Jalios joins the French Tech Grand Paris
As a member of French Tech Grand Paris since last November, Jalios is joining an association of no fewer than 300 members to contribute to innovation and the promotion of Tech made in France. What is French Tech Grand Paris and what does membership mean? Find out from Alexandra, Director of French Tech Grand Paris, and Hoang-Anh, Marketing, Communications & CSR Director at Jalios.
What are the missions of French Tech Grand Paris in a few words and figures ?
Alexandra:
French Tech Grand Paris is the Ile-de-France community of start-ups, investors, corporates and community builders. The association has a strong desire to represent and make accessible a local French Tech in an area where 70% of the tech ecosystem's metrics are concentrated.
Our aim is to unite and accelerate the entire tech ecosystem, by which we mean investment funds, start-ups, major groups involved in open innovation and digital transformation, and public-sector players. Our members are truly representative of the entire tech ecosystem, not just start-ups, but all tech-related players.
Our mission is to work to improve collaboration between these players, remove any obstacles they may encounter and put in place levers to help them grow
What can bootstrap SMEs like Jalios bring to the ecosystem ?
Hoang Anh : Until recently, I was under the mistaken impression that French Tech was exclusively reserved for start-ups, i.e. relatively young companies still looking to validate a viable business model, and in particular with a view to raising funds and achieving hyper-growth. It was during an event co-organised by French Tech Grand Paris and Numeum that I had the opportunity to talk to the French Tech mission and French Tech Grand Paris, and that I realised that the term start-up should be taken in its broadest sense. SMEs like Jalios, even if they're bootstrapped, i.e. they haven't raised any funds, have a rightful place there as members. It's the perfect place for entrepreneurs to chat, exchange best practice, meet potential partners and find business opportunities to promote French tech together. At the onboarding lunch I attended, we talked about financing, organic growth, recruitment and how to find spin-offs, for example. Jalios can share its experience there, but also propose its products and services.
What trends and challenges are emerging in this French Tech network ?
Alexandra :
Everyone is talking about AI, because it cuts across the board, it's everywhere, it's moving the lines. AI as a whole affects all sectors of activity. Digital technology was an important development in the same way as electricity or the railways, but now we're seeing a new revolution, which is going to change the game in a huge number of sectors.
Beyond AI, I think that we need to have a more eco-responsible tech sector, and this has to start right from the design stage of software or hardware. We need to think as green as possible, right from the start: what is the greenest technology I'm going to use to develop my product? Which data centre will I use to store my data? How can I design my website to be as green as possible ?
Everyone wants to be ‘green’, but the reality is that the genesis of many companies does not include the ecological transition. We need to think about the ecological transition from the outset if we are to have a truly responsible digital economy.
How is French Tech Grand Paris tackling this issue? In the first week of June, along with other French Tech Capitals and Communities and with the support of ADEME, we are launching Eco-Responsible Tech Week, during which we hope to raise awareness of this vital issue among more than 150 start-ups.
Another important issue is the recruitment of over-50s in the tech industry. Responsible tech' also touches on this social lever: the inclusion of over-50s is a very challenging issue today.
French Tech Grand Paris has set up a working group on this subject, made up of scale-ups (Evaneos, Sidetrade), investment funds (Serena), training providers (Simpon, Winside, Maximis) and consultants (Pierre-Yves Martin and Delphine Goudchaux), and we presented the results of a double study on this subject at an event organised by the Club Landoy at Bercy, attended by Jean Noel Barrot, then Minister for Digital Affairs.
In May 2024, we signed a charter committing scale-ups and 40 major groups to recruiting people over 50, in the presence of Ministers Catherine Vautrin and Marina Ferrari. Our aim is to raise awareness and demystify the over-50 worker, who is perceived as not competent enough, too expensive, not knowing how to integrate into the start-up culture and use business tools. There's a real bias against this target group of employees, who are, on the contrary, people with very high added value, often with business and sector expertise and a very strong network.
Jalios is a member of French Tech Grand Paris. What does that mean in practical terms ?
Hoang-Anh : The issues raised by Alexandra are very much in line with what Jalios is promoting, especially for me as the person in charge of CSR and Responsible Digital Initiatives at Jalios. Joining a network enables us to take part in joint events and initiatives.
We're also taking part in actions on the development of sovereignty organised by the network, in particular those supporting the ‘Je choisis la French Tech’ initiative to develop technological and economic independence with French players, thanks to commissioning.
Alexandra: Jalios and I will be at Vivatech, where we'll be hosting a village of French Tech Grand Paris start-ups to showcase our members and introduce them to major groups, investment funds, public bodies and successful CEOs. The power of a network like French Tech Grand Paris is enormous !
Thank you both very much !
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