Atlanta has been named a “French Tech” hub, a designation boosters say will put the city on the map for startups looking to expand from France to North America.
France’s Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery announced the seal of approval in a batch with seven other locales that applied, including Chicago in the U.S., the nation of Australia and the Turkish commercial center of Istanbul.
La French Tech hubs exist in about 100 cities — about half of them (including 13 tech “capitals” and 45 communities) are in France, with the rest spread around the world. They provide a rallying point for French and “Francophile” companies and serve as a locus for French government’s outbound support programs, which include seed funding, trade missions and more.
For John Woodward, vice president of global commerce at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the exposure for Atlanta was particularly well-timed, coinciding with the announcement of massive new campuses from Microsoft and Google in the city. With the growing presence of AirBnB and others, these moves add up to a ringing endorsement of the city’s tech bona fides.
But adding the French angle will raise Atlanta’s profile in the eyes of foreign investors who might normally be predisposed to look first to New York, Silicon Valley and other better-known tech hubs in the U.S., Mr. Woodward said.
“We’ve been obviously working to position Atlanta as a tech hub, but certainly having this imprimatur from the French government carries a lot of weight for French companies in particular,” said Mr. Woodward.
The metro-wide effort included assembling a dossier in support of Atlanta’s February application similar to what would be used in recruiting a major French investor, Mr. Woodward said.
Researchers collected facts about the tech ecosystems in the city, the French community and existing French investors. Letters of support came in from Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Metro Atlanta Chamber President Katie Kirkpatrick and others. The city of Peachtree Corners’s Curiosity Lab, a testing ground for autonomous vehicles, was also included.
Apparently, French companies are already taking notice. The French Tech announcement happened to come the same day that Sunday, a QR-based payments app for restaurants and retailers, announced a $24 million raise. Christine de Wendel, head of the company’s North American expansion, is an Atlanta native who has spent the last decade running tech startups in France.
For Sebastien Lefon, a France native who left a European multinational in Duluth to start his own firm, Adapt1st, Atlanta’s role in the U.S. tech landscape today is already solidified.
“Atlanta is becoming a tech hub. In 2019 venture capital and private equity have invested $1.8 billion in start-ups here; last year four of them reached unicorn status,” said Mr. Lefon, who will run the French Tech Atlanta hub along with Julie Lambotte of the French-American Chamber of Commerce. “French Tech Atlanta will be another pillar to support the 14 existing Francophile startups, promote French Tech in the Southeast by broadening cross-Atlantic relationships and help future French startups to grow their business in the U.S.”
The shift in French focus toward Atlanta has been gradual, with companies like BioSerenity and other firms arriving organically over time.
Some believe last year’s 11th annual France-Atlanta event series, an ongoing collaboration between Georgia Tech and the Consulate General of France in Atlanta, was a watershed moment, given both the content and the format of the events.
France-Atlanta has always focused on science, business and humanitarian collaboration, but last November it included separate events on biotech, gaming and film and “transatlantic tech perspectives,” which served the purpose of mutually introducing the tech ecosystems. Going virtual during the pandemic meant more people from France tuning in as speakers and panelists — including leaders of incubators and the co-founder of Mirakl, a French ecommerce unicorn, and many others.
“Our main objective with this program was to put the metro Atlanta region on the French radar and we believe it worked, We were in a way indeed preparing our application for the French Tech Label,” said Ms. Lambotte of the chamber, which will house the French Tech hub in its new offices.
Vanessa Ibarra, director of the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, said the pandemic has brought “silver linings” when it comes to promoting Atlanta’s brand globally and reinforcing strong historical ties with France.
“We were no longer limited to geographic restrictions, but suddenly were able to invite people from around the world to our events. We were able to exchange with our counterparts in various continents, and welcome virtual delegations as they no longer needed to get on a plane to visit,” she said, pointing to France-Atlanta as well as collaborative events with the chamber on female entrepreneurship and other topics.
Of course, it helped that Atlanta and France already had deep partnerships cultivated over time, including a sister-city relationship with Toulouse that started in 1974 and was reinvigorated with a startup exchange focused on complementary sectors like fintech and aerospace in 2016. Two Atlanta companies from among the 21 participants through 2018 — Volantio and Carbice — helped lobby this year for the French Tech designation, and Carbice will put an office in Toulouse this year.
Ms. Ibarra said the French Tech designation would breathe new life into such exchanges when travel is possible again.
“While the program was momentarily postponed, the announcement of the French Tech Atlanta accreditation confirms the importance of such exchanges with France, and the accreditation will provide us the opportunity and launching pad to restart the collaboration,” she said.
Another big help in the French Tech initiative was Rami Abi Akl, science and technology attaché at the Atlanta consulate who previously worked for the team in Paris that administers the global network.
“This is a huge step for us in placing Atlanta on the map for French entrepreneurs, and placing France on the map for U.S. Southeastern tech! We are very thrilled for what is coming next,” said Mr. Abi Akl, who is also building a community of French scientists and researchers in the Southeast U.S. that will have some overlap with the startup sector.
Vincent Hommeril, the consul general of France in Atlanta, praised the collaborative effort that many noted was key to securing the designation.
“The creation of this community means more opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups on both sides of the Atlantic,” Mr. Hommeril said. “I commend the efforts of the organizing committee who tirelessly worked to prepare this project and make it a reality.”
Indeed, French Ambassador Philippe Etienne has met with Mayor Bottoms on multiple occasions in the last two years including an in-person visit in February 2020, just before the pandemic began.
Regional members of the Conseillers du Commerce extérieur de la France (French Foreign Trade Advisors) joined the other partners in bringing the French Tech designation to fruition.
Besides newly inducted Atlanta and Chicago, North American French Tech communities include Austin, North Carolina’s Research Triangle (Raleigh), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Boston; Toronto and Montreal in Canada and the country of Mexico.
Read more about the practical meaning of the French Tech designation in this Global Atlanta story: Atlanta Could Soon Be Dubbed a ‘French Tech’ Hub
Learn more at https://lafrenchtech.com/en/
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