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57% of people say they use AI technology daily. But how is it impacting our world? We dive into the full report from Roland Berger. 

![Graphic "how deep is AI changing our societites?"](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/roland_berger_report_c78891141f/roland_berger_report_c78891141f.png)

Artificial intelligence has become inescapable in both our private and public lives. It raises fears, sparks hope, and ignites polarizing debates. But even with all the risks it carries, AI stands as a powerful catalyst for transformation.

Given this context, Roland Berger and Viva Technology sought to answer the question: How deeply will AI transform our daily lives?

This new study is fueled by insights from the community brainstorming event, The Good Hack, which took place at VivaTech in May 2024. The theme: “Navigating AI for a Better Future." 

Roland Berger surveyed more than 14,000 VivaTech participants about their opinions on AI, the major challenges ahead, and how AI can be used to solve societal and environmental problems.

Here are five valuable takeaways from the report:

## 1. High levels of optimism for AI’s potential in health, employment, and the environment, but deep divisions over its influence on democracy.

Roland Berger’s analysis found that AI is already massively used in French society, and the vast majority of people recognize AI's potential to positively impact our world. But few respondents at VivaTech had more than a surface-level understanding of how AI works and the underlying technology that powers it. Still, they were excited about how AI could improve their lives.	
- 57% say they use AI technology daily. Only 5% report never using it.
- 92% anticipate positive effects on Health and Wellbeing, 81% on Employment and Inclusion, and 80% on the Environment.
- Perception of AI's influence on citizen trust and democracy is deeply divided: 48% anticipate a “negative” or “very negative” impact, while 50% foresee a “positive” or “very positive” outcome.

## 2. AI will improve trust in technology, make education more accessible, and increase fairness.

AI is opening the door to a more connected and fairer future by reshaping how we engage with technology and institutions. Here are three of the many ways outlined in the report:

1. AI tools can help governments create more inclusive and effective policies, thereby strengthening public trust.

2. AI is making education more accessible by helping students and educators easily access and organize information.
_“Artificial intelligence allows everyone to access knowledge even more easily, as its capacity for data structuring and retrieval is unprecedented.”_ - Fabien Versavau, CEO of Rakuten France, at The Good Hack
3. AI reduces biases in hiring by focusing on skills rather than demographic factors.

## 3. AI will drive better quality of life

AI is revolutionizing the healthcare sector. Advancements include analyzing DNA for disease diagnosis and making it easier to develop treatments for rare diseases. In fact, “disease detection and diagnosis support” was the #1 response from The Good Hack participants when asked about the positive effects of AI on health and wellbeing (13%).

The report shares many more ways AI is transforming healthcare including powering [wearable devices](https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/wearables-the-future-of-health-and-wellness) to enable remote patient monitoring and enhancing hospital efficiency.

AI can also improve overall quality of life by playing a key role in climate change solutions, particularly the advancement of decarbonization and accelerating R&D in green technologies.

## 4. AI also poses risks to humans.

While AI holds the potential for many positive breakthroughs, it also carries considerable risks. We are already seeing the negative effects of AI’s influence in these spheres:

- **Misinformation and Manipulation**: AI increases the spread of misinformation, can generate factually incorrect or fabricated information, and can be manipulated to produce harmful or offensive content. 

- **Environmental Impact**: AI models require substantial computing power, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions. Data centers that support AI computations, also contribute significantly to global electricity demand and carbon emissions. This impact is expected to grow.

- **Job Automation and Inequality**: AI-powered automation poses a risk to many jobs, particularly ones involving repetitive tasks. Women are at a higher risk of job displacement because they work more often in administrative roles. In France alone, 1.4 million jobs could be augmented by AI.

## 5. More regulations are needed to encourage ethical AI development and protect people.

AI technologies carry significant ethical and privacy challenges, and there is an urgent need for regulations. AI's ability to analyze and cross-reference vast amounts of personal data is already leading to privacy violations, such as TikTok's €76 million settlement over unauthorized AI-driven data collection. 

Generative AI has also upended Intellectual Property structures, and the dispute over using copyrighted content to train AI models remains unresolved. Roland Berger’s survey found that “intellectual property” was the #2 response when VivaTech participants were asked about concerns over “AI and Trust.”

Roland Berger’s report also provides many proposed solutions to the potentially negative impacts of AI, including recommendations directly from The Good Hack participants. **Check out the [full report](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/Etude_HOW_IS_AI_CHANGING_OUR_LIVES_Viva_Tech_x_Roland_Berger_1d9d09fba7/Etude_HOW_IS_AI_CHANGING_OUR_LIVES_Viva_Tech_x_Roland_Berger_1d9d09fba7.pdf) for more insights**.

Be sure to [join us](https://vivatechnology.com/get-your-pass?ca=FPB7UCH5) at next year’s Good Hack during VivaTech 2025, where we’ll explore a new societal issue in the tech world. The theme will be **Tech as a Bridge: Closing the Rural-Urban Gap Together.** We look forward to seeing you in June!


How AI is Reshaping Our Lives: 5 Key Insights from Roland Berger’s AI Report

5 Key Insights from Roland Berger’s AI Report

News Feed

VivaStories

Albane Dersy, Female Founder Challenge winner at VivaTech 2024 and Inbolt co-founder, shares insights on their recent Series A success. 

![cofounders of inbolt and robot](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/inboltfounders2_3d900e0bad/inboltfounders2_3d900e0bad.jpg)
_Co-founders of Inbolt. From left: Rudy Cohen, Louis Dumas, Albane Dersy. Photo credit: Inbolt_

French startup [Inbolt](https://www.inbolt.com/) is giving robots "eyes and a brain" through cutting-edge 3D vision and AI technology. Their innovation is designed to automate complex tasks across industries like automotive and aerospace, allowing robots to adapt to environments originally designed for humans. This game-changing technology has not only attracted major clients like Stellantis, Ford, and Beko but also helped Inbolt secure €15 million in Series A funding in September.

Earlier this year, Albane Dersy, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of the startup won the 2024 VivaTech Female Founder Challenge, a milestone that boosted the company’s visibility with investors and showcased Inbolt’s leadership in robotics.

Between meetings in Italy, London, and Detroit, we caught up with Albane to hear more about their solution and what’s been going on with the startup since May.

## The Beginnings of Inbolt
Inbolt’s journey began when Albane Dersy and her co-founders Rudy Cohen and Louis Dumas met during their final year of a double degree program at Berkeley. It was a hands-on experience in a bus maintenance shop that sparked the idea behind Inbolt. "We were sent to see how things were done and identify a problem," Albane shared. "One of the things we saw was how hard it was for the manufacturing industry to hire, and their solution was often using robots."

However, robots come with limitations. "Robots are just blind machines," she explained. "You have to constrain the environment around them, but we wanted to add flexibility, so robots could work in environments designed for humans." This vision became the foundation for Inbolt’s 3D vision and AI-powered technology, making automation more accessible and adaptable for industries.

![albane dersy with robot](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/inboltproduct2_06ef920ff1/inboltproduct2_06ef920ff1.jpg)
_Inbolt’s 3D vision and AI for robot guidance. Photo credit: Inbolt_
## Five Years of Growth
In the first few months of running the Inbolt, Albane and her co-founders attended every event and startup competition they could find. In their first year, they exhibited with Thales at VivaTech 2019. “We wanted to gain more visibility and meet as many people as we could,” Albane explained. For a newly founded startup, understanding the market and identifying potential customers was critical.

Fast forward five years, and Inbolt has grown significantly. The French startup has adapted its technology to fit market needs and secured contracts with major players in the automotive industry. With their success building momentum, Albane applied for the Female Founder Challenge at VivaTech 2024, an initiative designed to spotlight women-led startups and provide networking opportunities with venture capitalists.

“I think the Female Founder Challenge is one of the best platforms we have in France in terms of marketing, communication, and visibility for female founders,” Albane shared. “The exposure before, during, and after is just so intense and there are so many things that you get out of the experience.”

On stage at VivaTech, Albane had the opportunity to share Inbolt’s vision with the crowd. “It was my time to give my biggest and grandest speech,” she recalled. Thinking back on their journey from exhibiting as a new startup in 2019 to standing on the main stage in 2024, Albane emphasized how far they had come. “We’ve grown so much in the past five years. We have customer traction and we know our market really well, and our target was the investors in the crowd. We made sure to take full advantage of that moment!”

![albane dersy pitching at vivatech](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/femalefoundermin_828a63b98a/femalefoundermin_828a63b98a.jpg)
_Albane Dersy pitching onstage at VivaTech 2024. Photo credit: VivaTech 2024_
## Journey to Series A Success
And the investors in the crowd were listening. Albane reflected on their progress since May, saying, “I remember the end of my pitch at VivaTech—‘we’re currently raising a Series A,’ which at the time was 11 or 12 million. In the end, it’s more, so we’re really happy!” Securing €15 million in Series A funding was the result of months of dedicated effort.

This funding marks a major milestone for Inbolt, enabling them to meet the skyrocketing demand from clients in the automotive industry, including giants like Tesla, Volvo, and Beko. “We’re rolling out our solution in 20 factories across Europe, the U.S., and Japan,” Albane shared. “We’re opening an office in Detroit, Michigan this year, and in 2025, we’ll launch one in Tokyo, Japan. We have big customer requests, and we need to be there for them.”

While these new offices will help Inbolt stay connected with clients, they also bring challenges. “For us, it's really important to have local points of contact, which means hiring local teams. So it's a lot of remote hiring at the moment, but I'm moving out to the US to manage the American office,” she explained.

She also noted that R&D remains a key focus. “Our product is great, but it can’t do everything we envision on the factory floor yet. We’re constantly working on R&D and adding new capabilities to our AI to solve more automation challenges.”

## Looking Ahead: A Path to Global Impact
Inbolt’s journey from a university project to securing €15 million in Series A funding is a testament to their innovation and resilience. With rapid expansion plans and a commitment to advancing its AI-driven robot guidance technology, the startup is poised to revolutionize industries on a global scale. 

Albane Dersy’s leadership has been instrumental in driving Inbolt’s success and positioning the startup for continued growth and impact. We wish this Female Founder Challenge winner all the best in the years ahead and look forward to witnessing Inbolt’s next milestones.


