Want to start a business? Come to Paris…
What comes to your mind when you think of a start-up? A bunch of nerdy engineers sitting in a closed, colorful, unorganized space blistering with loud music, endless cups of tea or coffee (Red Bull in some cases) and a ‘cool’ work environment that is every young graduate’s dream. Or few dapper management graduates in their chic suits meeting investors to get the big funding for their business in an effort to make it the next ‘big’ thing on the start-up space. Well, whatever you imagine, it’s here in Paris!
La Ville Lumière (City of Lights) is drawing attention from the original startup incubator-the Silicon Valley, for giving a head-start to technology entrepreneurs and innovators. One of the shining examples of start-ups that were born in Paris is the car-sharing portal BlaBla Car. For start-ups already founded in other cities, Paris is a convenient central location for an overseas office giving them access to firstly Europe, and eventually the World. London took a hit because of the recent Brexit and the eco-system in Paris, along with support from the new government, has been a great push to the city’s startup culture.
So what are Paris’ advantages?
1. Drop in cost of living- While Paris still remains very expensive, there is a considerable drop in the cost of living when compares to different cities of the world. Paris dropped two ranks in the list of most expensive cities in the world. See graph below.
2. Conducive political and economic support- By the recent electoral mandate France has expressed its choice of globalization over protectionism and the new President has been very vocal about his support to startups. President Emmanuel Macron says he wants France to be “a nation that works with and for startups, a nation that thinks and moves like a start up”.
The city of Paris also opened up 15,000 square meters of incubator space housing 50 start-ups, thus drawing huge attention to the government’s support to startups.
3. Wholesome ecosystem for startups- Paris has it all! According to Peter Cohan, Paris has all the six elements for a startup to thrive and succeed. It has universities, investment capital, human capital, mentors, startup-friendly values and pillar companies (local publicly traded companies that invest in start-ups)
4. Traditional is out!- While Parisian parents still hope for their children to attend one of the ‘Grande écoles’ and enter the civil services for a safe civil services or banking career, they are slowly and steadily opening up to the idea of young professionals finding their calling in a tech start-up or an e-commerce marketplace.
5. French businesses are taking interest- Industry stalwarts like Xavier Niel have provided support to investment funds to establish early stage startup incubators. These steps have received endorsements from companies like Facebook which has chosen Paris based Station-F to be the location for their very first incubator.
6. Location advantage- Physical connections have diminishing importance with each passing day. Yet, Paris’ central location gives it easy access to the US, Europe, Middle-East and Asia in equal measure. Regular flights and excellent transport infrastructure make Paris well-equipped to consolidate itself as a global hub for startups.
With so many things going in its favor and strategic efforts from the government and citizens, Paris is all set to become the startup capital of not only Europe, but also the world.
What we, at TEMPO, know for sure is that a startup becomes a unicorn with consistent efforts and dreaming big. Located in the heart of the startup capital, we look forward to supporting you achieve these dreams for you and your family. We have the best exchange rates and lowest fees, do check it out here #sendwithTEMPO !
