From healthtech leadership to championship polo, a profile of modern, disciplined ambition.
Louis Devaleix is a rare example of someone who succeeds in both business and sports. Born in France and raised in Brazil, he built a career in healthcare technology in the United States. Then, surprisingly, he started playing professional polo at the age of 39 and quickly won major tournaments within a year. As co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of a behavioral health software company called Dazos and as a key player on the championship-winning La Fe polo team, Devaleix shows how hard work, smart planning, and a broad global view can lead to success in very different fields.
Facts About Louis Devaleix
| Fact | Details |
| Full Name | Louis Devaleix |
| Birthplace | France |
| Raised In | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | French-born Brazilian |
| Education | Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business |
| Athletic Background | Golf (Tulane men’s golf team), Polo |
| Primary Profession | Entrepreneur, Healthtech Executive |
| Notable Company | Dazos |
| Role at Dazos | Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer |
| Industry Focus | Behavioral health & addiction treatment software |
| Major Funding Milestone | $25M Series A (2025, led by Radian Capital) |
| Previous Venture | Harmony Recovery Group (sold to Thrive Healthcare, 2022) |
| Polo Team | La Fe Polo Team |
| Polo Role | Patron and Defensive Back |
| Polo Career Start | 2020 (age 39) |
| Major Polo Titles | East Coast Open Champion (2021, 2022) |
| Media Appearance | Netflix documentary Polo (2024) |
| Known For | Rapid polo ascent and healthcare technology leadership |
Early Life and Cross-Cultural Foundations
Louis Devaleix was born in France and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in an environment that blended sport, discipline, and international exposure. His family lived on a golf and polo club, immersing him early in athletic culture even though he would not formally take up polo until much later in life.
Growing up in Brazil, a country known for its competitive sporting ethos and entrepreneurial energy, shaped Devaleix’s mindset around both ambition and resilience.
In 1999, Devaleix moved to the United States to pursue higher education. He enrolled at Tulane University, where he studied business at the A.B. Freeman School of Business. During his freshman year, he also competed on Tulane’s men’s golf team, reinforcing a lifelong commitment to structured competition and performance-driven environments.
Building a Career in Finance and Healthcare Technology
Before his public emergence in polo, Louis Devaleix established himself in finance and healthcare IT, developing deep operational knowledge of regulated industries. His early professional years focused on understanding how data, systems, and compliance intersect in healthcare.
That experience culminated in the creation and growth of Harmony Recovery Group, a multi-state network of addiction treatment centers. Devaleix and his business partner, David Farache, played central roles in scaling the organization, combining clinical services with data-driven operational models.
In early 2022, Harmony Recovery Group was successfully sold to Thrive Healthcare, marking a significant entrepreneurial exit and providing both capital and strategic insight that would inform their next venture.
Co-Founding Dazos: A Healthtech Platform with Industry Roots
Later in 2022, Devaleix and Farache co-founded Dazos, a Boca Raton–based behavioral health software company designed to address operational inefficiencies in mental health and addiction treatment centers. Unlike many healthtech startups built purely from abstract models, Dazos was created by operators who had firsthand experience running treatment organizations.
Dazos offers an integrated suite of tools, including customer relationship management (CRM), analytics, marketing automation, and billing solutions tailored specifically to behavioral healthcare providers. The platform aims to help organizations improve patient engagement, streamline operations, and make data-informed decisions without sacrificing care quality.
Devaleix serves as co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing operations, product development, and growth strategy. His leadership emphasizes scalability, regulatory awareness, and long-term partnerships within the healthcare ecosystem.
Growth and Investment Confidence
In May 2025, Dazos secured a $25 million Series A investment led by Radian Capital. The funding round reflected investor confidence in both the company’s product-market fit and its leadership team. The capital has been directed toward expanding Dazos’s product capabilities, strengthening its sales infrastructure, and accelerating national adoption.
For Devaleix, the milestone reinforced a consistent theme in his career: building solutions grounded in lived industry experience rather than speculative trends. His role at Dazos continues to position him as a notable figure within the evolving healthtech landscape.