Inbolt’s Vision for Robots Just Got a €15M Boost

Inbolt Just Got a €15M Boost

A last-minute application for a collaboration of a lifetime. Startup ChatLabs and LVMH share about their work since last year’s LVMH Innovation Award.

![Headshot of Laetitia Roche-Grenet and Michel Tjoeng](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/lvmhchatlabs_28de8aa49c/lvmhchatlabs_28de8aa49c.jpg)
One of the 18 finalists of the [LVMH Innovation Award](https://vivatechnology.com/challenges/lvmh) in 2023, startup ChatLabs started its acceleration last fall in La Maison de Startups, LVMH’s startups’ accelerator based in Paris at Station F. We caught up with the co-founder of ChatLabs Michel Tjoeng and Vice President of Open Innovation at LVMH Laetitia Roche-Grenet to hear about how the collaboration has been going. 
## Captivating Consumers with AI 
Harnessing the power of AI, startup ChatLabs addresses the evolving landscape of consumer behavior, particularly in the luxury industry, where decision-making has shifted significantly toward social media platforms. 

Co-founder Michel Tjoeng compares the ChatLabs shopping experience with a personal shopper, jumping outside of traditional methods. “We don’t ask ‘What's the best product recommendation for a 16-year-old in New York?’ We don't care about the demographic. We care about the context of their shopping experience. How do I best guide that person and how do I tell the story of the brand in a way that they’ll reciprocate? 

“Think of TikTok and Instagram feeds. Every person has their own feed. Your feed is different from your friend’s feed. We are already used to hyper-personalization, but for some reason, websites have not caught up to the fact that algorithms can give a better customer experience than manually curated websites.”

By bridging the gap between social media and the Maisons, ChatLabs enhances the overall consumer experience, leading to increased commercial success and improved return on investment for brands.

## The Rush to Apply
With a background in retail and luxury brands, Michel had been experimenting with social commerce for a couple of years, trying to figure out how to boost customer buying experiences, but it didn’t always integrate AI.

“To do hyper-personalization at scale in 0.3 milliseconds when someone swipes you need a very clever model that can analyze data and make decisions in a microsecond. So we decided to use AI for this.”

It was at this moment, after conversations with several luxury brands about their solution that Michel decided to apply for the Innovation Award. 

“We’d already built a prototype and we already had a customer with great success. And then, some of the Maisons from LVMH talked to me about the LVMH Innovation Award at VivaTech and suggested I apply.” The deadline was in a week and a half.

After throwing together a pitch deck of mostly screenshots and bullet points, Michel applied right before the deadline. “It was not super polished. It was a bit of a rushed application. Luckily, the team of Laetitia saw through the chaos that I submitted and saw a spark of opportunity and innovation with ChatLabs.”

![LVMH winners on stage at VT](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/MARIE_ROUGE_0085_03d1df1278/MARIE_ROUGE_0085_03d1df1278.jpg)
_2023 LVMH Innovation Award ceremony at VivaTech. Photo credit: Marie Rouge_ 
## LVMH, a Legacy of Innovation
Since 2017, the LVMH Innovation Award has put the spotlight on the best global startups. Winners each year enter the acceleration program [La Maison des Startups LVMH](https://lamaisondesstartups.lvmh.com/) in Station F in Paris and have the opportunity to build successful collaborations with some of LVMH’s 75 Maisons.

When thinking about innovation and tech, luxury isn’t one of the first industries that comes to mind, but for Laetitia Roche-Grenet, innovation has been at the heart of LVMH since its beginnings. 

“Let's take the example of baggage today. Back in the day, people used to have trunks, like huge trunks. But times had changed and we started having cars, so we invented different-sized baggage that were flatter and this was super innovative. Now we have connected baggage. And maybe one day we’ll have baggage that will go to the moon.”

“At LVMH we have this very particular story of craftsmanship and we have many ways to do innovation. We have an intrapreneurial initiative within the Group, meaning that any employee with an innovative idea can incubate a project internally. It’s a big asset for a Group where creativity and excellence matter.

“We also have the LVMH Innovation Award, which is a way for us to detect innovative startups that fit different use cases. The winners are then included in a 10-month acceleration program and they end up collaborating with a lot of LVMH’s Maisons”.

Every year, the Group receives thousands of applications for the Awards. Luckily, Michel’s team got his application in on time. “ChatLabs project was an answer to one of the major topics that we wanted to work on last year,” Laetitia emphasized. 

## An Experience Like No Other
For Michel, the opportunity to exhibit his startup with the world leader in luxury like LVMH at VivaTech was tremendous. “It’s impossible not to stop by the LVMH booth when you are at VivaTech. So we were super busy and got a lot of exposure. I lost my voice within 24 hours with the amount of speaking we were doing.”

“And after an event like that, you're on a high, like we're going to take over the world, going to change everything. We had some downtime in August and then the acceleration program begins in September.”

Michel highlighted the comprehensive support provided by LVMH in the program, emphasizing the decentralized nature of LVMH, which fosters innovation but also presents challenges. In navigating this complex ecosystem, understanding different stakeholders, and adapting strategies accordingly, Michel had to learn to prioritize early on.

![co-founder of chatlabs accepting lvmh innovation award](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/photo_michel_da7625599d/photo_michel_da7625599d.jpg)
_Co-founder of ChatLabs Michel Tjoeng accepting the LVMH Innovation Award in 2023. Photo credit: VivaTech_ 
## Contagious Success  
Through the acceleration program, LVMH organizes events and workshops for the startups, sets up meetings with different Maisons, and connects them with the right people in the Group. 

“During the ten-month program, we help startups make connections with a lot of different people. We make them understand the different ways to talk because how you talk with Sephora and Dior is very different. So we help them really navigate inside the ecosystem and inside the luxury world,” Laetitia explained.

In the first few months of the program, ChatLabs connected with a specific Maison intrigued by the potential of a test run for their holiday campaign. Exceeding anticipated KPIs, the successful collaboration led to an ongoing partnership between ChatLabs and the Maison, with exciting new projects currently in progress.

“This is the type of success that becomes viral in LVMH,” Laetitia added. “We are competitive: once a startup has a success story, other Maisons become interested in them. Success is contagious at that point.” 

“It’s really just the beginning of the story with us and LVMH,” Michel concluded. “We’ll be showcasing what we’ve been working on in the last year with this collaboration at VivaTech this year. Everyone better come to check it out!” 

“My job is to make startup’s dreams become reality and make them match with those of LVMH, and by working together, we can invent the world of tomorrow,” Laetitia expressed. “We are really quite lucky because, with the support of startups, we can be more sustainable, inclusive, resourceful, and efficient.

## Don't Miss It
As VivaTech approaches, [seize the opportunity](https://vivatechnology.com/get-your-pass?ca=FPB7UCH5) to witness firsthand ChatLab's AI-powered experience and explore the dynamic LVMH ecosystem. And keep an eye out for this year's LVMH Innovation Award winners, to be announced on May 23rd at 10 am on Stage One with the presence of Bernard Arnault, Chairman & CEO of LVMH.




LVMH x ChatLabs: A Story of Serendipitous Collaboration

LVMH x ChatLabs

From their big debut at VivaTech 2023 to collaborating with industry giants like Amazon, witness how startup Jumbo Mana breathes life into characters using interactive AI.

![Virtual Van Gogh speaking to the camera](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/jumbomana_vangogh_119eac14c5/jumbomana_vangogh_119eac14c5.jpg)
_Photo credit: Jumbo Mana_ 

Picture drinking your morning coffee while chatting with Vincent Van Gogh about the weather. Sound impossible? Thanks to AI-powered startup [Jumbo Mana](https://www.jumbomana.com/), this is a reality!

Specializing in generative AI human behavior, the Strasbourg-based startup has created a living character of Van Gogh thanks to a collection of over 900 letters that the Dutch painter wrote himself. This rare treasure trove of personal material made Van Gogh the perfect subject for CEO Christophe Renaudineau's AI research.

## The Big Debut
Founded in 2022, Jumbo Mana chose to share its technology with the world for the first time at VivaTech in 2023. 

Thanks to the publicity at the event, Jumbo Mana had over 200 articles written about their technology. **“There really was a before and after VivaTech for our company,”** Renaudineau explained. “We had no clients before. Now we are known and have commercial partnerships with several companies.”

With an innovative product and a compelling pitch, Jumbo Mana quickly garnered attention, laying the groundwork for their subsequent success, including partnerships with Amazon and other French and international key accounts. 

![Woman talking with Van Gogh at VT23](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/BR_4_A2958_9141fd4d54/BR_4_A2958_9141fd4d54.jpg)
_Rima Abdul Malak, French Minister of Culture, talking with Van Gogh at VivaTech 2023. Photo credit: VivaTech_ 
## Bringing Van Gogh to every French home
This month, the Bonjour Vincent skill will be released on Amazon Alexa. Renaudineau highlighted the strategic alignment between the startup’s solution and Amazon's commitment to customer-centric innovation. 

"**Partnering with Amazon opens doors to new opportunities and accelerates our growth trajectory,**" he affirms. “The strength of our AI is it’s not a question-answer system, it's a real conversation. So you can talk about what you want with Van Gogh. You can discuss the weather, the seasons, painting, and really any subject that you want with Van Gogh.

“For example, Van Gogh visited Paris in his lifetime. So, we can talk with him about the Eiffel Tower, Le Louvre, the Luxembourg Gardens, etc. And have a real conversation, like you talk to an old man or old friend.”

## Traveling With Jumbo Mana Living Characters
In addition to their collaboration with Amazon, Jumbo Mana sealed a strategic partnership with a French transportation actor, a testament to the versatility and scalability of their solutions.

For this partnership, Jumbo Mana is working on a use case to bring their technology to life in the form of  interactive avatars. “It will be used for example in welcoming agents to help travelers in airports or subway stations to get information in real-time and to help them to navigate in the airport or station.”

[Check out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yA1kv5BwdM&t=2s) what these interactive avatars look like.

## AI Acceleration
Reflecting on their debut at VivaTech, Renaudineau recounts the engaging atmosphere and the invaluable connections forged during the event. "**VivaTech provided us with a platform to showcase our AI solution and connect with industry leaders**," he remarked. "The event opened doors for us, enabling conversations with potential partners."

