From November 11th through November 15th of 2019, the VentureOut team worked with Business France and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy to power the 2019 edition of Le Creative Lab, a one-week US market expansion program for French startups working in the culture, entertainment, creative and leisure industries.
During the program, the nine participating startups learned how to launch and raise capital in the US and were connected with some of the top creative tech influencers and investors in NYC.
The Startups:
Nine startups were selected to be part of this 2019 edition, all of them being tech startups with a creative/culture/entertainment twist (Music, Broadcasting, Digital Solutions for Museums, Animation Studios, Social Network focused on photography…)
Our 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 10 cities, our North American team has both the knowledge and the experience to facilitate trade relations between France, Canada, and the US.
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy promote 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 bring artists, authors, intellectuals, and innovators to cities nationwide. They also build partnerships between French and American artists, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic.
A one-week hyper-accelerator program:
This one-week hyper-accelerator program was an opportunity for the companies selected to become immersed in the New Media community of New York, meeting with leading U.S. startups, corporations, and venture investors. VentureOut’s purpose is to empower our international entrepreneurs with the education, resources, and connections needed to successfully launch their business and raise capital in the U.S.
Below are some of the highlights of the program.
Workshops & Mentoring
Education and Mentoring are the backbones of any VentureOut program. By partnering with thought leaders in key areas, we give our startups an unfair advantage by arming them with best practices used to scale the most successful U.S. companies. Workshops included Sales, Messaging, Pitching and Fundraising.
We also give our startups an opportunity to sit down and chat with incredible NYC entrepreneurs in their industry. Among other sessions, our startups:
- Met with Sky Rolnick, Co-founder at Jump Into The Light, America’s first Virtual Reality cinema and playlab
- Discussed Corporate Innovation with Stella Voutsina, CTO at MDC Media Partners, one of the biggest marketing agencies in NYC
- Explored how to adapt Communication and Concept for the US business culture with Varese Layzar, UX Writer and Researcher at Invisibly
- Heard from VentureOut alum Jan Lucanus, Founder of ReelWurld, on how to innovate and make a cultural impact
- Heard from VentureOut alumn Bonny Morlak, Founder of Tiltsta, on the importance of branding, messaging and UX scaling a startup
U.S. ExPANSION STRATEGY
For any foreign startup, expanding to a new country means dealing with accounting, legal and immigration challenges. Our startups got to hear from a panel of lawyers and accountants that run some of the most active venture tech practices in NYC as well as representatives of the French institutions helping startups in their international expansion.
The Pitch Nights
The pitch night is the capstone of any VentureOut program. Participants to the Creative Lab program were lucky to not pitch at one but TWO pitch nights!
Pitching to French Founders
The first one was a pitch night in front of members of the French Tech community in NYC in partnership with French Founders.
The second one was an investor pitch night. We started with networking, cocktails, and hors-d’oeuvres. Following a round of introductions, each startup pitched for 2 minutes and received feedback from each investor on the panel. The night was capped off with more networking and refreshments.
Pitching to U.S. Investors
Our Investor Panel included:
MORE INFO:
Want to learn more? Click here to discover the Live Tweet of the program
Want to be part of the next edition? Check Le Creative Lab’s web page
Want to know more about VentureOut? Click here to learn more about our French programs
You are a French startup and want to join one of our programs? Click here to connect with us
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
They make our program possible and are an incredible resource to all our startups, we couldn’t be more thankful.