Did you hear of Vivatech ? The show takes place at the Paris Expo and welcomes several thousand participants every day from all over the world to see the latest new innovations and technologies. At the show, you can discover not only SaaS solutions, but also robots of all kinds, flying vehicles and the latest innovations from the major luxury cosmetics houses.
To visit the show properly, professionals are advised to prepare well in advance by targeting the stands of start-ups and major accounts that should not be missed. “People don’t come to the stand by chance, they come for you. They’ve prepared themselves or have consultancy firms that bring them. Some companies had even contacted us in advance to see if we would be there.” says Jean-François Heering, CEO of Flair Diligence and Vadis Technologies, has to say.
For the first time, hub.brussels and AWEX decided to pool their talents to build a “Belgium” stand together, presenting a sample of innovative start-ups selected by the two regions. The alliance of 28 innovative start-ups on the Belgium stand paid off, as it was packed throughout the 3 days show. A pleasant surprise for the software.brussels technology companies Vadis Technologies, Penbox, Ditar, Ouat!, Novable, Recovr, Ingedata and Aividens, who weren’t necessarily expecting such an enthusiastic response.
Max Abeillon from Ouat! confirms: “We were surprised by the number of people who stopped by the stand and came to see us. Major beauty and skincare companies wanted to talk to us. Very large accounts specifically but also other companies such as facilitators working for investment foundations. This year, for example, we had L’Oréal Paris and Channel who were interested in our solution. They are not particularly our type of customers, but they also have a laboratory, for example, which could be of interest to us.”
The visibility offered by the joint stand was a real boost for everyone. The presence of the Secretary of State for Digitization, Mr Mathieu Michel, and the many pitches scheduled on the small stage gave the start-ups considerable media coverage and exposure for business opportunities. “In terms of visibility this year, it was great, with the small stage and the conference that Emile Fyon was able to give. That was great, because after that we had a lot of people coming up to the stand, so it created a lot of interaction and visibility.” – Jérome Buggenhout, Digitalizing insurance operations with Penbox.
Headlining this year’s event and to close the trade days, Elon Musk came in person to answer questions from Maurice Levy, the show’s organizer and CEO of Publicis. But you don’t have to be one of the world’s biggest billionaires to have something to say. Vivatech is also a fair where every exhibitor can have his word. Proof: this year, there were more than 450 speakers! A real bonus for our start-ups, who have come to present their solutions on the Belgian stage.
Taking part in Vivatech is also a good way for companies to test out the European and international markets. As was the case for Gerardo Drappa, Co-Founders of Recovr “We’re going to start in France in September at Station F, so the interest for us was twofold: to take part in an interesting international fair but also to start the French adventure”.
This year’s results were more than favorable for the participating companies, who were able to make themselves known and leave with several quality contacts. As Olivier Beaujean Co-Founder and COO of Novable, who attended Vivatech with his team, confirms “Basically, it’s been extremely positive and has exceeded our expectations. With 4 people, we’re always busy. The location of the stand has helped a lot.”
To sum up: there was a unanimous YES when we asked them if they wanted to come back next year. It was a great success for the software cluster and for the hub.brussels organizational team.
Written by Delphine Godfriaux – June 2023