We’re looking forward to seeing what this gen AI startup will come up with next. 

Want to spark your own success story? [Book your pass](https://vivatechnology.com/get-your-pass?ca=FPB7UCH5) to VivaTech 2024!



From Canvas to Conversation: Reviving Van Gogh with AI

Reviving Van Gogh with AI

A sticker is reducing food waste and raising millions from investors. Moody Soliman, CEO of Ryp Labs, shared insights on the startup’s progress since VivaTech 2023.

![ripple effect.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/ripple_effect_3608243dc7/ripple_effect_3608243dc7.jpg)
## Produce is getting a longer life expectancy
[Ryp Labs](https://www.ryplabs.com/) has developed a sticker that creates a protective layer around fruits and vegetables to slow down over-ripening and spoilage – minimizing food waste at every stage of the supply chain. 

“We consider ourselves a food protection and waste reduction company,” explained Moody Soliman, the Seattle-based startup’s CEO. “Our mission is to end global food waste by using safe, sustainable, and plant-based technology. We can extend the shelf life of fresh produce anywhere from 40 to 100 percent.”

## An event for impact
Soliman and four team members from Ryp Labs attended VivaTech in 2023 on the Impact Mile, the event’s exclusive selection of tech aiming to build a sustainable future. 

Even though he lost his voice on the third day, Soliman and the team pitched their solution to VivaTech’s 150,000 attendees during the four-day event. “[Exhibiting on the Impact Mile] was a really great, engaging experience. We had visitors at our booth throughout the whole day for the entire event,” Soliman said.

![BR4A5038.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/BR_4_A5038_d9f27cc9e1/BR_4_A5038_d9f27cc9e1.jpg)
_Ryp Labs booth at VivaTech 2023. Photo credit: VivaTech_ 
## Building an international network
Following the event last June, the startup’s inbox was full of follow-up requests for interviews and product samples from new connections around the world. 

“That was one of the biggest differentiators between VivaTech and other conferences,” explained Soliman. “Usually, if we attend a conference in Spain, France, or anywhere else, we get a lot of interest locally or maybe from the surrounding region. But with VivaTech, we got requests from Qatar, Iran, Chile, and other European countries from people who had seen us at the event.”

“We were able to grow our network quite a bit from an investment standpoint and then potential customers or clients as well,” he added. 

## On the road to $8.1 million
At the end of 2023, Ryp Labs led a fundraising campaign for a Series A. With an original goal of $7.5 million, the startup ended up closing well over this objective with a total of [$8.1 million](https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/11/22/ryp-labs-funding-food-waste). 

“Indirectly, [VivaTech] absolutely contributed to this,” Soliman told us. “We were just going into the summer and it gave us a lot of momentum carrying the fundraiser through the summer and closing.”

“We're quite strategic about which conferences we go to because we're a small team. So we went to VivaTech for a lot of different reasons, for the potential of meeting investors, customers, and whatnot. But also for the visibility and the momentum that it will result in.”

![BR4A5031.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/BR_4_A5031_e921888477/BR_4_A5031_e921888477.jpg)
_The difference a Ryp Labs sticker can make in food spoilage. Photo credit: VivaTech_ 
## Everyone’s got rotting strawberries
With a large sum to work with, Ryp Labs now has room to grow. They plan on using the funds raised for a commercial launch of the food stickers. 

While their technology is marketed towards a B2B market, everyday consumers see a need for it. “We’ve all had a box of strawberries that starts rotting in our refrigerators after just one day. What we do resonates with a lot of people,” Soliman observed. 

“We're starting with a soft launch with a focus on strawberries,” he said. “And continuing our product development and R&D work for other product lines coming soon.” 

## Soliman’s advice for first-timers
Ryp Labs' global exposure growth is a great example of the VivaTech ripple effect. Now with one VivaTech under his belt, we asked the CEO for his advice on navigating the event as a first-time exhibitor. 

“Pack some honey, so you don't lose your voice,” he laughed. “You’ll be doing plenty of talking. But also plan on having more than one team member and ideally at least like three people, because during the busy hours, you're getting pulled in all different directions. But just be ready for some fun, engaging few days from start to finish.” 


Want to spark your own startup success story? [Book your pass](https://vivatechnology.com/get-your-pass?ca=FPB7UCH5) for VivaTech 2024.



VivaTech Ripple Effect: Ryp Labs' Journey to $8.1M

Ryp Labs' Journey to $8.1M

Explore the future of tech through the lens of three VivaTech startup alumni – Facil’iti, Notpla, and Billiv. We dive into their stories of accessibility, sustainability, and digital innovation. 

![carbon-hub-seaweed-feature-image.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/carbon_hub_seaweed_feature_image_9cf4b5895e/carbon_hub_seaweed_feature_image_9cf4b5895e.jpg)

Photo credit: Carbon Hub

VivaTech isn't just a stage but a catalyst that propels startups to succeed. So it’s no surprise that startup success stories are our favorite kind of stories.

We delve into the transformative tales of three startup alumni, each of whom is leaving their mark on the tech sector. Let’s unravel the narratives of Facil’iti, Notpla, and Billiv.

![faciliti-e1638376795273.jpeg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/faciliti_e1638376795273_c7596bcd10/faciliti_e1638376795273_c7596bcd10.jpeg)
Adapting a website with Facil’iti. Photo credit: Facil’iti
## Facil’iti: Revolutionizing Web Accessibility
If you’re reading this article without needing to adapt your screen, you aren’t part of the [one-quarter](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516570) of the world’s population who has trouble reading screens. In an era where digital presence is non-negotiable, startup [Facil’iti](https://www.facil-iti.com/) is making browsing the web more accessible.

Facil’iti is a UX personalization solution that adapts the display of a website for people who have a vision, mobility, or cognitive issues. We interviewed Yves Cornu, Managing Director of Facil’iti, to learn more about the solution. 

“We found that according to the World Health Organization, a quarter of the world's population has problems due to age, disease, or disability. And just by adapting the way a website is displayed, we can help them.”

“We came to VivaTech for the first time in 2018 as part of the TF1 lab. The company was only 6 months old, but we won an award as startup of the year. And we’ve been coming to the event every year since.”

Fans of competition, the startup applied for a Tech for Good award at VivaTech two years ago and walked away as winners. This moment got the VivaTech team’s attention and sparked a collaboration for our very own website. 

Try it out for yourself: click the red icon of a paper boat on the top right-hand corner of our website. Parkinson’s Disease Mode enlarges and spaces clickable areas, Senior Mode increases text size and changes font, and Photosensitive Epilepsy Mode stops animated content. Facil’iti’s tool is an innovative way to allow even more internet users to access information on the web. Even if you don’t have a vision impairment you can change the website to night mode or visual fatigue saver. 

Always continuing to innovate, Facil’iti launched just this year a new app, specifically designed for children with dyslexia. “We are still in the discussion process with French and international companies from Brazil and Japan, but we got a lot of contacts at this year’s VivaTech. We have always had great leads here,” concluded Cornu.

We’re delighted to be able to work with the Facil’iti team and encourage their journey toward making the internet an inclusive space where no one is left behind.

![BR4A4029.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/BR_4_A4029_a28adad50b/BR_4_A4029_a28adad50b.jpg)
Attendee trying Notpla’s Ooho bubble. Photo credit: VivaTech
## Notpla: Transforming the Narrative Around Packaging
Plastic is a worldwide problem. Thanks to [Notpla](https://www.notpla.com/), seaweed might be the solution. First-time startup participant at VivaTech 2023, Notpla caught the attention of attendees with their mission to replace single-use plastic through innovative material solutions derived from seaweed.

Under the oceans, there are abundant forests of seaweed. It grows quickly and needs no freshwater, land, or fertilizer. What’s more, it naturally captures carbon and makes the surrounding waters less acidic. No wonder Notpla chose to harness this super plant to combat our plastics problem. 

The startup has created solutions for packaging foods, drinks, care products, and more. While some are edible, some compostable, and some dissolve in water, they all disintegrate into nature without any harmful traces. Our attendees were especially enamored by their Ooho edible bubbles pictured above.

Niall Russell, Head of Marketing at Notpla shared insights into their achievements at VivaTech. “Receiving tours with VIP groups from global brands was a real highlight for us, being able to pitch Notpla and our plastic-free solutions to the people who are willing and able to make change on a big scale,” Russell told us.

“We found the event to be a great experience for connecting with some key industry figures,” he continued. “We were able to connect with a handful of great decision makers in consumer brands who we're still in conversation with, exploring ways to reduce plastic across their businesses' packaging through our Innovation Lab.”

We can’t wait to see just how far this innovative plastic-free startup will take the seaweed game. 

![DSC0531-min.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/_vt-prd/medias/DSC_0531_min_67cffe4d38/DSC_0531_min_67cffe4d38.jpg)
The Billiv team at VivaTech 2023. Photo credit: VivaTech
## Billiv: Redefining Digital Transactions
Say goodbye to unwanted receipts. French startup [Billiv](https://www.billiv.fr/) has created a sustainable way to receive your receipts from purchases without having to sign up or give any contact information.

Many e-receipt options already exist, the most frequent being a simple email. While this option gets rid of paper waste, customers must give up their data in exchange for this service. Thanks to Billiv you pay like you normally would, scan a QR code to receive the receipt on your phone, and that’s it!

Billiv ventured into the halls of VivaTech in 2022 for the first time. This year, we interviewed Nicolas Guinot, Head of Sales at Guinot, to find out about their experience. 

“Last year we had the chance to meet some amazing companies like McDonalds, Clarins, and others that allowed us to understand the market and then improve our solution. This allowed us to sign some important contracts just after VivaTech last year,” Guinot shared.

The French waste reduction law, in effect in August 2023, put an end to businesses automatically printing receipts for customers. With the aim of limiting waste, numerous corporate companies were interested in finding a new way of managing these transactions in a better way. 

When asked about their return to VivaTech for the second year, Nicolas highlighted the unparalleled visibility the event offers. “There are more and more competitors that do what we do. So being at VivaTech is important to show to others that we are present in the ecosystem and to show what we’re able to do and obviously to search for leads for potential customers,” Guinot explained to us. 

In a landscape where digital transactions are evolving, Billiv is entering the game and making a lasting impact on the future of sustainable and efficient financial transactions.

