French startups - Futur en Seine

In the middle of June, I had an opportunity to visit Paris and see what's happening in local startups on the Futur en Seine event, where for 4 days over 100 exhibitors at _Innovation Village_ presented their products to more than 50 000 visitors.

Paweł Wrzosek

2 minute read

At Synappse we’re not only about creating stunning apps… we’re also very interested in new technologies and start-up ecosystem, so we need to keep an eye on this field. Besides everyday lecture of The Verge, from time to time it’s good to attend industry events, touch some amazing technologies and meet people face-to-face.

In the middle of June, I had an opportunity to visit Paris and see what’s happening in local startups on the Futur en Seine event, where for 4 days over 100 exhibitors at Innovation Village presented their products to more than 50 000 visitors.

To be honest, I was not aware of how many currently well-known tech companies were founded in France - to name a few AppsFire, BlaBlaCar, Criteo, Deezer, DailyMotion, Withings and so on…

But there are also a plenty of new players - I found that especially hot topics are: connected things, makers / 3D printing, music and augmented reality (more precisely - software and accessories for Oculus Rift).

Internet of (Every)thing

It’s clear that everything is better with Bluetooth! For me, the IoT section has been the most interesting part of the whole exhibition. I’ve seen there a lot of crazy (in a positive sense) ideas like:

  • Smoke Watchers - an app that helps smokers to kick their habit using a smart e-cigarette (OK, I knew them before - we’re creating an amazing app for them!)
  • Kolibree - world’s first connected electric toothbrush
  • BioBot- connected interactive greenhouse
  • MEG - the intelligent plant pot filled with lots of sensors
  • iMediPack - smart pillbox, that remotely tracks your treatment

It came out that even if you’re building a social network, you can have an interest in connected things:

  • Krak - a social network for skaters, using sensors placed under the skateboard
  • YummyPets - social network for pets. Connected with a smart-collar of course

It’s been an amazing digital festival (with an even better afterparty at magnificent venue of La Gaîté lyrique :-) and my only one regret is that almost all of conferences/workshops/discussion panels have been held in French so I couldn’t participate.

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