About
Calsoï, the innovation advisory that starts with adoption
Calsoï is an innovation strategy and R&D advisory firm, founded and led by Jean-Christophe Simon, near Lyon, France. We help industrial and technology companies turn a technological edge into a product the market actually adopts.
Where the name Calsoï comes from
Calsoï comes from Calsoie, the medieval name for the Chausey islands, a granite archipelago off Granville, in Normandy. It is a landscape that reveals itself with the tides: at low water, dozens of islets, sandbanks and channels appear, then close again under the sea. One place, many faces depending on when you look at it.
The name says something about our work. Innovation too calls for reading shifting ground, knowing what surfaces and what stays hidden, and choosing the right moment to move.
Our mission
A technological edge only creates value if it becomes a product people adopt. That conviction guides every engagement, and it comes down to one question asked on day one: why will users actually adopt this product? Adoption is not decided at the end, it is prepared from the R&D stage.
How we work
We do not arrive with a packaged method to apply to your situation. We start from your market, your customers and your real constraints, then we decide with you. The support is hands-on: from directly leading an R&D team, at executive committee level, to solving a specific technical or strategic problem.
The founder
Jean-Christophe Simon led research and development for more than thirty years, in cosmetics, optics, medical devices and small appliances. An engineer and PhD in physics, with more than thirty patent applications, he served as Group Innovation Director at Groupe SEB and led the joint Essilor-Nikon research centre in Japan. He is a Foreign Trade Advisor to the French Government. Read his full background.
The sectors we work in
- Cosmetics and consumer goods
- Optics
- Medical devices
- Small appliances
- Industrial companies and deeptech startups