## New Frontiers
Through the lens of Facil’iti, Notpla, and Billiv, we've glimpsed into the future of technology—where inclusivity, sustainability, and efficiency converge to shape new frontiers in their respective sectors.

Are you a startup innovating in a new way? Want to spark your own VivaStory? [Pre-register](https://subscribe.vivatechnology.com/savethedate) for VivaTech 2024!




3 VivaTech Alumni Exploring New Tech Frontiers

3 Alumni Exploring New Tech

The one-stop platform from SeedLegals eases founders&quote; most common headaches by helping startups conquer legal challenges. Read about SeedLegal’s VivaStory, the success stories of VivaTech alumni. 

&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized image-style-align-center" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/zf3o8-ChpP5bHxF63e0vPlb3zTQDxD6xawwW8198kAkbdooy5FkirL7aFoTD9ThXUdJHS9BohrVKsartGSdLb6ED9lmkI3OF-aqMuqBRuR3H_QngbKrlIA9Cz53RgrYYk0W3XAFcmOFZ-CXkCRiCE4Y" alt="seedlegals startup talk"></figure>Source: SeedLegalsThe greatest business leaders, startups, investors, researchers, and innovators come together at VivaTech to find their crowd every year. The result$1 Partnerships are created, business deals are closed, startup funds are raised, and new talent is recruited. These are what we call VivaStories. &nbsp;Company:&nbsp;<a href="https://seedlegals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SeedLegals</a>Sector: Legal ServicesHQ: London, UKYear founded: 2016Who we interviewed: Florent Artaud, Country Manager of France&nbsp; &nbsp;<h2>Startup Story</h2>Entrepreneur Anthony Rose and angel investor Laurent Laffy met in 2016 at a party and found they had one thing in common: they were both fed up with startup financing rounds taking months to negotiate and spending outrageous sums of money on attorneys for the same legal paperwork at every round.&nbsp;They decided to create SeedLegals:&nbsp;a platform to help founders and investors easily create, negotiate, and sign all the legal agreements needed for a funding round. Launched in 2016 in the UK, SeedLegals is changing the game for startups’ legal processes.&nbsp;“I met SeedLegals in 2019 after they raised a Series A round. They planned to use the funds to expand the business internationally and decided to start with France,” Florent Artaud, SeedLegals Country Manager of France, explained to us.“I am a lawyer by trade. I was working with another startup and found the idea of facilitating the legal aspects surrounding entrepreneurship really interesting. We launched in the French market in 2020, just before Covid which was pretty tough, but it went really well in the end.”SeedLegals has now helped more than 50,000 startups around the globe. What’s more,&nbsp;one in six funding rounds in the UK are now closed through SeedLegals.&nbsp; &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/9vPWImiL3nqQPITkaJq5cA4si_2hx4E2NG1J62iiJ4PTnvkmSSR6tnOsVzxuoyxLIz--iZcdZRXzdgzRgZ6pEh1Vn1fRP7gWcSVGU7J0NB-K2IC0RiWWV2ULQ5WRJl1rqB5epbDz7KQOtsfRzaQorlg" alt="SeedLegals team at VivaTech 2023">SeedLegals team at VivaTech. Source: VivaTech<h2>VivaStory</h2>In 2022, the SeedLegals team ventured into VivaTech for the first time. “When we came last year, it was incredible. There were so many startups, amazing entrepreneurs, and cool projects to see,” Florent remarked.&nbsp;In addition to getting wowed by the event, SeedLegals made their mark on fellow startups. “We met several startups who of course didn’t know about us so we got great leads. We ended up working with a lot of them!”&nbsp;“We also met&nbsp;<a href="https://monjuridique.infogreffe.fr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MonJuridique</a> which is a company that handles other companies’ registries.” Soon after the event, a partnership bloomed between the two legal startups. &nbsp;<h2>2023: A year for even more connections</h2>Back for another round of VivaTech in 2023, the SeedLegals team was ready for more action. “We were so keen to come back this year to meet potential customers, bring more awareness to our brand, and explain what we do here in France and the UK,” Florent expressed.&nbsp;After four days of networking, pitching, and conversations, the team walked away with:&nbsp;<ul><li>50+ meetings with startups to discuss their project and how SeedLegals can help them with their fundraising, options, and more</li><li>New clients using the platform after their very first discussion at VivaTech&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Many discussions with partners, especially one with Schoolab which led to a webinar held in September on&nbsp;<a href="https://t.sidekickopen26.com/Ctc/GB+23284/cmdFk04/Jl22-6qcW7lCdLW6lZ3p8W5jCp9b6xQy8LW3K1ttQ4w-YG4W7L9Pq47fMMWjW2-_gXC7jNfVwN8sJkd4l0LtYVvZRJL1c6-sCVqr6Jb3XgGl1W53wW1B5h4hMbW3K4lDy7F5TjDW916s8Y3nfZZdW478Mmt4lDfynW3dkX_72LRV0FW1Pcm_g6g_wbkW8Xs3pw6XgKQ2W2QgzBc7q_d7QW8Sht9r3tqLfbW6ctbDM7vxBJBW30rbSC4FWRDyV_wSqV6fp26sW814x-321s_9JN5gfnKRVCkFjW7dyzFV9hhS4GW5-cJXP6N6T-7W43_xMl4d_n6bf3Tz7zC04" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to Raise Funds in a Difficult Environment</a></li></ul>Not bad for only a few days of work. “Overall it was an amazing experience. The team is really keen to attend the event next year,” Florent told us. &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/KVFFL2dZieNJ7PchEUU9BI33Xn1z1BJE_opwg1TfLh-lAUYz2maK8pPALFR_PyJ1VM6GbkG0Ig4kyC8B-UF6s9L7_3sorszOGO6xBR29otdtlUVHFAjIjotFcntZWmO5hoRjMyYVg3lW5W7V1NOsKio" alt="SeedLegals team photo">The SeedLegals team. Photo credit: SeedLegals<h2>Words of wisdom</h2>Now a two-time VivaTech alum, Seedlegals has advice for startups coming to the event for the very first time.&nbsp;“Prepare in advance,” Florent warned. “It is a massive event. There are many companies you can meet here ranging from pre-seed startups to big corporations and public associations all relating to the tech ecosystem. Decide beforehand who you might want to meet with. Set up meetings if you can so you can make the most of your time at VivaTech.” &nbsp;<h2>Onward bound</h2>From the spark of an idea at a party to a full-grown business that’s helping other startups conquer legal challenges, SeedLegals is truly transforming the way companies start, grow, and scale. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for them over the next few years and how they’ll empower even more VivaTech alumni.&nbsp;&nbsp;Want to spark your own success story$2&nbsp;<a href="https://subscribe.vivatechnology.com/savethedate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pre-register</a> for VivaTech 2024.&nbsp;Discover the VivaStories you may have missed: Find out how&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/we-signed-our-first-contract-right-after-vivatech---hd-rains-vivastory" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HD Rain</a> signed their first contract,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/jooks-tech-twist-on-sporty-sightseeing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jooks</a> landed a deal with the city of Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/green-score-capital-an-out-of-this-world-vivastory" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Score Capital</a> created their first partnership. &nbsp;

SeedLegals: The Startup Empowering All Startups

The Startup Empowering All Startups

Startup JOOKS allows you to discover hundreds of cities around the world while running, walking, cycling, or wheelchairing. Read about JOOKS’ VivaStory – the success stories of VivaTech startup alumni. 

<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/vBig7ymlNeINso0IYeoQE95f3T2hGL7YgdZKDa_mNwvJhjMTWff4Cpp9JQVSLBv0TssGxMaRgljhvehl88s111iZtRuf7Q6iP_JK1I_Dw8S1tPg1SpwUjxv0YM-8-g8aNnQ7pgwgORm_YM_EA-5KmO4">Source: JOOKSThe greatest business leaders, startups, investors, researchers, and innovators come together at VivaTech to find their crowd every year. The result$1 New partnerships are created, business deals are closed, startup funds are raised, and new talent is recruited. These are what we call VivaStories.Learn about JOOKS’ VivaStory and how they landed a deal with the city of Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games.&nbsp;Company:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jooks.app/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JOOKS</a>Sector: Sport Tourism&nbsp;HQ: Champagne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, FranceYear founded: 2016Who we interviewed: Christophe Minodier, Co-founder&nbsp;<h2>Startup Story</h2>Discover new cities around the world in the same way you’d use an audio guide at a museum. That’s the solution co-founders Christophe Minodier and Olivier Lebleu created with their startup JOOKS.&nbsp;“I was traveling a lot with my co-founder for work and we were searching for a solution that would show us the main points of interest in a new city in a fun way and we didn’t find any,” explained Christophe Minodier. “So that’s why we said why don’t we make it ourselves$2”When the two sportsmen put their heads together, they knew their solution had to evolve around the three things they needed on every business trip: de-stressing, staying fit, and discovering the city they were in.In 2016, JOOKS was born. “Our app allows users to discover cities around the world while walking, running, cycling, or wheelchairing,” Minodier said. “We provide routes and this allows users to discover the main interests of a city. As they pass by, there is commentary on the points of interest. It’s like an audio guide at a museum, but outside and everywhere.” &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/t3yLVomUlbL7EhE_E4bAJtIWyYaCxygbcLGJPwQVYO6k7k4qEU5F0spe6opTOOB2_rC_pScbMUZTmTKy_ceQIKBVHfh9EECLH5-MMpPlQG8QxDuCTjFqcIwK76PsEo1cw_snpxWm06Qrn6KQoLrDrO0">Source: Ownsport<h2>So, where should our VivaTech team go for a run in Paris with JOOKS$3</h2>“You will find 83 routes in Paris, which means you have a huge choice, you’ll find a route everywhere in Paris in order to discover every little part of the city. It’s quite incredible,” Minodier suggested.From historical-themed runs linking the places Napoleon Bonaparte left his influence on Paris to scenic runs along the Seine River, we have our pick of trails to choose from for the next team building. Now present in 50+ countries, JOOKS offers over 1,300 routes. Users put in their headphones and the app does the rest. &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ePWlXlRzHyiA1YM4oIM-OH_hhvmagW2eKXwhEmYAkj0rYdkZdl5paVtD2Wyjugu4ae4EZQPvQY2zDsi3RjU1KWWuq1twTGh8jDE46dY2YfWFxO-zAUP4cZ5elxqOaXNgZcg0WCvOzectEDY7_w2Sh58">JOOKS stand at VivaTech 2023. Source: VivaTech<h2>What brought JOOKS to VivaTech$4</h2>“I came to VivaTech four years ago to present our product as a brand-new startup.” Since then, Minodier and his team have been back to several VivaTech editions. “We have had the chance to meet a large number of prospective customers, both in product categories we already offer and for future developments. We&quote;re very excited about launching these projects.”“For example, the city of Paris has formalized our partnership with the creation of discovery routes within JOOKS, enabling tourists and residents to explore the city during and after the Olympic Games.”“We are also working with large companies such as RATP as well as Air France. This is proof that VivaTech is a place where we can meet great contacts and accelerate a decision to start working with a company.”“Overall, Viva Tech was a great success for us, and we&quote;re looking forward to 2024!” Minodier added.&nbsp;Get moving in your city, check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jooks.app/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JOOKS</a> app.&nbsp;Want to spark your own VivaStory$5 Pre-register for VivaTech 2024&nbsp;<a href="https://subscribe.vivatechnology.com/savethedate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HERE</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;

JOOKS' Tech Twist on Sporty Sightseeing

A Tech Twist on Sporty Sightseeing

The success stories of startups participating at VivaTech.

