Publicis Groupe & Groupe Les Echos Create Viva Technology Startup Connect Paris 2016

PUBLICIS GROUPE AND GROUPE LES ECHOS CREATE
VIVA TECHNOLOGY STARTUP CONNECT PARIS 2016

#VIVATECH 

From June 30 to July 2, 2016 in Paris, VIVA TECHNOLOGY PARIS will bring together the world's major players in digital transformation. 5,000 start-ups will have the opportunity to link up with tens of thousands of senior executives, investors, academics and opinion leaders from all over the world in order to develop their businesses while contributing to the transformation of large corporations. This exceptional event will solidify France's role in the world of innovation and start-ups and will be open to the public on the last day.

Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe declares: "Viva Technology Paris will be an opportunity to stage an event of global scope that will bring together all the important players in this field. It will be a great occasion for our companies, for the digital ecosystem and for France."

For Francis Morel, CEO of Groupe Les Echos "Start-ups and large companies must join forces to enable the former to develop and the latter to transform. Viva Technology Paris is the first global event with this ambition at its core."

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The primary partners of the event, AXA, BNP Paribas, EY, Google and Orange, commit alongside us to make Viva Technology Paris a huge success.

Henri de Castries, President Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Axa declares: "The digital revolution is shaking up the value chain of many economic sectors, Fintech is probably one of the best examples. We are therefore very pleased to participate in the success of this event, which will enable the initiation of various synergies between startups and large companies and thus contribute to France's influence on innovation."

"BNP Paribas is very happy to join Publicis Groupe and Groupe Les Echos in the co-construction of this international initiative, which is perfectly in line with BNP Paribas' initiatives of decrypting change, reinventing our role, accompanying our clients during this digital transformation and supporting European ambition," adds Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas.

"Hyper growth, international, disruption: these are the key characteristics of the start-ups who shine today, and who are in the spotlight now more than ever. Given the amount of investments made in these companies, which jumped by 70% at the beginning of 2015, this trend has more than solidified its place. All that's left to be done is to give France a platform on which it can help new champions, who, we hope, will emerge as the unicorns of tomorrow," adds Jean-Pierre Letartre, President of EY France.

"We're proud to partner with Viva Technology Paris. We're confident this ambitious event will be key to highlight the growing power of start-up in our economy. By seizing digital opportunities, growing and creating jobs, they have become key players in the economic landscape. We wish to support their development by being a growth engine for them," says Carlo d'Asaro Biondo President EMEA strategic Relationships.

Stéphane Richard, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Orange, concudes: "The support of and investment in start-ups is a key element in our Open Innovation strategy. Across its different programs, Orange is already very committed to this domain and our goal is to accompany 500 start-ups by 2020. Thus, Viva Technology Paris represents an outstanding opportunity for us to accelerate these efforts in a mutually beneficial situation, and to highlight the considerable energy of this amazing innovation ecosystem."

Viva Technology Paris is a large scale event that will create numerous opportunities for collaboration between large corporations and start-ups. The 30,000 m² of Paris Expo Hall 1 will be divided into three main areas:

1. Hack: Spread out across 15,000 m², Viva Technology Paris will be the world's largest ephemeral collaboration space.  20 specialized labs set up by economic sector will serve as meeting hubs for discussion and collaboration between leading companies, the 1,000 start-ups selected, investors and academics, from across every sector. The Labs' lead partners have expressed their interest.
    
2. Imagine: This dedicated conference area will host over 200 events including 24 plenary sessions along the theme of "Technology & Business, the new corporate paradigm" to be chaired by world-renowned personalities. A further 180 specialized conferences on how major sectors of the economy are evolving will be organized with the involvement of cutting- edge start-ups and leading companies from the sector. We believe that similarly to the eG8 organized in 2011, we will be able to count on the participation of prominent speakers.
    
3. Experience: This particularly impressive area will present and demonstrate how new technologies are contributing to our lives now and in the future. Here, a selection of 50 of the most creative firms in the world will present their latest innovations, from next-generation drones to state-of-the-art connected objects and much more. Contacts for this collaboration have already been made.

In March 2016, Viva Technology Paris will launch Viva Technology Connect, a digital platform for global collaboration between tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and academics ahead of the event, to enable them to exchange ideas, share, cooperate, invest or recruit. This unique initiative will make it possible to select the best start-ups and foster collaborative initiatives during the event.

Participants will be able to sign up as soon as mid-January on a dedicated website : www.vivatechnologyparis.com

Finally, Viva Technology Paris will be open to the public on July 2, 2016, able to welcome the largest number of startups in the most extensive community of innovation in the world.

Viva Technology Paris: June 30 to July 2, 2016 - Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles - Paris