French President Emmanuel Macron invited a dozen French start-ups to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Among them were artificial intelligence firms Mistral AI, Dust, and Giskard, electric battery company Verkor, and quantum specialists Pasqal and Qubit Pharmaceuticals as reported in Les Echos.
Giskard co-founder Alex Combessie expressed honour at the invitation. The start-ups will have the opportunity to meet with large companies and international funds. This is part of Macron’s initiative to include more French start-ups in his foreign travels, aiming to balance the representation between large corporations and smaller businesses.
French Tech Leaders Attend World Economic Forum
French President Emmanuel Macron has invited a dozen French start-up leaders to the 54th edition of the World Economic Forum, held from January 15 to 19. This marks a growing trend of French tech start-ups being included in Macron’s international trips. Among the invitees are three French artificial intelligence start-ups (Mistral AI, Dust, and Giskard), Verkor (an electric battery company), and quantum specialists like Pasqal and Qubit Pharmaceuticals.
Alex Combessie, co-founder of Giskard, expressed his honor at being invited. Giskard, which develops an open-source library for the automatic detection of hidden vulnerabilities in AI models, plans to meet with banks and consulting firms at the forum. They also hope to interact with Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI.
French Tech at Davos
As part of Macron’s delegation, Giskard will participate in events organized by Business France and the French Tech. These include an evening with Yann LeCun (Meta) and Fanny Moizant (Collective Cloakroom). The two French organizations aim to facilitate meetings with large corporations as part of the “I choose the French Tech” program, designed to boost public and private control among start-ups.
Nicolas Proust, responsible for the strategy and business development of Pasqal, highlighted the rare opportunity to have direct access to large company CEOs. He mentioned a scheduled meeting with the CEO of IBM and the chance to meet big international funds that do not usually visit France.
Macron’s Support for French Tech
Macron’s inclusion of French start-ups in his international trips has increased since his second term. In late 2022, founders of French Tech companies such as Back Market, Sorare, Owkin, CybelAngel, and Ynsect accompanied him to Washington. There, they had the opportunity to meet with large investment funds like KKR, Carlyle, and BlackRock.
According to a source from the Elysee, the goal is to find a balance between large corporations, accustomed to these types of trips, and start-ups, SMEs, and ETIs. The French Tech is systematically asked for a selection of names for these trips. For instance, Pasqal was part of the presidential delegation to the Netherlands in April of the same year.
French Tech’s Popularity at International Forums
Clara Chappaz, director of the French Tech mission, noted that Davos is among the top three forums where start-ups would like to be accompanied, often ranking first. This highlights the importance of such international platforms for start-ups to network, gain exposure, and potentially secure investment and partnerships.
The presence of French Tech at Davos and other international forums underlines the growing recognition of France’s tech sector on the global stage. It also reflects the French government’s active role in promoting its tech industry and facilitating its integration into the global tech ecosystem.
“We are very honored to be invited”, confides Alex Combessie, co-founder of Giskard, who is going there for the first time.
“When we ask the shows where start-ups would like to be accompanied, Davos is in the Top 3 and many in number 1”, says Clara Chappaz, director of the French Tech mission.
“We have a few appointments including one with the CEO of IBM. It will also be an opportunity to meet big international funds that do not come to France”, says Nicolas Proust, responsible for the strategy and business development of Pasqal.
“During the travels of the President of the Republic abroad, we try to find a balance between large groups, accustomed to these types of trips, and start-ups, SMEs and ETIs. We systematically ask for a selection of names at the French Tech”, says one on the side of the Elysee.
Summary
French President Emmanuel Macron invited a dozen French start-ups, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing companies, to the 54th edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos. This move is part of Macron’s ongoing efforts to promote French tech companies on the global stage, providing them with opportunities to network with large corporations and international investment funds.
- French President Emmanuel Macron invited a dozen French start-up bosses to the World Economic Forum in Davos, held from January 15 to 19 according to newspaper Les Echos.
- Among the invited start-ups were three French artificial intelligence companies (Mistral AI, Dust and Giskard), Verkor (an electric battery company), and quantum specialists Pasqal and Qubit Pharmaceuticals.
- Alex Combessie, co-founder of Giskard, expressed honour at the invitation. Giskard is a start-up that develops an open-source library for automatic detection of hidden vulnerabilities in AI models.
- As part of the delegation, the start-ups had the opportunity to participate in events organised by Business France and the French Tech, and to meet with large companies and international funds.
- This initiative is part of Macron’s strategy to increasingly involve French start-ups in his foreign travels. In 2022, he was accompanied by several French Tech founders to Washington, where they met with large investment funds such as KKR, Carlyle, and BlackRock.
- The Elysee seeks to balance the representation of large groups and start-ups in these trips, often asking the French Tech for a selection of names.