11
PARIS
In Paris, extended vacation times for employees are just as common as extremely public shows of affection or words with unexpected pronunciations (e.g. rendezvous). Here, the startup atmosphere resembles the Parisian culture: slow and steady, a little pretentious, and very passionate. Etiquette and style are important, with reputations being built over lifetimes, and new models of thinking being accepted slowly. Yet perhaps no city in the world is as global as Paris. It is the center of the European Union with most European countries a train ride away—a new concept for Americans. Nowhere else in the world are there world-class cuisine, fashion, art, hustle, and inconsistent store hours in one place; the word “entrepreneur” is French for a reason.
VENTURE ACTIVITY Q4’15 - Q3’16
VC FUNDING: $1.2B
DEALS: 233
EXITS: 75
5 YEAR YoY FUNDING GROWTH: 48.3%
5 YEAR YoY DEAL GROWTH: 43.7%
Source: CB Insights
PARIS AT A GLANCE
Power Breakfast
Café de la Pais
Edgar
Le Fouquet’s
Les Enfants Perdus
Mini Palais
Coffee Shops to Start Up In
Delaville
Any Parisian café
Local Drink
Wine
Startup District
2ème Arrondissement
“Must Be At” Local Events
Bastille Day
Circus of Tomorrow Festival
Nuit des Musées
THE TOP
ANGELS
Aleksandr Dresen
Amir Banifatemi
Fred Destin
Scott Sage
Xavier Niel
VCs
Accel Partners
Balderton Capital
BPI France
Daphni
IDINVEST
Index Ventures
Kima Ventures
Partech
ACCELERATORS
50 Partners
Agoranov
L’Accelerateur
Microsoft Ventures Paris Accelerator
Numa
Partech Shaker
Station F
TheFamily
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EVENTS
ApèrosEntrepreneurs
HelloTomorrow
Mash Up
moonbar
Start in Paris
The Paris Founders Events
Q4’15 - Q3’16 TOP FUNDING ROUNDS
EREN Renewable Energy—$227.8M
Deezer—$109M
MedDay—$38.5M
Drivy—$35M
Neoness—$27.3M
PARISIAN FOOD
The French have a lot of pride in many things, and food is the most important of them, If you can’t eat like a Frenchman, your startup is doomed.
Lunch at Work Don’t be that productive American who eats lunch at the cubicle, dropping a piece in between his pants and onto his chair before subtly looking around and putting it back into his mouth. If you want friends, eat with your friends.
Bonjour Say “Bonjour” to your waiter before you begin talking to him. His normally frowny face at the thought of catering to some tourist will light up, rainbows will appear in your wine, and the Mona Lisa will start smiling again.
Pace Speed in France is slow, so slow down. Waiters will let you set the pace, allowing them to chat and smoke a cigarette without you talking to them in broken French. Remember to ask the waiter for the cheque when you are finished.
PARISIAN CLOTHING
If you dress like you do in Silicon Valley, Parisians will not want to be your friend. Do not wear the following:
Anything over-the-top The word “chic” originates from the French, and it is never chic to have too many sequins and psychedelic rainbow patterns on your sundress.
Anything not tight Wear tight jeans, tight hoodies, tight shirts, tight belts, but not tight fanny packs. Don’t wear fanny packs. No yoga pants either. Downward Dog is not chic.
Cargo shorts It may be 95 degrees outside and you may have nothing else to wear, but underwear is better than cargo shorts. Shorts are generally a no-no as it is, but cargo shorts? The extra pockets serve no function outside of alienating you from most locals.
Flip-flops While airing out your feet, flip-flops also put a neon sign above your head that reads “Aesthetically Displeasing Slacker.”
Anything that says “Paris” on it Parisians are too cool for many things, Paris being one of them.
The Road from Paris
The City of Lights is only a few hours away by train or plane from the other coolest cities in Europe. Here’s a quick travel guide to help you plan your jet-setting and country hopping while in town.
Xavier Niel, THE SILICON MAN
A telecommunications billionaire, Niel is a peculiar Frenchman, a self-made entrepreneur, who never studied past high school in a country where many rich Frenchmen are products of inheritance. He has complained about the French’s tendency to complain and has said: “France didn’t obstruct me, but it didn’t help me either.” With his fortune, Niel is impacting the Paris startup scene like no other Parisian before him with his incubator, school, and investments.
Station F
Plans to open in 2018 as the “world’s largest digital business incubator.”
Will host 1000 innovative startups in 33,747 square meters.
Located in what once was the Halle Freyssinet, a transshipment hub for trucks and trains all around the country.
Kima Ventures
Niel on startups: “It’s more profitable than playing the lottery, and much more fun.”
Once boasted about investing in two startups a week.
Cofounded with Jérémie Berrebi, an influential and serial tech investor and entrepreneur.
42
Aims to educate 800 to 1000 students aged eighteen to thirty in programming per year.
Named after the answer to life in Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Students have a variety of backgrounds—40 percent have not graduated from high school while others have graduated from Stanford and MIT.
4.5% admission rate for the first class of students.