After its tremendous success in 2016, Viva Technology is back, in Paris from June 15th to June 17th, 2017. Viva Technology is one of a kind, an exhibition of the most innovative products and services, with unique opportunities for startups, especially through networking opportunities with large corporations and investors. 
According to Francis Morel CEO of Groupe Les Echos,“Our 2016 survey showed high levels of satisfaction among visitors, startups and big companies alike. The enthusiastic response to last year’s event makes us believe that we’re on track to achieve an even better result this year and create a global rendezvous for the digital ecosystem.”
Building on the success of the first edition, Viva Technology is even more ambitious in 2017, starting with a stellar line up of speakers such as:
• Tim Armstrong, CEO AOL
• John Chambers, Executive Chairman, Cisco
• John Collison, Co-founder of Stripe
• Peter Fenton, General Partner, Benchmark
• Claire Gilmartin, CEO Trainline
• Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos
• Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman & CEO, GE
• David Kenny, General Manager, IBM Watson
• Ambarish Mitra, Co-Founder & CEO, Blippar
• Bertrand Piccard, Chairman, Solar Impulse
• Bob Pittman, Chairman & CEO, iHeart Media
• Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Alphabet Inc
• Dan Schulman, CEO, Paypal
• Karim Sy, Founder & Chief Catalyst, Jokkolabs
• Shelley Zalis, CEO, Girl’s Lounge
• Daniel Zhang, CEO, Alibaba
The 300+ sessions planned across Viva Tech’s main stage and three thematic stages will cover a large range of topics from quantum computing to the future of retail, focusing on subjects that are both important to the future of business transformation, innovation, the global economy and society as a whole.
This year’s objective is also to welcome more than 50,000 visitors, including 5,000 startups, and bring them together with large international companies from a wide range of industries, and sectors and investors from all over the world, to give them a unique opportunity to initiate and develop successful, long-term collaborations.
Viva Technology 2017 is supported by its platinum partners BNP Paribas, Google, Orange, and La Poste, who are deeply involved in both the organization and overall success of the event.
In addition, Viva Technology’s Gold partners, Accor Hotels, Airbus, Air France, Carrefour, Cisco, ENGIE, LVMH, ManpowerGroup, PMU, RATP Group, Sanofi, Sodexo, SNCF, Groupe TF1, Valeo, and Vinci Energies will champion open innovation and collaboration between startups and large groups at Viva Technology by hosting labs and where selected startups will explore solutions to some of their most pressing business challenges.
Viva Technology is an event dedicated to helping startups grow. We expect to welcome 5,000 startups to this year’s event. From newcomers to established unicorns, everyone will have the chance to collaborate and grow their business. From one-on-one meetings with investors, inspiring panels and keynotes by other entrepreneurs or pitch competitions organized by major international companies, opportunities for growth will be numerous.
Viva Technology has also brought back its popular Challenges platform this year where more than one hundred Challenges will be posted by the end of March. Startups can apply for the opportunity to be selected in the 19 thematic Labs of our partners and hence get a free booth to exhibit at the event. Startups can also participate in other competitions to win prize packages that include funding, incubation or mentoring.
Bernard Arnault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the LVMH Group said: “Viva Technology is the only event of this scale that brings leading businesses and startups together for direct dialogue and collaboration. We are keenly aware that innovation, technology and creativity lead to the kinds of disruptive innovation that are key to driving momentum in our businesses.” LVMH is a co-organizer of the event via its media division, Groupe Les Echos, and the host of the Viva Technology Luxury Lab.
This year, the LVMH Group is launching the LVMH Innovation Award at Viva Tech to award a startup with any relevant ideas ranging from raw materials, product design, retail solutions, augmented reality tools, monitoring systems, forward-looking devices or services, and more. The competition wants to stimulate creativity and excellence with inventive projects for the product life cycle and the customer experience. LVMH has launched an international call for applications and welcomes the best innovation from around the globe. For LVMH, this award underlines the importance of both the digital and the entrepreneurial spirit at the core of the group’s strategy. 
Maurice Lévy, Chairman & CEO of Publicis Groupe, “The combination of high-level speakers, technology exhibitions and opportunities to connect with startups and large companies from around the world is really what makes Viva Tech unique for visitors. Viva Technology will be one of the most important global tech events of 2017 and we look forward to welcoming startups, innovators, executives, investors and visitors coming from everywhere, especially from the United Kingdom where the digital economy is thriving.”