New York – April 10, 2018- The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Business France launch the fourth edition of their program dedicated to startups from the cultural, creative and touristic industries with significant additions from previous years. This year, Le Créative Lab North America will add 2 days in Montreal to its New York program, growing reference in the field of AI. In September, participants will be invited to a one-day boot camp session in Paris to introduce them to basic U.S. pitching strategies. Supported by the FACE Foundation, the program is aimed at giving French entrepreneurs a firm understanding of the North-American tech ecosystem. The upcoming edition will take place in New York from November 6 to 9 and in Montreal from November 12 to 13.

Targeting some of the most Important tech hubs of North America

This year, the Créative Lab North America will give France-based entrepreneurs the opportunity to add to the discovery of one of the United States’ biggest ecosystem, New York, Montreal’s growing tech and innovative potential.

Home to more than 9000 startups and 1000 cultural institutions, New York City is the #1 city for tech—worth over $1billion in valuation—innovation and entrepreneurship. The city is also the 2nd largest startup ecosystem in the world, and a world leader in many other industries, including finance, marketing, media, art, and fashion. With an exponential growth of 18% of the city’s tech ecosystem in the last decade and an ideal geographic location bridging the growing European and American tech scenes, New York is a perfect fit for startups looking for an introduction to the U.S. market.

A growing hub for artificial intelligence, today Montreal is recognized as one of the international leaders in digital art and creativity. A strategic location providing direct access to nearly 1billion consumers due to NAFTA and CETA, the city offers financial benefits to companies including one of the lowest corporate tax rates on the continent (26.90%) and other generous tax credits, making it a high concentration zone for industry leaders. This fertile ground for startups specializing immersion, virtual and augmented reality, visual effects, interactive documentary and participative installations in public spaces has attracted giants Facebook, Google and Microsoft to join its burgeoning AI cluster. The city is also home to a dynamic film industry with a volume of activity of $1,5G per year, including $300 M in foreign production capital and $278M generated by the postproduction sector.

Le Créative Lab: North America will welcome 8 startups from the cultural, creative and touristic industries–including but not limited to fashion, design, video tools, video games, VR, AI, edition, photography, museum tools, travel and music—for an intensive 6-day program including training sessions, workshops, networking events, and personalized business meetings. The program is produced in partnership with top-notch incubators, the Made in NY Media Center in New York and MT LAB in Montreal. Among the networking events scheduled is the “Demo Night,” during which participants will pitch their projects in front of professionals from the tech and culture industries, along with investors and media. The goal of this immersion in the New York and Montreal ecosystems is to enable participants to adapt their products or services to the North American consumer, to define a commercial strategy tailored to the market, and to establish initial contact with potential partners and clients in the United States and Canada.

The call for applications, offered this year to startups which have done or are currently in a Series A or B round of funding, is open until May 31st at midnight (EST). Participating startups will be selected by a jury of French and North American tech and culture experts. The results will be announced mid-July More information here: http://events-export.businessfrance.fr/creative-lab-2018/

Previous Editions: A Successful Experience for Positive Results

Participants from previous editions have used the experience and network developed during the program to become established on the American market. “Our active participation in the Creative Lab 2017 program allowed us to approach the American market in a methodical way and to target our next plan of action, namely to open a subsidiary Euveka Americas,” said Audrey-Laure Bergenthal, President of Euvek, Alumni 2017. The startup received a CES innovation award for its participation in the well-known award show in Las Vegas and plans to open a New York office by the end of the year.

“We wanted to get a better feel for the business spirit, to learn, to see, to meet with potential partners. The program is a good mix of networking, business meetings, tips from French entrepreneurs and speakers,” said Christophe Sibieude, cofounder and CEO of Short Edition, alumni 2017, a startup that offers dispensers to print short stories. Following their participation in the 2017 Creative Lab program, the company continued to deepen their collaboration with key players from the U.S. cultural industries, including F. F. Coppola, and raised $2M euros to export their product across the Atlantic.

Le Créative Lab North America, a program of the Culture Services of the French Embassy and Business France, is part of French Tech New York. It is supported by the FACE Foundation.

About

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy promotes the best of French arts, literature, cinema, digital innovation, language, and higher education across the US. Headquartered in New York City and Washington D.C., with offices in eight other cities across the country, the Cultural Services brings artists, authors, intellectuals, and innovators to cities nationwide. It also builds partnerships between French and American artists, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. With dedicated departments in Los Angeles and New York, the Cultural Services foster the development of French and American startups in the cultural and creative sector. www.frenchculture.org

Business France is the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses, as well as promoting and facilitating international investment in France. It promotes France’s companies, business image and nationwide attractiveness as an investment location, and also runs the V.I.E international internship program.

Founded on January 1, 2015 through a merger between UBIFRANCE and the Invest in France Agency, Business France has 1,500 personnel, both in France and in 70 countries throughout the world, who work with a network of public- and private-sector partners. www.businessfrance.fr

FACE Foundation is an American non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and educational exchanges between France and the United States. In collaboration with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US, FACE supports distribution and creation in the fields of cinema, the visual arts, theater, dance, music, and literature. It also encouraged partnerships in education and research. http://face-foundation.org/

La French Tech is a global movement celebrating French innovation, entrepreneurship and startups. The NYC French Tech Hub gathers French and American entrepreneurs, top executives, investors, engineers and public leaders. With more than 170 startups in NY co-founded by at least one French entrepreneur, La French Tech is a dynamic and diverse community.

Media Contact:

Camille Desprez: +1 (212) 439-1417

camille.desprez@diplomatie.gouv.fr

frenchculture.org

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