VivaTech 2027

Launched in 2016 by Publicis Groupe and Les Echos-Le Parisien, VivaTech has quickly become a reference point for the European technology and start-up scene. It is held each June at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, in the south-west of the city, and the organisers describe it as Europe's biggest start-up and tech event.

Its stated purpose is to accelerate innovation by connecting start-ups, technology leaders, major companies and investors around the biggest challenges of the day. In practice that means a very broad mix of exhibitors. Large corporations use the show to present innovation programmes and partnerships, often hosting start-ups on their own spaces, while country and regional pavilions showcase national ecosystems and thousands of young companies look for customers, partners and funding.

Topics span artificial intelligence, mobility, sustainability, health, finance, media and many other sectors. The audience is equally varied: corporate innovation teams, founders, investors, policy makers and journalists, with the main stages drawing high-profile speakers from business and government.

For established companies, VivaTech is a platform for visibility and thought leadership in front of an international audience and press corps. For start-ups and scale-ups it offers concentrated access to corporate partners and investors who come specifically to find new technology. The atmosphere sits somewhere between a trade fair and a festival, so stands that invite people to try something, rather than simply read about it, tend to work best.