Who is going to federate the start-up movement in Sophia Antipolis ? The fight has begun between the Fondation Sophia Antipolis and the young entrepreneurs of the technopole…
There are great manoeuvres around the start-up movement in Sophia Antipolis. For few months already, the investment companies and the companies that bring together investors and business angels have been flourishing on the site of Sophia Antipolis. But competition has also become hard around the organization of great 'ritual' gatherings, of the same type as the 'First Tuesday' gatherings in Paris.
Sophia Start-up of the Fondation
With the Fondation Sophia Antipolis, Senator Laffitte had been the first to shoot when he launched the CSCR, at the end of last year. The Club des Sociétés à Croissance Rapide (The Club of Fast Growing Companies) that had been quickly renamed Sophia Start-up, had got a length ahead thanks to its 'second Monday', organized in the Technopole. The monthly meeting of the actors of the start-up movement has well caught on. In May (exceptionally on the 15th), it will be the 5th meeting.
Each time, the meeting brings together about two hundred people and it brings into touch carriers of projects, business angels, representatives of venture capital companies, lawyers, reporters. Some successful entrepreneurs also play a part, such as Caramail founders, business angels as Jean-Pierre Boespflug, the former director of Bay Network Sophia, and currently, an acknowledged business angel of Cross Atlantic Ventures (he will be one of the guests of the next meeting).
…and 'Start-up@Sophia' of Up-e
But some young entrepreneurs of Sophia Antipolis, who are also trying to play the start-up phenomenon, badly received the leadership of the Foundation. Thus, Christophe Dupont organized a meeting called Start-up@Sophia , through his company, Up-e (the start-up of the start-ups). He did it almost in the same way as Sophia Start-up. The first meeting had brought together nearly two hundred people. The next one will take place on May 4th, so it will be about ten days ahead of the meeting of Sophia Start-up.
In the same way, a firm creation competition (Graine de Start-up) has been organized with the Essi and the Ceram, while the two meetings have been put together till now. Aucland, that is the rising star in the new economy on the French Riviera, has lately joined with the competition. The will to lead is underlain by a greater ambition : to federate the meetings of the provincial new economy (it is a bit late for Paris) and to create a network of new entreprenariat of the regions.
The coming up of Businessangels.com
But the rivalry with the Foundation is not only about the associative area and the convivial meetings; it also affects the individual and the financial helps that are meant to be for the start-ups. Two months ago, Up-e firmly took the niche of the aid to the carriers of projects (this aid is accompanied with the acquisition of a small capital shareholding) from an Internet platform where creators and financiers can meet (www.up-e.com).
For its part, the Foundation, that worked with Businessangels.com , strengthened the network of European scale. This network also aims at bringing together investors and entrepreneurs. Thus, the Foundation is going to lodge a 'physical' settlement of the company founded by Jean-Christophe Chabrerie and Eric Gaillat, while Businessangels.com says there will be only two stopping-off places in France : Paris and Sophia Antipolis.