<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C4k4mvQFfhZ0h_PmosfAMnpRs-Wr3GieSqrIrZGv42XskzEHGb2T-4wyYVXDgWawrlun6Dd1Z5VPbv9Utp_VSrKx9hhd10NiQnyMRmYpbDNdqhzmAC5LHI6d92Yokfk3IdZvP25iZeQi__CSp0WCJXHBky5EuiWFJzas76YZHYaiAo5od45SJdhuI_2FA">Bertrand Lepage, WattPark CEO. Photo credit: VivaTechWhen the right people meet at the right time, conversations start, ideas are born and partnerships are made. Thousands of startups, investors, media, and partners come together at VivaTech to find their crowd every year. And when they do, some pretty inspiring VivaStories come out of it. We found some exciting ones that hit home this year.&nbsp;&nbsp;Company:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wattpark.eu/en/">WattPark</a>Sector: Mobility, transportationHQ: Saclas, FranceYear founded:&nbsp;2020Who we interviewed: Bertrand Lepage, CEO&nbsp;<h2>Startup Story</h2>Airbnb raised the bar for successful C2C platforms in 2008. Now comes the revolution for the electric charging stations market. French startup&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wattpark.eu/en/">WattPark</a> has designed the first ever bookable and monetizable charge point for electric vehicles (EV). People with an extra parking space and access to an electric outlet can rent out their space for EV owners needing a charge.&nbsp;Charging station owners have control over the price per hour, availability, who can use it for free (like employees, or visitors), and when to cash out their earnings. Fully controlled by a mobile application, the charging unit doesn’t need a connection to the internet, which means it can be located anywhere.&nbsp;<h2>Charging up success</h2>Setting their sights on an ambitious future, WattPark applied in 2020 to be evaluated for a&nbsp;<a href="https://solarimpulse.com/">Solar Impulse</a> Efficient Solution Label, awarded to companies that pass a rigorous evaluation process. It aims to shed light on economically viable solutions that protect the environment. WattPark earned their&nbsp;<a href="https://solarimpulse.com/solutions-explorer-fr/wattpark">label</a> in May 2022.“We were one of the thousand solutions selected by the Solar Impulse Foundation in 2020. Among them, we got invited as one of only 10 other startups to go to VivaTech in 2021. The foundation had a big booth, so we had the chance to showcase WattPark and talk to many key stakeholders in our ecosystem,”&nbsp;Bertrand Lepage, CEO of WattPark explained. &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/m9tnDyu_9URZyCWvq9Du2xmRoVuiVS5Ay8e0u9zyMkCAl44_LYkVOvQgCQjJFI8lqWltewS5bdeJNkP84eUKE2hl_LF--Ikyl2cSg4aDDFvbQ-CO2GDHxSoBflRTJH5-tsg3qQaKapT8YIs8ecQFPIhYc5ekuOT4ZgqyDhgLnhjk33pV8eWaT7naI_4zfA">WattPark’s charging station outlet. Photo credit: VivaTech<h2>Supercharged relationships</h2>Through the hundreds of chats during the four days of VivaTech, WattPark got to meet many politicians, tech leaders, and other innovators like them.&nbsp;“VivaTech is a place where you meet so many people that you don&quote;t get to interact with on a daily basis,” Lepage said. “There are executive committees, just wandering around all day. If I’m totally transparent, I am an introverted person, but VivaTech creates this kind of environment that makes it feel safe to approach those people. They&quote;re here to talk to you. It&quote;s a safe space to create those connections.”Besides getting to meet personalities like Bertrand Piccard, renowned explorer and founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation, and Bruno Le Maire and Cedric O, two French Government Ministers, WattPark also got to meet some important players from the Parisian regional government.“We met with the Prefect of the Île de France [the region surrounding Paris] and they were so into the solution that we ended up making a deal with them to put 50 WattPark charging stations across the entire region. That was just one deal for us that year, but it was huge for us in terms of politics and communication.”&nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/neZCfeP9l4CmM77pSPYTPsu7MGbs_09DKroVmkXxxQ5L4vOHcDSPM_Ee-8naR4cY4TMc_s8LLx_CyWTrzSghplJKDDvt-tvmWQyJlM1RLbJHXfBLphgmGvfY2PWbXElvEBDqlX8-PNa_KFu7cxj3RkiMEWUFRoklBGxzUxHXs3ZBFrezrvbt3rS_IIKhCA">Marc Lepage, President of WattPark with the first charging station at the Préfecture de Paris. Photo credit: Préfecture de Paris<h2>2022: A year to ramp up</h2>After an exciting year of wins for the French startup, 2022 was a year of partnerships and pushing their technology further. They opened their first manufacturing plant and aimed to manufacture at least 6,000 units in 2022.“We are really ramping up production this year. By 2023 we want to manufacture more than 30,000 charging stations just to address the colossal demand that we already have received,” explained Lepage.In June of 2022, WattPark was invited back to VivaTech, but with a new partner. Renault,&nbsp; France’s largest automobile manufacturer, had the EV charging startup exhibiting on their stand.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>WattPark’s advice for first-time VivaTech startups&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>“Just be as open as possible. I don&quote;t know any other events where we can have these kinds of exchanges and you just need to enjoy those four days because it goes fast. You meet so many startups that you could do partnerships with. But you only have four days to find collaborations. So being open to new connections, that&quote;s the key thing,” shared Lepage. &nbsp;Check out VivaStories similar to WattPark’s from startups like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/we-signed-our-first-contract-right-after-vivatech---hd-rains-vivastory">HD Rain</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/a-solution-bigger-than-its-own-stand-la-vitres-vivastory">La Vitre</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/green-score-capital-an-out-of-this-world-vivastory">Green Score Capital</a>.&nbsp;Want to spark your own success story$1 Our Super Early Bird Sale has started.&nbsp;<a href="https://vivatechnology.com/get-your-pass$2ca=FPN4KESE">Grab your tickets</a> for VivaTech 2023 at up to 50% off.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Electrifying Partnerships: Watt Park’s VivaStory

The startup that is revolutionizing the postal service AND saving the planet. Just in time for holiday sending. VivaStories are success stories of startups participating at VivaTech.

