Since we decided to propel ourselves into true startup mode, almost 18 months ago with the start of Season 2 of Le Camping, we’ve been lucky enough to discover the Parisian startup ecosystem from its core. It is truly amazing to see the amount of innovation and motivation that this relatively small ecosystem seems to encompass. And while we have had the opportunity to meet a lot of the talent behind Paris-based companies, there always seems to be someone or something new to discover.
A few weeks ago, we decided that we wanted to take our implication in the social good of our local ecosystem, a step further. Infinit, in collaboration with our hosts, Gandi.net and our next-door neighbor, VLC, organized a small event called L’Abreuvoir à Startups. This short French phrase literally translates to The Startup Trough – a peculiar name indeed, but one that makes reference to the idea that entrepreneurs work as hard as animals and sometimes, well, they just need a drink. The idea was simple enough – let’s get some fun entrepreneurs with great ideas to pitch their companies, have a beer and hang out with other startuppers, the press community, some friends and a couple of investors. The startups we invited were:
Viddiga (http://viddiga.com/)
Sush.io (http://sush.io/)
Dataiku (http://dataiku.com/)
Mac Lloyd (http://mac-lloyd.com/)
The ambiance was vibrant. Gandi.net’s kitchen lounge offered a professionally designed setting for an event that showed off fascinating concepts, sparked engaging conversations, and in typical Infinit style, included a few good kegs of Belgian beer. The good times continued well into the night and for some, until the early hours of the morning ;)
We’d like to thank everyone that participated in the event and we look forward to organizing the next edition very soon!