13 French companies have been selected to participate in the 6th edition of the Creative Lab North America, an incubator for startups in the creative and cultural industries. The Creative Lab North America is organized by Business France and co-produced by the Cultural Services of the Embassy of France in the United States, the Consulate General of France to Quebec, and the Ministry of Culture and Communication. Given the current context, the event will take place virtually from November 4 to 20, 2020.

North America is one of the leaders in the creative and cultural industries, with a global market share of nearly 30%. When it was created 6 years ago, Creative Lab North America established the goal of supporting young French creators and innovators who are looking to expand in the United States and Canada. By helping them create connections with American and Canadian actors throughout the country, this program allows them to strengthen their understanding of this ecosystem. The Creative Lab North America has, to date, nearly 50 winners for whom this event has generated about 60% of business flow within 18-24 months, a major achievement for these young companies.

Initially organized in New York and Montreal, the virtual format of this 6th edition has allowed to expand the scope and reach of the event beyond these two cities. The French delegation will now have the opportunity to meet with key players in the field based in cities such as Toronto, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

The 2020 selection is composed of music, video game (including educational), and entertainment startups, as well as those creating solutions for the art and museum world:

Aodyo is the creator of the Sylphyo, the first electronic wind instrument that combines traditional techniques and the electronic world;

Artsper is the European leader in the online sale of contemporary art. The platform gives access to a large catalog of contemporary art from the best galleries in the world;

ASBA, a French iconic brand, designs and manufactures drums and percussion instruments “Made in France”;

Dipongo has created an edutainment application and a manual to stimulate the creativity of children through original activities, surprising accessories and incredible challenges;

Dronisos, a world leader, offers a unique solution to manage hundreds of light drones using automation, renewing the entertainment genre by making the sky the largest screen in the world;

Embodme has developed a new kind of musical synthesizer that uses the movements of the body, guaranteeing an unprecedented level of precision for a digital instrument, thanks to the precision of touch and freedom of movement in a 3D space;

Emissive brings the best of immersive technologies to the worlds of culture and luxury, creating tailor-made experiences for museums around the world. Emissive has been named “most prestigious VR agency” by the magazine réalité-virtuelle.com in 2019;

Play In Lab helps studios and publishers lacking time or resources to internalize the key steps that guarantee the best quality for their video games;

Groover is a platform that helps musicians to gain visibility and get feedback from media and labels looking for emerging talent. Since its launch in 2018, 300,000 returns have been made and 100 label signatures facilitated;

Le Sud Multimedia has developed more than 1,000 educational games available online, for rent, and for immediate use or to be adapted as needed;

Soclip is a deep tech company that provides its customers with an Artificial intelligence device capable of creating professional-quality video clips in seconds;

Waves System develops a unique and complete portfolio of audio-visual solutions for museums (ultra-directional speaker for narrow audio areas, audio and video players; video and audio players for optimized with subtitling, remote control and mediation functions, etc.) in order to create immersive experiences and engage visitors;

Wilkins Avenue has become a global reference in the creation of immersive experiences in augmented reality, capable of transforming any location and reinventing the user experience, as well as mixing the physical and digital worlds.

The Creative Lab North America 2020 program will consist of several half day sessions during which participants will be trained by American and Canadian coaches, and advised by experts to develop their marketing, business, and legal skills. In addition, a tailor-made program of business meetings with professionals will be organized for interested companies, thus allowing French delegation to create connections for future developments in North America.

“We have really grown skills and networks, both in the USA, Canada, and even in France,” says Garry Yankson, co-founder and CEO of HipHop Community, a events and musical production agency specialized in hip-hop culture. An experience also successful in 2018 for Jérôme Dron, CEO of Redison, a startup that recently launched in the United States a drumstick that allows someone to play anywhere and in silence.

More info here.

Partners

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. With branches in 8 cities and mobile teams, our North American network has both the knowledge and the experience to facilitate trade relations between France, Canada and the US. For more information: www.businessfrance.fr

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States promotes the best French arts, literature, film, digital creation, language and education across the United States. Based in New York City, Washington DC and eight other locations across the US, Cultural Services works with artists, authors, intellectuals and entrepreneurs throughout the territory and builds partnerships between creators, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. They recently launched What’s Next, a new series of interviews on the future of Creative America with guest speakers from the creative cultural and creative industries based in the United States. www.frenchculture.org

The Consulate General of France in Quebec steers and manages the relationship between France and Quebec by fostering rich political and economic exchanges and, more broadly, facilitating constant dialogue between leaders and civil society on contemporary issues. At the heart of the actions of the Consulate General of France in Quebec today are the protection of the environment, gender equality, the French-speaking world, innovation, youth, education, and debate of ideas. Through its cultural action, the Consulate General of France in Quebec advises, conceives, develops and promotes artistic projects more particularly in connection with youth and innovation. It creates and reinforces partnerships between institutions, facilitates networking among artists, creators and cultural professionals, while being attentive to the major issues at stake of our time. https://quebec.consulfrance.org/

The Ministry of Culture, the General Directorate of Media and Industries (DGMIC) defines, coordinates and evaluates the State policy related to the development of the cultural sector, pluralism of the media, the phonographic industry, books and reading, the economy, the advertising industry and all communication services to the public by means of the Internet. It manages the activities of the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée. www.culture.gouv.fr