Alexia Delahousse

Alexia Delahousse is a legal executive recognized for her innovative and pragmatic approach to leadership in hyper-growth environments. As General Counsel and VP of Legal & Public Affairs at Qonto, she has built a reputation for her ability to structure, scale, and transform legal functions in fast-paced, regulated, and international contexts. Her career path includes earlier experiences at top law firms such as Linklaters, Baker McKenzie, and Dechert, working in San Francisco, London, and Paris, as well as in the tech ecosystem at Ledger before joining Qonto.

When Alexia joined Ledger and later Qonto, each company had fewer than 100 employees. At Qonto, she became the first in-house legal counsel, building the legal function from scratch and managing all legal matters alone for over a year and a half. Under her leadership, the team has since expanded to 25 professionals covering Legal, Governance, Public Affairs, and ESG. Her expertise was critical during Qonto’s major fundraising rounds, including Series C (€104M) and Series D (€486M), which propelled the company to a €4.4 billion valuation. Drawing from her M&A background, she shares advice with entrepreneurs on the legal side of fundraising, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right advisors, negotiating thoroughly, ensuring data confidentiality, and creating efficient processes.

Alexia has also been instrumental in building international and multifunctional teams, managing legal and public affairs professionals across France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. She pioneered the creation of Qonto’s Public Affairs practice, reflecting her vision of combining legal expertise with regulatory advocacy in highly regulated businesses. At the regulatory level, she led the project of filing for the Credit Institution Licence with France’s ACPR, reinforcing Qonto’s credibility in Europe and strengthening its compliance and governance practices.

She is also a strong advocate of digital and legal innovation, championing the strategic use of legal data, technology, and automation to keep legal departments agile and impactful. Under her leadership, Qonto’s legal function became an early adopter of generative AI through partnerships with Dust and Mistral, with all team members using AI tools weekly to improve efficiency and focus on higher-value work. At the same time, Alexia emphasizes responsible innovation by embedding strict data confidentiality protocols, anonymization practices, and training programs that ensure teams adopt technology safely and ethically.

Her impact goes beyond legal operations. As a member of Qonto’s Leadership Team, she collaborates closely with business, product, and tech leaders, making legal a true partner in driving the company’s mission and growth. She believes in embedding legal early in scale-ups, fostering “legal intelligence” to centralize and automate tasks, championing innovation responsibly, collaborating across functions, and prioritizing adaptable and business-oriented teams.

In addition to her work at Qonto, Alexia is a Board Member of AFJE, the French Association of In-House Counsel, where she actively contributes to advancing the recognition and evolution of the in-house legal profession. Through events, publications, and thought leadership, she continues to promote innovation, ethics, and the importance of in-house legal teams as strategic business partners.

Her journey demonstrates how legal leadership, when combined with innovation, ethics, and cross-functional collaboration, can empower companies to scale with confidence in today’s complex, digital, and international landscape.