Traveling differently: Kévin Dolhen's sustainable adventure (The Family Van – The Family Bike)

Entrepreneur, traveler, and advocate for more responsible tourism, Kévin Dolhen (EMLV 2018) is reinventing the way we travel around Europe.

From The Family Van, Europe's first 100% electric van service, to The Family Bike, low-carbon bike trips, he shares his journey that combines passion, innovation, and positive impact!

🎯  From school to entrepreneurship: a path focused on action

After graduating from EMLV in 2018, Kévin decided to turn his final year of studies into a real immersion in entrepreneurship.

"I opted for a double degree in Digital Marketing Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Strategy for my fifth and final year at EMLV.

This allowed me to replace my end-of-study internship with the creation of my first company, TopNote, a platform connecting students from prestigious universities with pupils for small group tutoring.

We joined the Ponts et Chaussées incubator at Station F and, unfortunately, due to a lack of experience, closed the business a year later!" 

After this first experience, he joined a deep tech start-up in the pre-launch phase, where he held the position of marketing director for nearly three years. He then decided to return to his initial ambitions: to create his own entrepreneurial project. That's how he founded The Family Van.

Kévin emphasizes the concrete contribution of his education:

"The academic and professional training offered by EMLV was a big plus in the creation of TopNote and The Family Van.

The cross-disciplinary nature of the Léonard de Vinci Center is a major asset for perfecting your knowledge and learning to work with different profiles. The Altran Hackathon, which I won, and De Vinci Junior are very good examples of this."

Finally, the entrepreneurial vertical offered during my fifth year was beneficial both in terms of networking and preparing me for entrepreneurship.

🚐 The Family Van adventure: inventing electric travel

The idea for The Family Van, Europe's first agency for 100% electric campervans, was born out of personal experience and a desire to reduce my environmental impact:

"I was lucky enough to travel a lot before and during my studies. And as time went by, the economic situation changed, and I felt more and more guilty about flying across the globe for a few days' vacation.

So I decided to go on vacation without flying.  My partner and future business associate and I rented a camper van and spent more than three weeks rediscovering France, Spain, and Portugal.

The campervan experience was incredible and far exceeded our expectations, and Europe won our hearts back. But aboard our old Volkswagen T4, we felt that our impact was still too great!

That's when The Family Van was born, the first European travel agency specializing in 100% electric campervans!"

What is he most proud of?

“Starting from scratch and convincing more than 1,500 people to travel around France in our 100% electric campervans. Indirectly, it's enabling these travelers to do their bit in the fight against global warming.”

🚴‍♂️ The new project: The Family Bike

Almost five years after launching The Family Van, Kevin is taking the adventure further with The Family Bike, a low-carbon cycling travel project currently supported by a crowdfunding campaign.

"We decided to start The Family Bike adventure in the same way we started The Family Van. This crowdfunding campaign is a real financial boost, of course, but above all, it's a huge motivational boost given the support of our families, friends, and especially our customers.

The success of The Family Van lies in the importance we place on relationships and the way we share our mission with our customers.

That is exactly what we are looking for through this crowdfunding campaign: the support and energy of people who share our vision.

Regarding crowdfunding, he explains:

"We need €30,000 in funding to launch The Family Bike, and we want to self-finance for as long as possible, as we have done since creating The Family Van, even if it takes us longer to reach our goal.

This crowdfunding campaign is therefore a way to finance up to a third of our funding needs, but it is also a way to communicate about our project and test the appeal of The Family Bike among our friends, family, and The Family Van community.

I think a crowdfunding campaign can be beneficial for a company if you invest time and energy in it and have a clear goal. The returns in terms of visibility, project validation, and of course financial gain can be excellent."

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Entrepreneurs, learning and moving forward together

Although Kevin has not yet exploited the full potential of the Alumni community, he clearly sees its value:

"I think that in terms of communication and, above all, networking, the Alumni community can be a huge accelerator for The Family Van. I also think I could be a driving force for those who seek out alumni for advice on various topics and areas of expertise."

His key lesson from his entrepreneurial adventure:

"The entrepreneurial adventure is incredible and rich in experiences. In terms of learning, meeting people, introspection, emotions, and independence, it's definitely worth trying! "

And for those looking for inspiration:

“A book that helped me a lot in my life as a young adult and entrepreneur is Krishnamurti's ‘Freedom from the Known.’”

The Family Van                          The Family Bike

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