Soft-Landing in Paris: Two years of connection, network and collaboration

20 November, 2019
by: Master

[Article by IMT Starter]

 

 

Since January 2018 Soft-Landing Paris has met numerous international startups and ecosystem builders.

Soft-Landing, a two-year project under the umbrella of Startup Europe and funded by the European Commission’s H2020 research and innovation program, brought together thousands of entrepreneurs and leaders bringing immersive experience for startups and business leaders from around the world.

The project partners, IMT Starter in France, German Tech in Germany, Startup Division in Lithuania and Crosspring in the Netherland including F6S have created a consortium to facilitate and disseminate the respective ecosystem’s learning and know-how on scaling the business to the international market. This initiative has been focusing on helping entrepreneurs and leaders to discover their potential market, finding partners and potential collaborators, as well as to grab first-hand knowledge of the ecosystem.

.

.

.“I really enjoyed learning more about the startup ecosystem in Paris and meeting so many of its key members. I am already discussing business/investment opportunities in more detail with some of the newly found partners. I am sure these connections will last for a long time.”

 Jaroslav Trojan

 

 

The French Digital Ecosystem and its Key Players

 

 

IMT Starter organised 3 French tech discovery missions over the period of 2 years, facilitating 18 startups and 32 ecosystem builders who applied from all over the world allowing participants to explore, network and collaborate by creating a larger and connected EU startup ecosystem.

 

 

 

 

 

The main highlights of the French missions:

  • Immersive discovery program composed of key players of the Parisian Startup ecosystem.
  • A pool of experienced executives, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors who brought their experience to the growing EU startup ecosystem.
  • Access to platforms like Vivatech.
  • Visits to the world’s biggest startup campus, Station F and innovative corporations like Orange, Sigfox.
  • Open discussion with the panel of Parisian investors and business angel network.

.

17 countries, 18 startups & 33 Ecosystem builders with Soft-Landing Mission in Paris.

.

After 2 years and 3 missions, IMT Starter met with 18 startup founders and 33 ecosystem builders coming from varied fields discovering the French Digital ecosystems with its representatives like Paris region Entreprises, French Tech program, Wilco and Systematics Cluster and sharing the know-how of their entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Moreover, the founders and leaders also met the local investors and VCs. BPI France, Elaia Partners, Breega who are one of the active players in fostering the Parisian ecosystem.

.

.

A part of the mission was to share stories of the successful entrepreneurs of the ecosystem. The participants met Julian Coulon the founder of Cedexis and shared his entrepreneurial story. Along with the business challenges, he also explained personal and emotional challenges faced by CEOs.

The program also offered startups to spend time with a dedicated panel of mentors and coaches composed of successful serial entrepreneurs to discuss their startup strategy and be challenged by experts on their ideas and strategies.

.

“In retrospect, it was extremely valuable for us. We had some doubts beforehand since 5 days is a big-time investment for us, but I would’ve kicked myself if we didn’t participate.

The mentors you guys have in your network are amazing. We don’t get the chance to talk to such people. We learned a ton & there is some investment potential as well. You organized the program in a very smooth way and provided all the necessary information.”

Vorwärts

.

We would like to thank all our participant for supporting Soft-Landing’s French Tech Discovery Missions and IMT Starter. You can connect with them via our Soft-Landing ALUMNI community:

Ecosystem Builders:

Mia Rakocevic, Guilherme Serodio, Jaroslav Trojan, Marta, Marel Minok, Rahel Demand, Leitha Matz, Tricia Levasseur, Maria Gross, Maciej Bulanda, Valentin Peters, Simon Dethleffsen, Maximilian Forster, Bori Fozy, Bert Farell, Inbal Kolodziejska, Yael Daniely, Guy Margalit, Croce Mauro, Rapolas Rucinskas, Egle Ciudorienne, Gintare Ambrozaityte, Andra Bagdonite, Tadas Stankevičius, Darius Žakaitis, Maurice Beckand, Rodrigo Olmedo, Stefan Bodi, Diana Rusu, Mircea Vadan, Cristina Juc, Denis Kalyshkin, Robert Lo

Startups:

DoctorMath, Autuno, BESPACED, BEAD, Tracks for Trucks, SYSTAGfiles, Vorwärts, Dynamic AI56, eParkio, TourVR, Serfy, MultiSense B.V (biometric security by unique platform), ARize, Mobileacademy, Ionic AI, Ecapture 3D, Meep App, P.aid (PEOPLE aid for BRANDS).

 

Follow us on our social network for more information: Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn. And visit the Soft-Landing website  for information on all Missions!

Niraj Karmacharya and the IMT Starter team.

Original article on Medium