The deadline for applications to Season II of French Tech Ticket was earlier this week. An initiative of La French Tech, French Tech Ticket is a competition open to early-stage, technology-focussed entrepreneurs worldwide. Season I last year was what a spokesperson termed the “trial” event; but efforts towards the second year of the competition are strategically intended to help “internationalise” the French start-up ecosystem.
“Interestingly, India was the first country of origin of applications last year, and two start-ups from India are being hosted in Paris currently,” says Sylvain Biard, Trade Commissioner in Mumbai and Head of Department – Tech & Services, Business France.
While 23 start-ups were selected — from 1,300 applications — for the batch of 2016, Biard shares that French Tech Ticket will select 70 start-ups for 2017.
“The first year, we had incubators in Paris be a part of the programme. For Season II, the big change is that it does not cover only Paris anymore. We’ve got 41 incubators in 12 cities, which means foreign entrepreneurs will be able to apply to very specific incubators,” Biard says, adding that they hoped to see more laureates from India in the batch of 2017.
With over 4,000 tech-start-ups in Paris alone, France is reportedly among the top five start-up ecosystems in the world. Biard says plans are afoot to have a delegation of French start-ups attend the Nasscom Product Conclave later this year as part of the promotions for La French Tech, even as French Tech Ticket and its parent initiative, La French Tech independently too look to forge partnerships between the two ecosystems.
“In technology related fields, Indian presence in France is more the play of large IT firms or system integrators. If we look at purely the numbers of Indian start-ups in France, it’s very few. But then the reverse is true as well. Larger French firms arrived first, then mid-caps, while start-ups are few.” Biard shares.
The two Indian start-ups selected in Season I French Tech Ticket are Guesswork, a product recommendation engine, and Dymond Cleantech, a company that has patented technology to clean water using superior-quality diamond electrodes. The incubation period is from January to December every year.
Source: Business Line
Image Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line