<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rb_uWwjtjOe99XNRejc07zrQYRXlrYrnmVd9HcaNBgU9J7DvNfHZrBrrBXbH-rDoaOoW2E-202ehmCWkxT1jBivCTBRE86OVnlzmAusgDpPlVCMXdO_zLGlKPiD9mcB1y-bx7Z9Pl15Ikzd3Ha0j53f3JUiDIIwx7EWjDucXgMLRfXoMJpzAOJJF50jWzw">Anne-Sophie Raoult and Mathilde Bivel at Hipli’s stand. Photo credit: VivaTech &nbsp;When the right people meet at the right time, conversations start, ideas are born and partnerships are made. Thousands of startups, investors, media, and partners come together at VivaTech to find their crowd every year. And when they do, some pretty inspiring VivaStories come out of it. We found some exciting ones that hit home this year.&nbsp;Company:&nbsp;<a href="https://hipli.fr/">Hipli</a>Sector: Environmental servicesHQ: Le Havre, FranceYear founded:&nbsp;2019Who we interviewed:&nbsp;Anne-Sophie Raoult, co-founder&nbsp;<h2>The truth about packaging waste</h2>It’s the end of November, which means consumers have already started ordering and sending packages for the holiday.&nbsp;159 billion parcels&nbsp;were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.practicalecommerce.com/charts-global-parcel-shipping-volume-transit-times">sent</a> worldwide in 2021 and that number is expected to grow to 175 billion this year. That’s a lot of back and forth for boxes and envelopes that will only be used once. As of now,&nbsp;<a href="https://supplychain.edf.org/resources/sustainability-101-packaging-waste-the-problem/">91 percent</a> of packaging waste is sent to landfills or into the environment.&nbsp;One French startup is doing something about this waste problem.&nbsp;<a href="https://hipli.fr/">Hipli</a> has designed a package that can be reused 100 times. Every time someone reuses a Hipli package, it is one piece of packaging that is neither manufactured nor thrown away. This saves up to 25kg of waste and decreases 83% of carbon emissions compared to a box.&nbsp;When a consumer receives a parcel in a Hipli package, they can easily post the packaging back to Hipli’s sorting centers using the prepaid label. “We receive it, clean it and send it back into the market to our e-commerce clients, who then send packages to consumers with it,”&nbsp;explained co-founder Anne-Sophie Raoult.&nbsp;Just one year after its creation, Hipli was already operating in nine countries across Europe. &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/HOjcDTxI1jYKJnsrgUOUDpaK8lkpTP6L8eSA4CLQMSyT_SW8uAxw1nsDabQTj1LFuj2NJULBFQwhdN3msdP2AMVIEW-7eBcFWA0Yiu90U1Bt8XE6ycLUc3dR5p1yG5-HWKEsdkAuqAQ4V4b2WQJfSkwWSfIfS7ocDecrR18SKcsKB8h8scF47d_JO6VX0A">Raoult on stage at the LVMH Innovation Awards. Photo credit: VivaTech<h2>A year of wins</h2>In 2021, Hipli applied for the LVMH Innovation Award, an award that is presented annually at VivaTech. After being named one of the top 30 finalists, they were invited to exhibit at VivaTech and attend the awards ceremony.&nbsp;“We ended up&nbsp;winning the operational excellence award, during the big ceremony. It was just an amazing moment and allowed us to meet many important people in their ecosystem,”&nbsp;said Raoult.During the same VivaTech edition, Hipli partnered with La Poste, the French postal service company, to present how their solution could avoid thousands of kilos of postal waste every year.After four days of exhibiting, the Hipli team gathered over 100 qualified leads. Within six months, one-quarter of those leads signed up for Hipli’s service.&nbsp;But that’s not all that came from their excursion down to the capital for the Le Havre-based startup. At the end of 2021, Hipli signed an exclusive partnership with Colissimo, La Poste&quote;s private parcel delivery service.&nbsp; &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/RyuP7GoZT0suwqb5xUzTJI9M6fdof8UjqTvryvPDoIe1-hyrNIGUAmxB8RoR2UYOLzvOBwEpRFtiTMwdQx_2zRkO5rVYPaFYqFAyHKlwhBWYccdPjIpU5DWygzlYYyfus9CNSV34gFAs3ONZ_e2YuYgOrk7FQfRe5yKD1tZdffIDpnTJuq1wWhKA3bfjgw">Hipli’s foldable packaging. Photo credit: VivaTech<h2>The construction of an ecosystem</h2>Raoult and the rest of the Hipli team were invited back to VivaTech with La Poste the following year to present their newest service to the general public and got the chance to reconnect with their newfound friends from the previous edition.“We created links last year, with other partners and startups, who are also all over VivaTech. Since we are not based in Paris, it&quote;s a great opportunity to say hello to everybody and connect with the people that we&quote;ve been talking to throughout the year. We get to come together with the rest of the ecosystem under one roof,”&nbsp;Raoult told us.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Advice for startups</h2>One piece of advice Raoult would give first-time startups at VivaTech$1&nbsp;“It’s important not to be shy. People won’t just come up to your stand and ask you to pitch. You need to go up to people and say hello. It shows that you are excited to talk about your startup.”We’re wishing this startup the best and can’t wait to see where this packaging revolution will go next!&nbsp;Check out VivaStories similar to Hipli’s from startups like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/we-signed-our-first-contract-right-after-vivatech---hd-rains-vivastory">HD Rain</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/a-solution-bigger-than-its-own-stand-la-vitres-vivastory">La Vitre</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vivatechnology.com/news/green-score-capital-an-out-of-this-world-vivastory">Green Score Capital</a>.&nbsp;Want to spark your own success story$2 Our Super Early Bird Sale just started.&nbsp;<a href="https://vivatechnology.com/get-your-pass$3ca=FPN4KESE">Grab your tickets</a> for VivaTech 2023 at up to 50% off.&nbsp; &nbsp;

A packaging revolution: Hipli’s VivaStory

An unexpected partnership and a new collection of contacts. VivaStories are success stories of startups participating at VivaTech.

<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/BcuDcwwC-31ZpiYfLcvm5cz_zeE0TOxnvbf1n3T_m3fK4fyfkn-F_NMi33QxC0iZRYdwfCqHcQk_1WjVhDqkgXxbU3UmMYhQsBesmlFVvR4yvKpXZ78jAQ3qpu1adowG0Ez7GbenXnsAAEojsD9pjejvX-0xJi8BHwZMv_48PhnMVYEDmQpLZL9RBw">Photo credit: VivaTechSince VivaTech’s beginnings, we have acted as a powerful global catalyst for digital transformation and startup growth. The core of these happenings occur when the right people meet at the right time, allowing conversations to start, ideas to be born and partnerships to be made. Yet many stories of what VivaTech has brought to startups, investors, exhibitors and partners alike go unnoticed. Luckily, in the search for some inspiring VivaStories, we found a few pearls this year at VivaTech!Company:&nbsp;<a href="https://greenscorecapital.com/en/">Green Score Capital</a>Sector: Software developmentHQ: Toulon, FranceYear founded:&nbsp;2019Who we interviewed: Valérie Tiersen, Founder and CEO&nbsp;<h2>Startup Story</h2>Evaluating a company’s environmental impact is not an easy task. Our impacts don&quote;t just consist of greenhouse gas emissions, it also includes overexploitation of resources, degradation of habitats and monitoring invasive species, which in turn pressure the environment and its biodiversity.&nbsp;Green Score Capital is making it easier for companies to make this evaluation with&nbsp;extraterrestrial data – aka&nbsp;space data. The French startup, which started in 2019, has developed an expert system for holistic environmental measurement using data collected from space. “We are the first European solution that uses space data and makes the link with industries. Last year we got a newcomer on our playground though, Google, but we are the only European utility to build space data, to assess the biodiversity and government for companies,” CEO Valérie Tiersen told us.Climate change is only one of five pressures on biodiversity. And if biodiversity collapses, humans disappear. Supported by the European Space Agency and the French National Center of Space studies, Green Score Capital is helping increase awareness and action for a multitude of businesses.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>“We signed our first significant partnership”</h2>Invited by France’s Région Sud to exhibit at VivaTech in 2021, Valerie and her team entered the hall of Porte de Versailles with the hope to gain some credibility in the ecosystem and discover the event.&nbsp;“VivaTech 2021 was really amazing for us because we didn&quote;t expect so many leads to come out of it, especially with the COVID conditions last year. We had over 100 leads in four days,” Valérie said.But here comes the exciting part.&nbsp;“Just after the event last year,&nbsp;we signed our first significant partnership with a subsidiary of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.3ds.com/fr/">Dassault Systèmes</a>, called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centricsoftware.com/">Centric Software</a>, which is an editor in the software area that provides solutions in the environmental area to our customers.”This partnership has allowed Green Score Capital to not only assess environmental impact with their Saas Footprint Target, but to also offer a wide range of solutions to their customers to start making a difference in their operations.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Advice for startups</h2>One piece of advice Valérie would give to first-time startups at VivaTech$1&nbsp;“It&quote;s really important to work the leads you get at VivaTech because the event is in the middle of June. So if you don&quote;t work leads before the summer, it&quote;s lost. So really work your hardest right after the event so that you can be sure to transform them in September. And sometimes people don&quote;t want to make the decision before the summer, but you still have to stay connected with them and remind them, ‘Hey I’m still here, we are ready to do business.’”&nbsp;If you want to learn more about Green Score Capital’s solutions check out their website&nbsp;<a href="https://greenscorecapital.com/en/">here</a>.&nbsp;Want to spark your own success story$2 Stay tuned for our ticket opening and our super early bird prices! &nbsp;

