- Title: U.S. entrepreneur bets on new Silicon Valley in west France
- Date: 6th December 2017
- Summary: SPIRO TALKING WITH COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER AND CEO OF START-UP ACCELERATOR IMAGINATION MACHINE, ROB SPIRO, SAYING: "It remains smaller than what we see in Silicon Valley but growing really rapidly. And for a start-up that has a great idea and has proved their technology or proved their concept, they are able to raise funds in France today, to accelerate, to
- Embargoed: 20th December 2017 11:39
- Keywords: start-ups Silicon Valley tech companies technology venture capitalism accelerator
- Location: NANTES, FRANCE
- City: NANTES, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0077ARYY4N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: When Rob Spiro left San Francisco to settle in France with his wife and kid in 2016, the family chose a mid-sized city on France's west coast over Paris' burgeoning start-up scene.
At 32, the Yale-educated entrepreneur and former Google product manager had already co-founded two start-ups, including one sold to Google for $50 million in 2010.
In Nantes, France's sixth largest city, known for its mediaeval castle and whimsical mechanical creatures, he sees the potential for a smaller version of America's Silicon Valley, home to tech giants Apple, Facebook and Google.
Quality of life, not money, is the key, he says.
"It really encapsulates what's great about France: people who really care about their daily lives and the quality of their daily lives and celebrate it in interesting ways. At the same time, it's a really dynamic city," Spiro said.
Co-founder and CEO of Nantes-based small ads start-up Nicolas Davoust, whose start-up is advised by Spiro's accelerator, also acknowledges the western French city has become a haven for growing companies and an attractive alternative to Paris.
"Life is very easy for an entrepreneur here," he said.
His company's office, situated in the middle of Nantes, offers yoga sessions and table tennis, for employers to relax in their free time.
With venture capital investments reaching new records in Europe, the competition to lure new tech companies goes beyond the three usual metropolises - London, Paris, Berlin - and now includes smaller cities that bet on their own mix of schools, research centres, investors and culture to lure hotshots.
Gregoire Monconduit, co-founder of Atelier Rosemood, an online maker of personalised birth announcements and wedding invitations, chose to move to Nantes years ago from Paris. He expected to be back in Paris after three years, it has been six years now.
"With the project of Rob, I think we reached a new step of growth, of recognition and we hope to exist on the European map of course," he said.
A long road lies ahead, however, if Nantes is to catch up with Paris, where a 34,000-square-metre megacampus for start-ups, called Station F, opened in June.
The Parisian region drew three quarters of all venture capital investments in the first half of this year, according to accounting firm EY. The region that includes Nantes got less than 3 percent of the total. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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