Paris, 11 April 2019 – The fourth edition of the Viva Technology Startup Challenges attracted 10,300 applications this year, an increase of 22,5% compared with 2018. Of particular interest: a greater number of international applicants, and a net increase of growth-stage startups.

“Our open innovation platform, in partnership with Agorize, accelerates cooperation between startups and the established companies who are VivaTech’s partners”, rexplains Julie Ranty co-Managing Director of Viva Technology. “his model has greatly contributed to VivaTech’s international success, with 57% of applicants from outside france, compared with 50% last year. European startups account for two-thirds of international applicants, led by Germany and the United Kingdom.”

“he profile of startup candidates has also evolved, with 40% of the startups in growth-and-scale stage”, notes Maxime Baffert, VivaTech’s co-Managing Director. “It’s an important message for VivaTech, a clearing house for high-potential projects but also a platform where mature startups can find opportunities to accelerate their business.”

Among this year’s most successful Challenges:

• “Crafting the Customer Experience of tomorrow” with LVMH; winners will be welcomed in the groupe’s Luxury Lab at the heart of VivaTech and some of them will join the accelerator program of La Maison des Startups at Station F
• “Design the Future of Ambient Connectivity” with Orange, In particular, the winners will be offered meetings with Orange’s main business branches & customers, meetings with Orange’s international Fabs networks and an Introduction to Orange investment’s team
• “Design the future of Media” with TF1; winners are invited to participate in the Station F Medialab accelerator program
• “Building a fully connected, intelligent world” with Huawei; winners are pre-selected for Digital In Pulse, a Huawei contest offering French startups working on smart IoT applications a gateway to the Chinese market; up to 30,000 euros in financial aid; and a trip to China for the 10 winning startups
• “Female Founder Challenge” with VivaTech in partnership with 50 in Tech; among the prizes are individual coaching sessions and privileged meetings with the biggest international VCs
• “Precious Water” with FAMAE in the Tech for Good program track, with a prize of 2 million euros
• “Talented Teams Disrupting Global Markets” with Techstars; winners are offered a spot with one of the world’s biggest startup accelerators

Infographic to download here: https://bit.ly/2Z4prEw

Kronos Care, a post-purchase solution to improve delivery tracking, and one of the finalists for the LVMH Innovation Award 2018, explains that “As an entrepreneur, time is your most precious asset. The LVMH Innovation Award is the best way to boost your growth in just three days.” Discovered by LVMH, this budding company was acquired in early 2019 by a Californian company specializing in online customer relations.

Find all the VivaStories here: https://vivatechnology.com/news/

VivaTech’s partners for the 2019 Challenges: Accor - Allianz - Capgemini - Cartes Bancaires CB - Cisco - DB Schenker - Edenred - EDF - FAMAE - Huawei - JCDecaux - Klépierre - Loxam - LVMH - ManpowerGroup - Mediatransports - Métropole du Grand Paris - Orange - Radio France - RATP Group - Région Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur - Région Centre-Val de Loire - Sanofi - Société Générale - Sodexo - Techstars Paris - TF1 - Valeo - Vinci Energies - Volkswagen We - 50 in Tech.

A partnership dating from Viva Technology’s first edition in 2016 provided VivaTech with access to the vast community of startups taking part in the Open Innovation Challenges developed by Agorize. Since its creation Agorize has promoted the values of openness, innovation and collaboration between budding entrepreneurs and established companies. In the past 18 months Agorize has opened offices in Germany, China, Singapore and Canada. Boosted by this international presence, the Open Innovation Challenges platform brought together a total of more than 650,000 innovators in 2018.