VivaStories When Startuppers Connect with Established Companies at Viva Technology

Entrepreneurs and innovators flock to Viva Technology, the world’s rendezvous for startups and leaders, looking to expand professional networks, develop partnerships or secure investments. But what makes this annual event an unmissable date on the tech calendar is the unrivalled opportunity VivaTech provides for collaboration with leading corporations.

Some 53% of Viva Technology attendees are executives and 22% are startups. Recent statistics show that 83% of entrepreneurs who showed up at VivaTech were satisfied by the quality of startups encountered and 86% were satisfied by the quality of contacts and leads. ***

For Julie Ranty and Maxime Baffert, co-Managing Directors of Viva Technology, ”Our model for collaboration between startups and established groups is an absolutely unique springboard among other events enabling startups to benefit from exceptional support to accelerate their growth.”

As we prepare the fourth edition of VivaTech, taking place 16-18 May 2019 at Porte de Versailles in Paris, here is a snapshot of a few inspiring VivaStories from 2018.

Zouzoucar and Volkswagen: Safe ride-pooling for children

Zouzoucar, a safe-and-secure ride-pooling service for school-age children, was chosen from among 150 finalists to attend VivaTech in 2018 and participate in the Lab hosted by Volkswagen We. The relationship continued when Volkswagen offered Zouzoucar, whose app went live in mid 2018, an invitation to participate in their incubator program housed in Volkswagen’s Gläserne Manufaktur (“Transparent Factory”) in Dresden. With a 15,000-euro stipend, a chance to benefit from Volkswagen’s expertise, and a shared working space with five other international startups at the Dresden incubator, Zouzoucar is out of the starting gate with a bang.

”This has been a real shot in the arm” for business development, says Fabien Compère, co-founder of France-based Zouzoucar. “Within a few months, this extremely stimulating and challenging environment has enabled us to broaden our horizons, beef up our business model and diversify our potential sources of revenue, all of which makes us a more serious candidate for fundraising.”

Immersive Factory and Vinci Energies, Bouygues and Air Liquide: VR-based training for workplace safety

Launched in France two years ago, Immersive Factory develops VR-based training courses and “active learning experiences” to address safety and health concerns in the workplace. The startup was hosted in the Vinci Energies Lab and was also present on the Bouygues and Air Liquide stands. New business was signed following VivaTech with each of the three groups.

According to Olivier Pierre, the company’s co-founder, this first appearance at VivaTech was a big win for Immersive Factory: “These groups [Vinci Energies, Bouygues and Air Liquide] are active in various international markets. Thanks to VivaTech, we have been able to gain traction and increase the number of our contacts with Air Liquide in the United States and with one of their subsidiaries in China; with Vinci Energies in Germany; and with Colas [Bouygues Group] in Southeast Asia.“

***Source: GoudLink visitors’ survey 6-13 juin 2018 with 1624 respondents representing VivaTech participants holding a three-day B2B pass

Toufoula Kids and Orange: Augmented Reality and edutainment for Arabic-speakers

Toufoula Kids is a Tunisian edutainment startup launched in 2016. The Toufoula Kids mobile app links to a “smart” print magazine to provide Augmented Reality (AR) content for children aged 4 to 12. Content is available in Arabic, French and English, but the company says they began as a response to a lack of Arabiclanguage digital content for kids.

VivaTech, where Toufoula Kids was hosted by the Orange Lab, led to a more precise understanding of the marketplace for the company. Toufoula Kids also signed a partnership agreement with the Fondation Orange to supply educational content across multiple platforms including the open-source Orange Library. The startup has also begun to deploy content on tablets in 70 schools included in the Fondation Orange’s Digital Schools program.

“We always mention our VivaTech participation in our pitches,” says Awatef Mosbeh, the founder of Toufoula Kids. It gives us a lot of credibility with investors and can help us to open new markets.“

Hero and LVMH: Live-in-store expertise for online shoppers

Created in 2015 with headquarters in London and now offices in NY, Hero connects millions of online shoppers across seven countries with live associates in stores, helping to boost online conversion rates and order values.

Says Hero’s founder Adam Levene, who first came to VivaTech as an attendee in 2016 and was brought back by LVMH in 2018: “We were hugely impressed by just how many wonderful large companies were coming together in a very collaborative way with small and emerging startups.”
A key objective for Hero: Extending their partnership with LVMH. “Our collaboration with LVMH means we’re connecting to more of the Maisons. In terms of Berluti, with whom we’ve already been collaborating, we met a number of their most senior stakeholders that we hadn’t met previously. We’re working towards a longer-term contract with them.”

The exposure provided by VivaTech was a big plus for Hero: “We were exposed to the rest of the French startup ecosystem,” says Levene, “and so, on the back of [our LVMH partnership], we collaborated with Lafayette Plug and Play Scheme and Innovation Labs hosted by other major companies.”

Hear more stories of momentous meet-ups on the frontlines of business innovation: http://dam.vivatechnology.com/Mashup_business_exclu2018.mp4

About Viva Technology
Co-organized by Publicis Groupe and Groupe Les Echos, VivaTech is the world’s rendezvous for startups and leaders to celebrate innovation. This international event, dedicated to the growth of startups, digital transformation and innovation, will take place 16-18 May 2019 at Porte de Versailles, Paris. More than 100,000 visitors attended the third edition, an increase of more than 47% in one year. Viva Technology 2019 will build on this success and will bring together startups, business leaders and executives, investors, academics, students and media from around the globe.
Further information available at www.vivatechnology.com and @VivaTech

PRESS CONTACT
Béatrice Germain - bgermain@vivatechnology.com