Green Score Capital: An Out of This World VivaStory

Success stories from startups participating at VivaTech

<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8VvXQDf_c86zXiYpVb7p4V3rdOGP_onwtU6hWTjgeTUoxJTTiot3c86-u06OrS9j2_phSda5ee5-i5PGzQmnGUH-cPgEsB7iyPeAaCnpDVU2Qvy0bSm3pTkKYTQf_43RlazWi2nYnINAojGGAenq0-c8QnIBIAOmK4aE0Yo5WAzDchI8wFiV_47-xw">Photo credit: VivaTechSince VivaTech’s beginnings, we have acted as a powerful global catalyst for digital transformation and startup growth. And the core of these happenings occur when the right people meet at the right time, allowing conversations to start, ideas to be born and partnerships to be made. Yet many stories of what VivaTech has brought to startups, investors, exhibitors and partners alike go unnoticed. Luckily, in the search for some inspiring VivaStories, we found a few pearls this year at VivaTech! &nbsp;Company:&nbsp;Alpha ARSector: Augmented Reality, ITHQ: Tallinn, EstoniaYear founded:&nbsp;2018Who we interviewed: Madis Alesmaa, CEO and Co-founder&nbsp;<h2>Startup Story</h2>Being able to try on clothes virtually or making a car appear in AR on your driveway makes these items much more attractive to consumers and can increase conversion rates for online retailers. Yet one of the biggest challenges in virtual and augmented reality as well as the metaverse industry is the creation of 3D models. This type of content creation can be time consuming and costly because it has to be created manually from 2D images first.One Estonian startup, named&nbsp;<a href="https://alphaar.io/">Alpha AR</a>, has found a way to sidestep the manual creation of 3D models through a new AI-powered platform. “We are building an AI tool, which will make the content generation simple and will create scalable products, augmented reality, virtual try-ons and gaming platforms,” explained CEO Madis Alesmaa. “We are trying to automate the content production side.” The startup’s mission is to bring augmented reality to the masses and make 3D affordable and scalable.&nbsp; &nbsp;<h2>A collaboration for innovation</h2>In the aim to gain a more international audience, Alpha AR applied for the 2020&nbsp;<a href="https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/challenges/lvmh">LVMH Innovation Award</a> which every year rewards a project from an innovative startup during Viva Technology. Regrettably, the 2020 VivaTech edition was canceled, but the LVMH Innovation Award ceremony was still able to take place online – and Alpha AR was listed as a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lvmh.com/news-documents/news/the-startup-crobox-wins-the-lvmh-innovation-award-2020-a-100-digital-ceremony/#:~:text=The%20winner%20of%20the%202020,on%20the%20LVMH%20group%20website.">finalist</a>!Thanks to their participation in the awards, the AR startup was able to increase their international visibility without even leaving Estonia. More particularly, our Innovation Team at VivaTech found Alpha AR’s technology a perfect solution to create digital twins on our digital platform for the next edition. And a collaboration was born!For VivaTech 2021, Alpha AR helped to recreate 80 innovations in 3D and AR so that both physical and digital visitors could view and interact with the top innovations of the event. As a first hybrid model, the 3D and AR creations added another dimension to the event that VivaTech never had before and augmented visitors’ experience. In addition to their creations on the platform, Alpha AR also had their own online booth and were able to interact and network with multiple businesses and individuals during the four days.&nbsp; &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:50%;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/m0l9hRPRvj1B65oKriBe4rnDkQApSlWdN9mrGNCE0RvqRCl426f92X2GlQ0-zokuu0tg8mNJRKVYL3R7bspjOINChXJKkr7wwltKzZDezQbtrCS7q8JGp43W0PihDQLEFyn3dm70f52R3i3ZSwAFpjtgYSJ59IRguOlVpk8ObZ3mVNWq3vZ-gOby_A">AR image created by Alpha AR on VivaTech’s digital platform 2021. Photo credit: VivaTech&nbsp;<h2>An augmented funding round</h2>Soon after the 2021 edition, Alpha AR launched a seed funding round. From contacts made during VivaTech and from all over, the Estonian startup was able to&nbsp;raise 800k euros&nbsp;for its AI platform and closed its fundraising round in March of 2022.“Our collaboration with VivaTech last year was definitely a win-win solution for both of us. In general, it helps out the VivaTech team on their platform, but it also boosts our visibility. The partnership helped open doors with Renault, Publicis Conseil and many more which definitely assisted us in our fundraising,” said Madis.&nbsp;<h2 style="text-align:center;"><img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/yjnxu0RTrrhtCrulxKBqb4Oslo6Ho3ckMTa2iuXnY7rQGhY90beRedQbXHDoJ098fWEC9A7-GBZtOPFOF9JPbYNl5UQr_P9_Lf8yKowFMH3Tp3vqZbCQEdCpjUzOGtYsv0ADfH-UrvmYAkpKHX1ykWl4hAH-eNNqNyYLZLXKHjOrsC6ndsBsO_xivg"></h2>One of VivaTech’s 2022 Digital Showrooms, featuring a 3D model of Ascento’s wheeled robot. Photo credit: VivaTech &nbsp;<h2>Back for round two</h2>With a successful hybrid edition under our belts, our innovation team partnered with Alpha AR again in 2022 for a similar collaboration for the digital platform. This year we had five different&nbsp;<a href="https://app.vivatechnology.com/content/innovation-universe">digital showrooms</a> created by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cher-ami.tv/fr/projets/vivatech-2022">Cher Ami</a> including a Robot Park, Low Carbon Park and Human Tech park which highlighted different experiences and innovations modeled by Alpha AR. These VivaTech showrooms even won awards from the websites&nbsp;<a href="https://www.awwwards.com/sites/vivatech-2022">Awwwards</a> and the&nbsp;<a href="https://thefwa.com/cases/vivatech-2022">FWA</a> for their design, creativity and innovation.During the four in-person days in Paris, Alpha AR had over a hundred meetings and presentations at their stand.&nbsp;“During the event we saw a couple of thousand new visitors on our website as well which led to some interesting demos and POCs. Definitely looking forward to returning next year,” Madis told us.Now, a few months after VivaTech, Alpha AR is already focusing on their next fundraising round.&nbsp;“We had many really interesting talks with major companies at VivaTech and some next exciting partnerships are in discussions especially with some high end luxury retailers who showed serious interest.” &nbsp;<h2>Take a page out of their book</h2>One piece of advice the startup’s CEO would give to first-timers at VivaTech$1&nbsp;“If you are a startup and are creating any sort of innovative technology, VivaTech is a must event. Even if you just want to stay up to date with new technologies or you want to showcase your startup, it is one of Europe&quote;s biggest tech events. I’d definitely recommend going.” &nbsp;If you want to learn more about Alpha AR’s solutions check out their website&nbsp;<a href="https://alphaar.io/">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Want to spark your own success story$2 Stay tuned for our ticket opening and our super early bird prices!&nbsp;

Augmenting the VivaTech experience: Alpha AR’s VivaStory

<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/9KmJiZOMjE_UpExXMrVfNJiZpH6SeubpfLg6sB_m86ZGAFvbxhp6VWjS3XY8O036fnwyzZ0qVJxl5m2MF5iUKekg8qtD_yBuKONy_vDd3o9vsknUkB09hdOgrR-GJJmyFjt_tcQHTKAA2ndITddKZNFvAYbuJhgSsyln3XBKYO5pfA8Y8K5lW-VEBg">Photo credit: VivaTechSince VivaTech’s beginnings, we have acted as a powerful global catalyst for digital transformation and startup growth. And the core of these happenings occur when the right people meet at the right time, allowing conversations to start, ideas to be born and partnerships to be made. We have been a facilitator for these encounters, yet many stories of what VivaTech has brought to startups, investors, exhibitors and partners alike go unnoticed. Luckily, in the search for some inspiring VivaStories, we found a few pearls this year at VivaTech! &nbsp;Company:&nbsp;la VitreSector: Connectivity, ITHQ: Nantes, FranceYear founded:&nbsp;2019Who we interviewed: Romuald Boulanger, Co-founder &nbsp;<h2>The Startup Story</h2>Visiting satellite offices or collaborating with business partners across the globe used to only be possible through long business trips, costing companies time and money, and increased their carbon emissions. Then came along applications like Zoom, Skype, and Teams which allowed everyone to chat and see the faces of their collaborators and in turn enabled businesses to cut costs on travel and therefore emissions. &nbsp;But, as many of us experienced during the pandemic, too many online meetings and a case of “zoom fatigue” is not ideal for business. One French startup envisioned a better way to have remote meetings before the pandemic even began.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://lavitre.fr/en-us">La Vitre</a> is a human-sized, stand-up screen that allows you to “teleport” anywhere in the world and connect with people instantly and on a daily basis. Their solution is placed in two different spaces to connect one locale to another. It can be used to conduct daily business meetings between separate offices, to connect speakers to an audience in far away events, allow experts to help clients in retail spaces, or even permit trainers to onboard multiple teams from different locations. &nbsp;A true remote-friendly solution, la Vitre is helping quite the range of industries outside the obvious office solution: engineering, hospitality, manufacturing, restaurants – it has even&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportune.fr/sport-business/football/om-la-vitre-fenetre-ouverte-dans-lintimite-de-lorange-velodrome-278763">connected fans</a> to members of the Marseille football team while in the player tunnel of the Orange Velodrome minutes before a match! &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/7GUrPV2foYJtDXxuwemBdhgT5jRnggQ3fDG6J1AMxlzOjAIbl9owvqhvavPt0nSzhwglyXEIRCnag4sB5WQvEShF2HCHzmp7Ehb5fTabjDsrLqQjbS401Oypcg7wG4rUbdNxQB6iqFczxWM_UMEE7Iis0_nr0yQCM8v2-U5msRZhmEksjCSN2V77sw">Football players interacting with fans through la Vitre. Photo credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://lecafedugeek.fr/la-vitre-une-technologie-immersive-pour-etre-dans-les-vestiaires-de-lorange-velodrome/">La café du geek</a>&nbsp;<h2>Viva La Vitre</h2>In 2021, a long year and a half into the pandemic, la Vitre attended VivaTech for the first time. For the IT startup, the event would be a place to meet with people: to meet new customers, talk to existing clients about new features, and also meet other startups.&nbsp; &nbsp;“Because our solution has so many applications, we work with so many people – we’re an ecosystem,” said co-founder Romuald. “VivaTech is an amazing event and so vast that we can actually meet a lot of the players from so many different sectors in the same place. And it’s a place where our ecosystem can expand too!”&nbsp;And expand they did. During the 2021 edition, la Vitre met another startup, Fosfor, who had a similar solution, a human-sized screen, called the Crystalbox. Their screen allows content to be projected in 3D and is mostly used for pre-recorded videos for retail or events, unlike la Vitre’s real-time chatting solution.&nbsp; &nbsp;“We thought, why not put the two together$1 So we worked on that. We started the collaboration last March. We took our solution, la Vitre, and instead of putting it on a 2D screen, we put it in their holographic box. Now we can have live exchanges with the capacity of la Vitre, but you can see people in 3D,” Romuald elaborated. &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/h1GBhiLIgR-BniXS8IzgubAyqVHIGqT7RE-NnEInPtS-GW_p4L1WbnEWiE_BzCr_FREYosFdmnDwIX9t-OafL-1x8pI00eTS5u5L38VusDNR555ISLHbdaeS0WUwLuSPLXPcwKVCGCWix_BG4rBm9pkPysldBOdgieaZFKQ_LA9ykM5qeoFeiCFyGw">Fosfor’s 3D holographic box at VivaTech in 2021. Photo credit: VivaTech&nbsp;<h2>A solution bigger than its own stand</h2>The following edition, in June 2022, la Vitre came back for round two at VivaTech. But they didn’t come back alone. In addition to their own startup stand,&nbsp;their solution was also present on three other stands, where other businesses were using la Vitre for different purposes.&nbsp; &nbsp;La Vitre and Fosfor were now able to present their fused technology on their respective stands at VivaTech. But not too far away on another stand, you might have had your socks blown off by Magic Tech, a leadership conference exhibitor that uses technology and magic on stage to inspire crowds. They had la Vitre on their stand for multiple tech demonstrations. Lastly, another la Vitre customer used the solution to bring the engineers from their office to VivaTech in order to interact with the audience virtually.&nbsp; &nbsp;La Vitre can solve so many solutions with its technology, it’s no surprise it was all over the place at VivaTech last year! &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K39EwzcRKq2ZZnqrBh45Uq5QNzJVrffKeAwrG1XEOazHeFwPisohnNnqXuh5QA4aCrSf2qFv87WM0hrfqKhnSK7ueIq8O19EyiIb3ocTaVteH-XNM-RwmBl-EcMy3CNHCS1pqx4g7e7m_K8_Eq2ky9hv0hsYCIYWsaA15H7EbeTJH41DhFNPiyksQ">Magic Tech presenting on the Discovery Stage using la Vitre. Photo credit: VivaTech&nbsp;<h2>A word to the wise</h2>One piece of advice the startup’s co-founder would give to first-timers at VivaTech$2&nbsp;“First, make sure you bring enough people from your team. There are so many people passing by, you need to be able to talk to them all. Second, wear tennis shoes. It might sound silly, but it’s in the details. You won’t regret it. Thirdly, plan to have a team doing all the background stuff like marketing, communication, and taking photos. You won’t have enough time to do it all. Lastly, rest up beforehand! It’s a long 4 days, but you won’t be finished when it’s over. You will have so many leads to connect with afterwards that you will have a lot of work to do even after the event.” If you want to learn more about la Vitre’s solutions check out their website&nbsp;<a href="https://lavitre.fr/en-us">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A solution bigger than its own stand: la Vitre’s VivaStory

