#frenchstartups

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Since we decided to propel ourselves into true startup mode, almost 18 months ago with the start of Season 2 of Le Camping, we’ve been lucky enough to discover the Parisian startup ecosystem from its core. It is truly amazing to see the amount of innovation and motivation that this relatively small ecosystem seems to encompass. And while we have had the opportunity to meet a lot of the talent behind Paris-based companies, there always seems to be someone or something new to discover.

  A few weeks ago, we decided that we wanted to take our implication in the social good of our local ecosystem, a step further. Infinit, in collaboration with our hosts, Gandi.net and our next-door neighbor, VLC, organized a small event called L’Abreuvoir à Startups. This short French phrase literally translates to The Startup Trough – a peculiar name indeed, but one that makes reference to the idea that entrepreneurs work as hard as animals and sometimes, well, they just need a drink. The idea was simple enough – let’s get some fun entrepreneurs with great ideas to pitch their companies, have a beer and hang out with other startuppers, the press community, some friends and a couple of investors. The startups we invited were:

Viddiga (http://viddiga.com/)

Sush.io (http://sush.io/)

Dataiku (http://dataiku.com/)

Mac Lloyd (http://mac-lloyd.com/) 

The ambiance was vibrant. Gandi.net’s kitchen lounge offered a professionally designed setting for an event that showed off fascinating concepts, sparked engaging conversations, and in typical Infinit style, included a few good kegs of Belgian beer. The good times continued well into the night and for some, until the early hours of the morning ;)

Although France is only now seeing a new innovative ecosystem spring to life in Paris, it is already offering many opportunities for French startups to grow. Europe’s austerity and social systems have proven to be a backbone for many young entrepreneurs. Unemployment measures ensure financial stability for many entrepreneurs. In addition to these individual-focused efforts, public funds and organizations have been created to stimulate the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in France.

Over the past few months, Baptiste Fradin, COO of Infinit, has been driving an effort to raise public funds in order accelerate the company more quickly. Last week, Infinit was accepted into Agoranov, a public incubator tied to research. We thought it important to maintain a strong link with the research community and Agoranov will help us do that. We will have the opportunity to collaborate with other entrepreneurs and researchers as well as have access to mentoring and aid in navigating the public funding system in France.