A graduate from KEDGE’s Class of1999, Romain Sombret served as the President of KEDGE’s Sports Club, which was, in hindsight, his first experience as an entrepreneur. 

Because sport had been a driving force in his life, he served as a volunteer in the Senegalese association Diambars which was created by the former world champions (1998) in order to use passion for football as a driver of education.  He was a member of the managing committee and started Diambard Med, the project’s regional branch in Marseille, in 2010 to create a link between the school and the city’s northern neighbourhoods.

In 2013, he and his spouse opened their first five-a-side football centre in the Décathlon de Bouc Bel Air village, then they opened a second in 2017, located in Valentine. In between the two, he created and developed “leisure football” internships with the French football club OM (Olympique de Marseille). 

At the end of 2018, Romain decided (with the help of a few friends) to start an enterprise with a rather unusual approach: use his passion for video games to bring the young people back to being involved in sports. That’s how Monclub Esport was born - a concept of gaming academies located in sports venues that are based on passion and that offers a balanced practice between sports and eSports.

After two successive rounds of fundraising, the company was recognised as one of the leading French teams with its unique approach through its academic institutions.

Continually wanting to innovate and to make the project even more inclusive, MCES has recently launched an equity crowdfunding campaign so that everyone, at their own level, can participate in the adventure and further enrich the meaning of the project. 

The purpose of this fundraising is to accelerate the development of eSport spaces in sports venues for a supervised and balanced practice of video games. “We've just signed a contract with a major French sports federation to open 36 eSport academies in the next two years. But we want to go even further and conquer other federations and players in the French sports sector!” said Romain.