<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aGNONaPDem8E7bpSPkJOyPdpBH8TFTlm3hy65M9CFNN9bXUdDIHvsbNXb-uO0dI8nLa73rDp-mcyP96sOMiMNPPFAct7Za-igCCAF5SiBh8bTsFg0pGxJ8aeW1d6c6clwWZI7Nid-_b79lFqD3U1DxofjllHm_eHb7N4P-OQYCc1kwl0HqJ4Fqst">Ruben Hallali, CEO of HD Rain. Photo Credit: VivaTech&nbsp;Since VivaTech’s beginnings, we have acted as a powerful global catalyst for digital transformation and startup growth. And the core of these happenings occur when the right people meet at the right time, allowing conversations to start, ideas to be born and partnerships to be made. From our very first edition, we have been a facilitator for these encounters, yet many stories of what VivaTech has brought to startups, investors, exhibitors and partners alike go unnoticed. Luckily, in the search for some inspiring VivaStories, we found a few pearls this year at VivaTech! &nbsp;Company:&nbsp;HD RainSector: Environmental servicesHQ: Paris, FranceYear founded:&nbsp;2018Who we interviewed: Ruben Hallali, CEO and co-founder &nbsp;<h2>The startup story</h2>Six years ago, Ruben Hallali and one of his fellow PhD classmates attended the very first edition of Viva Technology in Paris. Little did they know that this event would be a springboard for their careers and in just a few years&quote; time they would have founded an environmental service startup called HD Rain, raised over 2 million euros in funding, expanded their services to five different countries, and grown their team to 17 employees. What a difference a few years make! But let’s step back and see how it all started.&nbsp; &nbsp;In 2016, Hallali was completing his doctorate degree in Atmospheric Sciences and had an idea for precisely measuring weather and forecasts. While attending VivaTech he and one of the other founders pitched the idea in front of David Kenny, former CEO of The Weather Company, who was a speaker at the event that year. Kenny thought it was a good concept and even gave them a challenge: “Now, next year if I&quote;m back, I want you to develop something and I&quote;ll see where you’re at.” Ruben and his co-founders took on the challenge and at the following edition of VivaTech, they were back with the first prototype, and&nbsp;the decision was made to launch a startup with this idea. &nbsp;HD Rain was born. The startup combines AI and meteorological expertise to bring its clients the best and most accurate weather data. They deliver high-precision weather measurements and forecasts through small sensors that can analyze rain through satellite antennas. Their low-cost solution helps companies with weather-sensitive economic activities (such as agriculture or insurance firms). This is especially pivotal for the&nbsp;80% of countries around the world that currently have no means of measuring weather correctly. &nbsp;<img class="image_resized" style="width:75%;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Q5BBwVs2aZ7_55mstUwwUI7OkN-9550biFXWZ8oXwMVqYgY2K8WvDHwFyuWwZGZCBdWU9lXoIPViC8ACl8SH_kxe6cKWRGAhbba-jQFCYn8KUeSMi0mfv0iB70rsyP5gmTJdPogHhACTyJhNFHHncDHJa2tzm5VF_OhvtzYPY1jW83kgeA8Uj1zIaA">HD Rain’s satellite technology. Photo credit: HD Rain&nbsp;<h2>Getting down to business&nbsp;</h2>Since their official founding in 2018, HD Rain has been back to several VivaTech editions, and they haven’t walked away empty-handed each time.&nbsp; &nbsp;In 2019, the startup applied for the Digital In Pulse program, a contest sponsored by Huawei that supports French startups. Two winners per city benefit from a grant and get support from the Chinese ecosystem and the DIP Alumni network. “We were selected to participate and actually won in Paris. It was the first time Digital In Pulse was at VivaTech.” Thanks to their participation in the contest, they were able to make many connections and gain a lot of visibility. “We signed our first contract right after that,” said Hallali.&nbsp; &nbsp;But it wasn’t the last, after having pitched their solution at VivaTech in front of a team from Allianz, the German insurance company, they were able to meet several people from the Allianz Climate team. “This connection made it to an actual subscription to our product soon after.” &nbsp;<h2>And they keep coming back</h2>Each year, HD Rain prioritizes their participation at VivaTech because it actually makes the rest of the year easier. For Ruben, “the biggest thing that brings us back every year is the quality of the exchanges we have here. During two or three days of the event, we get around 50 to 60% of our leads for the next year.” &nbsp;And it seems like they have learned a thing or two from their past participation. This year they came with 10 team members, each with a different objective so that they could really maximize their time during the 3 B2B days. &nbsp;“This year we brought 10 people from the team, each with a separate goal: to prospect or pitch to potential customers, investors and talents. We are actually looking to hire again this year because one of the things we obtained with VivaTech last year was to do some recruitment.&nbsp;We hired a key profile&nbsp;that we met during the event and met with many people interested in joining the company. So this year we have the same objective.” &nbsp;One piece of advice the startup’s CEO would give to first-timers at VivaTech$1&nbsp;“You have to make as many connections as possible during the three days,” said Hallali. “Don&quote;t underestimate the quality of the sessions either. You are not going to waste your time if you assist a session because the speakers are often available at the end of sessions. That&quote;s how we started HD Rain. During the first edition, we talked with a very important speaker from the meteorological industry and we decided to create our startup.” &nbsp;From an innovative concept to startup to a successful business, HD Rain has grown alongside VivaTech. We love hearing stories like this one, and especially support this type of initiative given the current climate emergency in which we find ourselves. We can’t wait to see what is in the forecast for this environmental service startup over the next few years – and wish them nothing but fair weather. Learn more about HD Rain’s real-time weather data applications&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hd-rain.com/">here</a>. &nbsp;

We signed our first contract right after VivaTech – HD Rain’s VivaStory

<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/cdn.vivatechnology.com/vt-prd/medias/Image1_e14c97d16e/Image1_e14c97d16e.jpg"></figure> VivaTech is not just a place to show off the newest innovations and listen to top speakers from the tech ecosystem, it is also a place where people meet, partnerships are made and ideas are born. Since the start of VivaTech, we have been a facilitator for these encounters, yet many stories of what VivaTech has brought to startups, investors, exhibitors and partners alike go unnoticed. Luckily, in the search for some inspiring stories, we found a few pearls this year at VivaTech!&nbsp;Company:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.meersens.com">Meersens</a>&nbsp;Sector: Information Technology, HealthHQ: Lyon, FranceYear founded:&nbsp;2017Who we interviewed: Morane Rey-Huet, co-founder and CEO&nbsp;<h3>Startup story</h3>12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/15-03-2016-an-estimated-12-6-million-deaths-each-year-are-attributable-to-unhealthy-environments">unhealthy environments</a>. Yet many of the factors that cause these deaths are not visible; we can’t see that we are being harmed by our environments, whether it is due to unhealthy drinking water, polluted air, or other invisible factors. At Meersens, a startup from France, their passion for public health drove them to create solutions to make the invisible aspects of our immediate environment visible to as many people as possible.With their integrated SaaS/API platform, businesses can analyze environmental intelligence to anticipate environmental risks and make confident decisions for all stakeholders involved.&nbsp;After getting the startup off the ground running in 2017, Meersens ventured into the halls of VivaTech for the first time in 2019 and then again in 2021. They came with the hopes of making some connections with other entrepreneurs, pitching their idea, and maybe meeting some inspiring people. But what they left with was much more.&nbsp;<h3>The investor</h3>Among several investors who stopped by the environmental health startup at VivaTech was&nbsp;Jacques Attali, a French venture capitalist, economic and social theorist, writer, and political adviser. Attali founded the Positive Planet NGO, which supports the creation of positive businesses. Since its creation, they have supported more than 11 million micro-entrepreneurs.Inspired by Meersens’ solution and the founders’ enthusiasm for the urgent mission of contributing to a healthier world, Attali decided to invest in the French startup after VivaTech. But the story doesn’t end there! Attali also became one of the four board members for Meersens. “These four advisors are really helping us take off like a rocket,” said CEO Rey-Huet. “And it was thanks to VivaTech that we were able to meet Attali.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>The partnership</h3>With the help of the visibility from their stands at VivaTech, Meersens also got an international feature on CNN. This exposure along with the many people Meersens was able to talk to during the event skyrocketed their visibility. Which led to several discussions with interested partners and key European corporations. Among them was a major player in the insurance field, one of the largest global insurance and asset management providers. After VivaTech, the discussion with this major player continued and one week before the VivaTech 2022 edition, Meersens signed a key contract with them.&nbsp;“Getting that contract was the result of our growing position and recognition in the field of prevention. And Vivatech was really crucial to it,”&nbsp;explained Rey-Huet. Another win for the environmental startup!&nbsp;<h3>And the story continues…</h3>Coming back for a third round with big intentions, Meersens hit the ground running at VivaTech 2022. This year was an opportunity to further reinforce their collaboration with Huawei who invited them to exhibit on their stand. Meersens is also about to start their Series A funding, and are hoping to reach 10 million euros in this round.&nbsp;The funds will be used for three things. “One is to finalize our roadmap for innovations to deliver the full promise of making the link between environment and health. And helping people to reduce those risks. It is too bad to lose 20 years of good health. We have to do something there. The second one is mostly for recruitment. We are growing at 300% rate right now. So we really need to find new salespeople to ensure that we can recruit different people around the world. And the third one is to make our footprint in the US market.”But VivaTech wasn’t all business for this startup. It was also a great&nbsp;team building moment. The three team members present this year (between pitching to passers-by at their stand!) were able to squeeze out to see a few sessions together.One piece of advice the startup’s CEO would give to first timers at VivaTech$1&nbsp;“Take any opportunity for an interview, a photo, a meeting. You never know what that will bring you in the end. And also if you are coming for the first time, apply for challenges. Having the support of a partner at a big event like this is so helpful and increases your exposure.”Overall, Rey-Huet says that VivaTech really is&nbsp;the&nbsp;place for startups. “We&quote;re here, because this is the place to be. In the world, it is the best place to be right now, no doubt. We love VivaTech. We are so happy to see everybody; to see our partners, our customers, other startups.&nbsp;This energy here at VivaTech makes you feel like anyone can do the impossible.”

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