Four French Startups to Arrive Oct. 15 for Entrepreneurial Exchange, Just in Time for France-Atlanta (10-12-2018)

Four French companies will arrive from Toulouse next week as part of an exchange of startups that also saw four local companies visit the Atlanta sister city during the first week of October. 

The Atlanta International Startup Exchange’s final eight winners were announced Sept. 28 by the office of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Each was set to spend a week embedded in the startup ecosystem of the other city. 

Atlanta firms ThingTech, Loupe LLC, TC Poly and Blind Tiger Communications all traveled to theEmTech conference in Toulouse and planned to meet with French entrepreneurs, investors and executives. 

Four Toulouse-based startups, Geotrend, VUF, Pixstart, and VYFE, are set to arrive during Venture Atlanta Oct. 15-19. They’ll also attend Techstars Demo Day as well as pitch to airport leaders atHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s Aviation Innovation Demo Day. 

Geotrend uses artificial intelligence to automate market research for companies; Vyfe improves training videos by making them interactive; Pixstart helps companies make better commercial decisions based on satellite imagery; VUF makes electric utility bikes with three wheels that are modular and designed to pull loads. 

The French consulate in Atlanta will host the companies at a reception, and they’ll get pointers from experts on how to pitch American investors. That’s all over a packed six-day period trimmed down from two weeks in years past.

“It is our pleasure to welcome the Toulouse startups each year and watch them expand their global reach using the connections they make while here,” Louis de Corail, France’s consul general in Atlanta, said in the city’s news release. 

Officials from Invest Atlanta, which has been key to hosting the exchange, said providing global startups exposure to the Atlanta business environment is vital to winning foreign investment. 

“Atlanta is a global city, and part of that means hosting international startups, so they can see all of our city’s assets as they look to grow and expand,” said Eloisa Klementich, Invest Atlanta’s president and CEO.

The visit also happens to coincide with France Atlanta, a yearly celebration of the city’s ties with the country that will result in a multitude of cultural, business, humanitarian and scientific events. See all at france-atlanta.org.