the Principality: professional boxer Hugo Micallef. “I met him at university and he’s always supported me, he even modelled in my fashion show and was my first brand ambassador,” smiles the bubbly designer.

And when we ask if setting up her company in Monaco was a logical move, she answers immediately: “Totally. I’ve fallen in love with Monaco, all my dreams have come true here and I can’t see myself living anywhere else,” she says, even if she admits that setting up a business in Monaco has its challenges. “You have to meet a lot of criteria, get funding and obtain a lot of authorisations before you can get started. It’s a very long and complicated process. It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance and, above all, you need to ask yourself ‘what can I offer Monaco?'” says the young woman, reminding us that she “started from scratch.”

Lars Langhein, mixing caviar and virtual reality

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Lars Langhein co-created his company Classic Caspian Caviar – © Lars Langhein via Facebook

At just 27, this young Berlin-born entrepreneur has co-created two companies. One specialises in virtual reality, the other in caviar. With six foreign languages to his credit, Lars Langhein aims to provide the best caviar in the world. “Caviar is a very old pleasure and has been produced for over 2,000 years. These days, there are very few people who keep up the culture and history of caviar. We wanted to do that, and distribute it as widely as possible around the world,” he says.

Lars holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and a Master’s degree in Finance from the IUM, and chose Monaco to study because of its international aspect. “When I was in high school, my family and I would come to the Principality for the Christmas holidays. I was looking for a university to study at and found out that Monaco had one, so we visited it. After high school, I had the choice between London and Monaco. After careful consideration, I chose Monaco because there’s an excellent network here. Wherever you go in the Principality, if you tell someone you were at the IUM, they will say that they have a colleague, partner, children or friends who went there,” he says.

Lars has fond memories of the students at the IUM: “the IUM is very stimulating: most of the students have big ambitions and already know what they want to do. On a personal level, my best memories are the friendships I made. After the IUM, you stay in touch with people. Even if some of them leave Monaco, we see each other when they come back. It’s wonderful!”

At the same time, the University enabled the young man to start up his own businesses. “They supported me, guided me and put me in contact with other professionals, which was great,” he says. And there’s no denying that the caviar company, which has four employees, has some prestigious partners such as the Pêcherie de Monaco, the Yacht Club and the Maybourne Riviera. The company even supplies the Prince’s Palace and a number of yachts. “On the virtual reality side, we are working with the Hôtel Miramar, the Circé restaurant in Beaulieu, World Class Monaco, etc.,” says Lars.

Currently his cavier is available in nine different countries and around twenty Michelin-starred restaurants. Lars Langhein now aims to expand distribution in Europe and, one day, create a new start-up. The young man even had the opportunity of letting the Sovereign taste his caviar during the last Grand Prix, and it went down very well!

By Sarah Incari et Camille Esteve