Profile
Work Department
Position
Partner
Career
Benjamin Cichostepski-Lesage leads Orrick’s Technology Companies Group in France from the Paris Tech Studio.
Ben is the founding partner of Orrick's French Tech Companies Group. For more than 15 years, he has been advising high-potential innovative companies as well as venture and tech growth investors on all their corporate private equity and M&A transactions in France and globally.
As such, he is involved in every stage of their development, from incubation and fundraising to external growth and industrial exits as well as public offerings (IPO, secondary).
Ben has significant experience advising French companies expanding into the United States, and assists them over the full lifecycle of their overseas growth. He also counts a number of American investors and buyers among his clients.
From his first venture deal in 2006, where he represented Lightspeed Venture Partners in Wikio’s Series A, which became Teads, a company he then accompanied for 11 years until its sale to Altice, Ben has led more than 300 corporate tech transactions. He has been involved in the main exit transactions in recent years, particularly those with a franco-american element such as Neolane/Adobe, La Fourchette/TripAdvisor, Stupeflix/GoPro, eNovance/Red Hat, Regaind, Zenly/Snap, Teads/Altice, Getaround/Drivy, Glose/Medium, Sqreen/Datadog, Lalilo/Renaissance Learning, Tempow/Google, Context/Integral Ad Science, Monk/ACV Auctions, Cajoo/Flink, Shipfix/Veson Nautical.
Ben's leadership has contributed to placing Orrick as the #1 Venture Capital and Tech Growth practice in France (ranked #1 by Pitchbook in 2021, 2022, 2023 - CF News in 2022, 2023).
Recognized as a key lawyer in the market in venture capital and tech growth, Ben was ranked No. 1 in the "Top 10 Influential French Venture Capital Lawyers in Private Equity 2023" by Business Today. He was named "Lawyer of the Year" in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers France in the Venture Capital category. He is also ranked as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 EMEA in Private Equity - Venture Capital/Growth Capital since 2020 and was voted as the most active tech lawyer in France in 2019 by transaction volume in CF News’ ranking.
Ben is the founder of Orrick Paris Tech Studio, a one of a kind office and working space created in June 2022 and located in the heart of the Paris Tech scene, which is the headquarters of Orrick's French Tech practice.
Languages
Education
- Harvard Law School, LL.M., 2005
- University of Stellenbosch, Visiting Researcher, Comparative & International Trade Law, 2000
- Université Paris II Panthéon – Assas, DEA, Comparative Private Law, 2000
- Université Paris II Panthéon – Assas, Master, Business and Commercial Law, 1999
- Université Paris II Panthéon – Assas, D.E.S.S./D.J.C.E., Business and Tax Law, 1999
Content supplied by Orrick
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Olivier Vuillod is a trusted advisor. His advice is both concise and pragmatic, which is what you look for in venture transactions. His experience and knowledge in the field has been very helpful. Projects have been moving along smoothly as a result of his organisation and communication. ’
‘Orrick is outstanding for two main reasons. First, they have exceptional lawyers on their team, professionals who are not only highly knowledgeable but also deeply committed. They work tirelessly and are always willing to provide the best possible support. Second, Orrick has an extensive client base across the ecosystem, from investors to companies and beyond. This breadth of experience gives them unparalleled collective knowledge, enabling them to offer world-class advice, creative and innovative solutions, and valuable insights into market trends.’
‘We are lucky to work closely with Olivier Vuillod and Manon Speich, and they are both outstanding. They are extremely experienced, accessible and are always keen to support us in every possible way, all while being great fun to collaborate with. They also excel in engaging with different stakeholders across the ecosystem, from founders to other law firms. We have great trust in them and rely on their expertise often.’
‘Extremely strong technical skills. Exceptionally good negotiators. In-depth mastery of both French and Anglo-Saxon law. Complete knowledge of startup and VC agreements.’
‘Léa Fiorenza, the associate, is exceptionally talented for her age. Sharp, highly competent, and remarkably reliable, including in negotiations. Olivier Vuillod lives up to his reputation, he is probably the best lawyer I have ever had the pleasure of working with.’
‘The Orrick team is attentive, drives projects forward and show great knowledge in the field. ’
Key clients
- Alan Alice & Bob Aledia Amo SAS Battery Ventures Cathay Capital Private Equity Crescent Cove Fabric Ventures Group S.à r.l. FlexAI Ganymed Robotics SAS Janngo Capital Partners SA May Health Mistral AI Open CNP Pasqal Play Ventures Pte Ltd Permutation / Dust Renaissance Fusion Ringover Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC SESAMm SiPearl TILT Capital UPFRONT VI LP Yescapa SAS