A Late Entry into Polo, and a Rapid Ascent
Perhaps the most publicly surprising chapter of Louis Devaleix’s life began in 2020, when he rode a horse for the first time at approximately 39 years old. What started as an introductory lesson in Florida quickly evolved into a full commitment to the sport of polo—one of the world’s most demanding and tradition-rich athletic disciplines.
Within a remarkably short time, Devaleix entered the high-goal polo circuit as both patron and player, assuming the defensive back position for La Fe, a team named after the Argentine farm of his partner, Robi Bilbao. Unlike ceremonial patrons, Devaleix adopted an active playing role, emphasizing preparation, teamwork, and learning from elite professionals.
Personal Life and Family
Beyond business and polo, Louis Devaleix’s personal life reflects the same sense of balance and commitment that defines his professional pursuits. He is married to Pamela Flanagan Devaleix, an equestrian professional and polo enthusiast known for her work with horses and for founding the Rescue Polo Project, a charitable initiative dedicated to saving horses from slaughter and promoting ethical equine welfare.
The couple met in early 2022 and became engaged just three months later, marrying in June 2023. Their relationship, including their wedding, is featured in Netflix’s documentary series Polo, offering viewers a rare glimpse into the personal dimensions of Devaleix’s life during a demanding competitive season.
In July 2024, Louis and Pamela welcomed their daughter, Alina Kelley Devaleix, whose middle name honors Pamela’s sister, Kelley Flanagan. Devaleix is also a father to an older son, Ames, from a previous relationship. Family life, as portrayed in Polo, highlights a blended household grounded in support, shared responsibility, and a mutual commitment to both sport and philanthropy.
Championship Success with La Fe
The results were immediate and notable. In 2021, just one year after taking up the sport, La Fe captured the East Coast Open in Greenwich, Connecticut, one of the most prestigious polo tournaments in the United States. The team repeated the victory in 2022, cementing its reputation as a serious competitor in high-goal polo.
Devaleix has consistently described his role as supportive rather than dominant, often stating that his responsibility is to enable his professional teammates to perform at their highest level. Playing alongside top-ranked players such as Hilario Ulloa and Francisco “Fran” Elizalde, he has competed in major tournaments across Florida, New York, and Argentina.
His approach to improvement, studying game footage, training intensively, and embracing critique, has drawn respect within polo circles, particularly given the sport’s traditionally long apprenticeship curve.
Expanding Polo’s Reach
Beyond competition, Devaleix has contributed to broadening polo’s audience, introducing the sport to new spectators through personal networks, media exposure, and family involvement. His international background and business profile have helped connect polo with audiences who might otherwise view it as inaccessible or insular.
By presenting polo as both a disciplined sport and a collaborative enterprise, Devaleix has played a role in modernizing its public image, particularly in the United States.
Media Presence and Public Recognition
Louis Devaleix’s unusual dual success in business and polo has attracted sustained media interest. He has been featured in specialized polo publications, international interviews, and sports podcasts that explore both his rapid ascent and his philosophy toward competition.
A notable milestone in his public profile came in 2024, when Devaleix became a central figure in Netflix’s documentary series Polo. The five-episode series follows the U.S. Open season and provides behind-the-scenes access to the La Fe team, including Devaleix’s training regimen, family life, and the pressures of elite competition.
Balancing Enterprise, Sport, and Family Life
Despite the visibility of his achievements, Devaleix has maintained a measured public persona. Interviews often emphasize balance between entrepreneurship and athletics, performance and learning, and ambition and family life. This perspective resonates with both business leaders and athletes who recognize the challenge of sustaining excellence across multiple domains.
His story underscores that late beginnings do not preclude elite outcomes, provided they are paired with commitment, resources, and humility.
A Contemporary Profile of Modern Achievement
Louis Devaleix represents a modern archetype: globally shaped, operationally focused, and performance-driven across fields that demand very different skills. Whether building healthcare technology platforms or competing in high-goal polo, his career reflects a consistent emphasis on preparation, partnership, and long-term vision.
As Dazos continues to expand and La Fe remains competitive on the international polo stage, Devaleix’s influence spans industries that rarely intersect. His journey offers a compelling case study in how discipline, adaptability, and strategic thinking can translate across business and sport, without relying on convention or chronology.
