Viva Technology is a conference held in Paris, France, that brings together startups, investors, and business leaders to celebrate and discuss innovation in Europe and beyond.
As a remote deal flow analyst based in Europe, I attended Viva Tech this year to learn more about the French venture ecosystem. Although Newlin VC doesn’t focus on Europe, my experiences studying abroad at EDHEC Business School in Nice, France this year have led me to become curious about the ecosystem.
This year Viva Tech returned to an in-person format, after two years of being online due to Covid-19. This year’s program highlighted upcoming trends in tech, such as Mobility and Web3. There were also new additions to the program, including the introduction of the AfricaTech Awards.
After spending three days at the conference, my lasting impression was one of excitement for the future of French-led innovation.
This year the French President, Emmanuel Macron, visited the convention on the last day to speak about his vision for the French startup ecosystem in the decade to come. In a roundtable with other industry leaders, Macron set a goal to have 100 unicorns in France by the end of the decade, a quarter of which will be in green and renewable technologies. Currently, there are 27 French unicorns.
Macron also covered other strategic elements with regard to catapulting France’s startup ecosystem forward, emphasizing the importance of beginning technological education early. This would be done through programs that would, for example, teach students to code beginning in middle school. But for Macron, he emphasized that it is not only about building good talent but equally also about keeping good talent. For this reason, compensation must increase to support the ecosystem over the longer term.
It was not only the French president who shared an optimistic and enthusiastic outlook on the French ecosystem but also American entrepreneurs and investors. Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod at Apple and Founder of Nest, spoke about his excitement for the French tech scene. For context, Tony moved into Station F in 2018 with his investment firm Future Shape LLC. Station F, opened in 2017 by President Macron, is currently the world’s largest startup campus, based in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Though also motivated by personal reasons, Tony noted the richness and diversity of talent at Station F. He is leveraging his expertise to mentor scientists and engineers to find product-market-fit in what he considers to be the leading incubator of Europe.
Another speaker at Viva Tech was John Chambers, who previously was CEO of Cisco Systems and now runs his own fund, J2C Ventures. Chambers expressed his bullishness on France, seeing it as a clear leader of the European ecosystem. He noted that France has advantages due to its attractive terms for entrepreneurs: tax regulations, lenient visa procedures for entrepreneurs, and ease of financing. He has tracked the growth of the French ecosystem in the past year.
Although several years ago he was attending Viva Tech alone, this year he ran into the top VCs from the US in the airport on their way to the event.
I find it interesting to think about how the French ecosystem will continue to develop over the next decade. European startup ecosystems have lagged behind the United States historically. There are a few reasons why this is the case. On the capital side, Europe lacks the LP engagement that the US is rich in, not having the same presence of retirement funds and insurance funds with managers eager to diversify into the sexy and potentially lucrative venture alternative investment. Beyond this, from a cultural perspective, Europeans are generally more risk-averse, which works to their disadvantage concerning the development of a startup ecosystem. Not only do Americans tend to have a greater willingness to take risks, but they are also less discouraged by failures.
That said, France is on a trajectory to prove itself as a world tech leader. There have been many developments in France to expand France’s technological and innovative influence. One of those examples is La French Tech, which was founded in 2015 and has brought together entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and community builders to bolster France’s innovative capacity and boost the ecosystem within the country. As mentioned earlier, Station F is another strong example.
When considering the path France’s ecosystem is embarking on, it should not go without noting that France is home to one of the top research centers in the world: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). France’s competitive advantage lies in part in its extraordinary capacity for scientific research and technological expertise — a key ingredient for innovation. While France may be lacking in some of the elements that made Silicon Valley so successful, it nonetheless has an impressive pool of human capital. It will be most interesting to see how both the growth of the French ecosystem (through initiatives such as La French Tech and Station F) and a renewal of the French entrepreneurial spirit (championed by President Macron) may accelerate French innovation into the future.