The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Business France launch the third edition of their program dedicated to startups from the cultural and creative industries with significant additions from previous years. The French-American Creative Lab, formerly the French-American Digital Lab, will include three days in Los Angeles with additional one-on-one business meetings and networking opportunities. Supported by the Institut français, the program is aimed at giving French entrepreneurs a firm understanding of the American tech ecosystem. The upcoming edition will take place in New York from November 6th to 10th and in Los Angeles from November 13th to 15th.
A Bi-Coastal Perspective on the U.S. Tech Scene
This year, the French-American Creative Lab will give France-based entrepreneurs the opportunity to discover two of the biggest tech ecosystems in the United States: Los Angeles and New York.
Home to more than 1000 cultural institutions, New York City is a world leader in many industries, from finance and marketing to media, art, fashion, and more. Today, these industries are in the midst of a digital revolution. With both a rich tech ecosystem and an ideal geographic location, the New York City will welcome Creative Lab participants on their first stop from Paris to Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles tech scene is also booming, benefiting from the presence of numerous venture capitalists, Hollywood, and the music industry, all of which create fertile ground for startups specializing in entertainment. Google, YouTube, Snapchat, and Oculus have all chosen to establish presence in L.A., which has become the 3rd most prominent tech hub in the United States and represents a West Coast portal for foreign companies looking to expand from and toward Asia.
10 Days Dedicated to Accelerating the Expansion of French Startups in the United States
The French-American Creative Lab will welcome 8 to 12 startups from the cultural and creative industries for an intensive 10-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 18Havas in Los Angeles. 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 Los Angeles ecosystems is to enable participants to adapt their products or services to the American consumer, to define a commercial strategy tailored to the American market, and to establish initial contact with potential partners and clients in the United States.
The call for applications, offered this year to startups who 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 10 French and American tech and culture experts. The results will be announced mid-July. The application form is available here.
The French-American Creative Lab, 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 Institut français and 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/
French Tech New York
New York City was named a French Tech hub in June 2015. A French Tech hub is an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” structured to accelerate the development of French startups wishing to expand internationally and increase the attractiveness of French Tech to foreign entrepreneurs, investors, and local media. In New York, the French Tech network is made up of nearly 80 French entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, designers, developers, groups, associations, media, public servants, and research institutions, among other entities, that actively work toward the growth of startups and for their international development and recognition.
Media Contact
Camille Desprez: +1 (212) 439-1417
camille.desprez@diplomatie.gouv.fr
frenchculture.org
@franceinnyc – facebook.com/frenchculture – #CreativeLAB