So French, So Creative: What exactly French Tech is doing to grow startups from Russia, France and other countries?
Where are you from and what is your background? How did you end up in Moscow?
I was born in France and after graduation, moved first in Azerbaijan in 2001, worked in oil & gas and in business travel. I moved then to Moscow in 2005, worked in business travel and in food retail, and in 2010, I’ve created my company Rilos, specialized in retail analytics.
In 2015, together with 4 entrepreneurs and with the support of French Embassy, we’ve launched the French Tech Moscow — a movement dedicated to support French Tech companies in Russia and to help Russian tech companies set up their business in France. In 2019 I was elected the President of the new board of French Tech Moscow.
What is La French Tech? What is La FrenchTech outside of France?
La French Tech is a special government initiative better known as French Tech Mission that aims to bolster France as a country where tech startups can start, scale and succeed in companies that make sense for the future.
Today there are 99 French Tech communities based in more than 100 cities all over the world (check the one close to you here), 43 French Tech communities in France, and 13 French Tech capitals.
Communities are made to:
o Facilitate introductions between entrepreneurs/corporates locally based and French entrepreneurs looking to expand their business in the targeted country.
o Provide visibility to startups founded by French entrepreneurs who are operating in the country.
o Reference public and private initiatives and organizations that support French startups expanding in Russia.
o Be the entry point for local investors, companies, engineers willing to explore new opportunities in France.
Any member of the community is entitled to use the French Tech logo (with the name of your community on it) on its communication documents. To integrate a local community, go on the official website (they all have one or at least a Linkedin/Facebook page -check the one close to you here) and get in touch with the board. It’s that easy!
French Tech Moscow was named as one of the French Tech capitals in 2016 by Emmanuel Macron who visited Moscow as the Minister of Economy.
Now we are about 200 members in the community and we keep on growing. Among our board members you can find companies such as: Buzzfactory, Hiper-com, Opal Agency, Kameleoon, Runa Capital, the French Embassy in Moscow and the Russo-French Chamber of Commerce.
Aiming to promote French Tech initiative in Russia we have participated in many events, for instance at Skolkovo Startup Village, at GoTech Forums, at Vivatech Exibition in 2017 with Russian VCs and startups in order to promote France as the country for startups, in Moscow City & CCIFR digital solution event in both Moscow and Paris in 2019: https://www.ccifr.ru/fr/event/moscou-paris-2019.
What about La French Tech in times of Covid-19?
I can say that COVID-19’s time was very busy for French Tech Moscow. We launched a new initiative “Interviews with entrepreneurs” aiming to support French Tech entrepreneurs and companies in these difficult times.
We have published interviews of many companies such as Orange Fab, Kameleoon, TrackAd, Hiper-Com, Ippon Technologies, Sigfox. You can read all our interviews here: https://medium.com/@frenchtechmoscow
We have also organized French Tech events online recently, such as a webinar about data collection and its applications in Russia for business and government, with the participation of Strelka KB, Sigfox Russia, Orange Business Services, EDF and Dassault Systems. You can see the whole webinar here:
Why is the France more than ever the (Tech) place to be for startups and VCs?
The French government has been proactive to fully become a startup nation. A big challenge for a country mostly visited for its incredible museums and ancient monuments! We believe that in the aftermath of Brexit and now the Covid-19, VCs and startups should seriously consider France. We possess great assets to become the first ecosystem in Europe:
1) Attractivity
· France is the 2nd largest European market with 67 million potential customer/consumers
· It has a central European location with direct access to 500 million potential customers/consumers with a high standard of living and 22% of the world GDP
2) Funding
The French President announced the commitment of France-based institutional investors (asset managers, banks, and insurers) to put five billion euros (+1 more billion additional) in the domestic tech industry within the next three years.
3) Recruitment
French Tech Mission launched the French Tech Visa, a fast-track process to obtain a 4-year resident permit for employees, investors, and founders without diploma requirements, sponsorship fees, nor quotas. To give you an idea, 8,340 French Tech Visa for employees were emitted in 2018.
Due to recent measures, France is more and more considered as a Launchpad to explore European markets, offering a growth-friendly environment for startups, VCs, talents.
In 2019, it has become the top destination for international investments in Europe for the first time in 20 years! Moreover, amounts raised by startups have doubled between 2015 (€1.8 billion) and 2018 (€3.6 billion) and Station F (the world’s largest startups campus based in Paris) is almost considered as a pilgrimage for Tech now!
Special thanks to Marie-Anne Pinet, the Regional French Tech attachee at the French Embassy in Singapore to write and publish first this broad presentation of French Tech today, that we have adapted with her authorisation for Russia. Read her full article here: https://frenchtech.sg/4334-2/
