The first and unmissable general public tech event of the year, the CES (Consumer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas, which has just concluded, will be marked by a return to – almost – normal after two years disrupted by Covid-19. 100,000 visitors from 173 countries came to discover the innovations of the 3,700 exhibitors spread over the 18 hectares of the show.
Good news, this year’s CES saw the strong comeback of French startups: almost 200 of them made the trip and France, as usual, remains one of the most important foreign delegations. Region South supported sixteen (read our article here).
Less glitter and more business
With the Chinese still absent and the show still hasn’t regained its pre-pandemic rise, is it worth making the trip? Has it not become a kind of international Lépine competition?
Yes, says Benoît Rivollet, director of innovation and technology at the company In Extenso Innovation Croissance, which supports companies in their financing and innovation strategies. “But motivations have changed. CES used to be a more politicized show where you had to be seen.”
Participating was more of a communication stunt: “It was a sign of success internationally, as in France, admits the Director of Innovation. But since the Covid crisis it has become more professional in the sense that there is less glitz. We no longer go there to show off, but to do business and/or find local investors, partners and customers to sell.”
In short, a return on your investment as in any other classic professional salon.
And Benoît Rivollet to continue: “For those who want to raise funds and carry out important financing rounds, between 5 and 10 million euros, the American market was also more interesting than the French one.” Pragmatism prevails on the mutual fund side: “They are looking for businesses that generate revenue.”
This is also reflected in the maturity of the startups present in Las Vegas. “They’re already bringing a product or service to market, which wasn’t always the case before, and want to accelerate to find new markets.”
A business axis that does not prevent young shoots from taking advantage of their participation in Vegas to – as in the past – forge links before large groups are present, tricolor or not. “They have easier access to French companies locally.”
Return on investment
As the show comes to a close, the innovation and technology director of In Extenso Innovation Croissance has some advice for startups. “Costs afterwards of CES is often minimized by companies. Their participation is often partly paid for by the regions that accompany them, but they must necessarily take advantage of the contacts they have made on the ground by returning to the United States to continue their development there.
Which didn’t necessarily fit into the startups’ strategies and business plans. On good terms…
Highwind wants to conquer the US emergency call market
Of the approximately 200 French startups present in Vegas, sixteen were supported by the South region, including the Azurean companies Highwind, Qiti and the Varoise Startmining.
Call 911 with a techno made in Nice? It may be soon. For its first entry into CES, the Azurean Highwind had set the bar high.
“To bring our emergency call solution, pre-diagnosed by artificial intelligence, to the 6,200 centers in the United States, details Adrien Ricci, CEO and one of the four partners of the start-up born at the end of 2019. If we want to tackle them, we need to be there, generate interest, and show the Americans that our technology is developed and credible. The fact that we have been selected by the organizers of the CES from more than 1,000 startups from all over the world is already a confirmation of our know-how and the interest of the public. This gave us credibility with the emergency services we had appointments with in parallel with the show.”
After VivaTech Paris last June “where we had made very positive contacts, the CES also allows us to shine at the national level. The fact that we participate in it arouses the interest of major companies and public services”continues the start-up pleased to welcome Jean-Noël Barrot, the deputy minister in charge of the digital transition and telecommunications, to the stand.
Although the core business of the Nice start-up is related to public services, it also took the opportunity to present its range of solutions for companies and occupational accidents. “A study by Ernst & Young has identified 700,000 occupational accidents per year for France alone, generating more than 4 days of ITT, i.e. a cost of 2.5 billion euros for companies. In addition, the urgency is taken quickly, the greater the chances of survival and patient recovery are increased, thus lower costs for the company.”
Agences de Papa’s 3D real estate starring at CES
Nicolas Fratini and Frédéric Ibanez, co-founders of Agences de Papa in Nice (digital real estate brokerage with a fixed fee of 2,000 euros), honored the Web 3 Tokenization village of the CES with their presence, where they presented Versity. Versity is the gateway to Web 3 of the real estate world.
Frédéric Ibanez and Nicolas Fratini have been working for some time on a solution to switch the world of rental, sales, promotion, etc. to the metaverse. They mix real and virtual.
“We have chosen this moment to present our Versity solution to the general public with a ready-to-use demo. Nice is in the spotlight.” In this virtual world, you can navigate Avenue Jean-Médecin, interact with shops, shop windows where sellers are represented by highly realistic avatars, enter apartments (identified), available for rent, sale or in Airbnb, and communicate. For example, for an apartment for sale, we can change the colors of the walls, add furniture, etc… “For brokers, this immersion, this visit, can lead to a signature. A visit, a sale. For developers, selling plans, this is even more interesting, more immersive.”
They plan to release a first version of the product in June and are in the process of finishing third place in a fundraiser.
“The CES in Vegas, with the visit of the Minister of Digital Transition, Jean-Noël Barrot, is a great opportunity to showcase Versity. It is also an opportunity for us to showcase current innovations related to our solution. view, to improve, adapt, etc. We need to find nuggets to integrate.”
There are always gold nuggets in Vegas.
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