The largest European show dedicated to tech will once again take place at the Porte de Versailles, from June 15 to 18.
Of the four days, three are reserved for professionals.
Saturday is open to the general public.
A few days before its opening, we take stock of the program with the director of Viva Technology, Julie Ranty.
Right in the heart of Porte de Versailles, the famous VivaTech trade fair returns from Wednesday 15 until Saturday 18 June.
On the program: new innovations, conferences, meetings and workshops around the European and global tech ecosystem.
To find out what awaits you,
20 minutes
met its director, Julie Ranty.
What to expect for this new edition of VivaTech?
It's our big comeback after two rather complicated years.
With the health crisis, we had to cancel the 2020 edition and in 2021, we had to respect a gauge to limit the circulation of Covid-19.
This time, we are expecting a very large format from VivaTech with 45,000 m2, i.e. the entirety of Hall 1 at Porte de Versailles.
We are expecting around 2,000 exhibitors, including 1,800 start-ups.
It will also be the meeting with 350 speakers and more than 300 innovations presented.
This VivaTech will also be the encounter with interesting figures, such as Audrey Azoulay, the Director General of Unesco and around thirty very large start-ups, mostly European unicorns such as Checkout or Vinted.
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Every year, Vivatech makes it possible to discover the great innovations of tomorrow.
What are the latest feats of tech?
At VivaTech, our vision of technology is to present innovations that serve a purpose.
It must meet the major challenges of our century, which are the environment and diversity.
We have many innovations that meet the challenges of decarbonization, the preservation of our oceans and the planet more generally.
One of the most striking is undoubtedly the CNRS project, Carboneo, which captures the carbon in the air and transforms it into raw material in industry.
We also present innovations which, for some, have never been presented to the public.
For example, there will be two flying electric vehicles, manufactured by Hollow City and Jetson, which prefigure the future of mobility in cities and which will begin to be used in 2024 on the occasion of the Olympic Games.
Six themes are highlighted – carbon neutrality, mobility, the future of work, inclusion, web3 and the metaverse, European companies – with innovations around them.
Why did you choose these themes and not others?
The subjects of the environment, diversity and inclusion have been Vivatech's commitment since its inception.
We have always wanted to put technology at the service of great causes, because we are convinced that tech brings solutions.
These are both the invention of new materials that will replace plastic and new forms of mobility that use electricity or hydrogen.
There are also more current topics, such as Web3.
We couldn't miss it.
Precisely, the Web3, the quantum, or the metaverse are major current trends, but will the general public really take hold of them?
Wasn't this just a topic made by tech players for tech players?
It is important to remember that this is a professional event which opens its doors to the general public.
We therefore bring together the most beautiful innovations for a professional audience, but we decide to lift the veil on them from individuals to benefit as many people as possible.
This is what we do with Web3 for example.
Our objective is to decipher the phenomenon, understand its uses and its concrete applications.
It's the same for NFTs.
We want to initiate the general public using educational formats with playful ways of learning.
NFTs are all the rage, but are innovations making it possible to go beyond the art market?
For example, we can find them in luxury, where they help brands reinvent customer relations.
By assigning an NFT to someone, we bring them into a fairly closed community, to whom we give privileges.
But at VivaTech, we will also present examples on environmental issues and the preservation of the oceans.
We have an innovation called Aquaverse, for example, which issues NFTs and allows its holders to act on the policy of a company that develops cultures of sea sponges and allows the oceans to be filtered.
You also favor mobility, which was a subject widely discussed during the health crisis.
Have we noticed any upheavals in the ecosystem on this subject?
On mobility, there has been a fairly phenomenal acceleration of electric, which also echoes a law which has just been passed on Thursday prohibiting, from 2035, the sale of thermal vehicles.
There is obviously an evolution in uses and technology.
It will be at Vivatech with preview revelations, for example the first 100% electric and autonomous model from Audi.
There will be more original forms of mobility, for example with a Japanese innovation which presents an inflatable vehicle which fits in a backpack and which in a few seconds can become an electric scooter.
It completely reinvents the way of getting around town.
Inclusion in tech is also part of the program, but the environment is however far behind in the place of women.
How are we doing today to make up for this delay?
Our goal is to highlight the most female role models in tech.
For this, we wanted to respect a minimum quota of 40% of female speakers in our various organized events.
It is important to show examples of women who have succeeded in tech to encourage vocations.
We also want to give young girls the desire to learn to code, by setting up courses.
Finally, for those who have already set up their businesses, we try to support them as best we can, especially in fundraising.
We know that not only are there not enough women who create their start-up – they are only 10% – but in addition they raise much less funds than men.
We at VivaTech are committed to helping them meet more investors.
The pandemic, then the war in Russia, made us aware of our international interdependence.
Is European tech on the right track to break free?
From the beginning, we have been committed to bringing out European digital champions, to having more and more start-ups moving up to this scale.
Over the past six years, we have seen an acceleration of the European tech ecosystem, which has become largely structured.
Before, there were only three unicorns.
They are 26 today.
We now have real French digital champions in all areas, whether in mobility with Blablacar, in health with Doctolib or in entertainment with Deezer.
We are increasingly able to promote these French companies internationally.
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