A major tech rave, the VivaTech trade show has established itself as one of the must-attend events around innovation and digital technology since its creation in 2016. Held every year at the Parc des expositions de la Porte de Versailles in Paris, VivaTech brings together start-ups, major groups, decision-makers, and key figures from the global technology ecosystem. This year Jenji has joined the conference as the exhibitor. Talking to many people, exploring innovations, and visiting different workshops inspired us, the Jenji team, to share with you our takeaways from the conference!
VivaTech is back with an in-person edition
The 6th edition of VivaTech, from June 15 to 18, 2022, marked the return to 100% presental - while remaining accessible in streaming - of the 1st event in Europe dedicated to innovation. The result: 91,000 visitors at the Porte de Versailles and 300,000 online visits.
Six major themes have been chosen and have set the tone for the four days of VivaTech 2022 : Net Zero Emissions, The Mobility Rebound, Future of Work, Inclusion is a Mindset, Tech on the Edge, Europe's Digital Decade.
Essential takeaways
After a rather quiet Vivatech 2021 conference because of the Covid pandemic and its limitations, this year has been lively. Old friends and new offerings came together for a real comeback. This year was also marked by the opportunity to meet around new global issues and concerns. We highlighted 4 topics that were highlighted in our opinion.
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Greentech is a new focus of every business
During the VivaTech 2022 we highlighted the fundamental importance of greentech or eco-friendly technologies. This year, start-ups committed to finding technologies to fight against global warming and the energy transition. We can see how curbing the catastrophic effects of climate change has become the top priority for business spheres. The US and EU have committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, whilst China has said it will do so by 2060. Meanwhile, more than a fifth of the world’s biggest companies have signed up to net-zero pledges, with major global airlines joining the climate fight.This particularly positive trend can prove that companies are moving towards green mobility. That was also explained in the third edition of Jenji expense management index.
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Companies are trying to close the gender gap
This year VivaTech, in partnership with 50inTech, launched the Female Founder Challenge sponsored by Salesforce and Société Générale with the main objective to commit to more gender equality at all levels. During the whole conference, the stage was given to self-identifying women founders for sharing their experiences and inspire others.
Unfortunately, the issue of gender gap equality is still here today. In 2021, there was a five-year low of less than 2% of venture capital funding going to all-women founding teams in the US. Only 14% of the new global unicorns were founded or co-founded by women and 1/26 of women-led unicorns in France.
At Jenji, we identified this pattern and created the podcast project “women in finance”, where women are sharing their ideas on how to motivate companies to fully leverage women’s talents and contributions.
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Workplace is experiencing big changes
While VivaTech was taking place last year in an offline space, the workforce has changed. Two years of covid pandemic have had a major impact on the world of work. Telecommuting, corporate culture, search for talent – companies have had to adapt and innovate.
Most companies shared new ways of digitizing employee tasks and simplifying their life. For example, we created the digital solution for manual monotonous expense management.
All in all
Vivatech 2022 has drawn attention to very important topics and promoted a number of initiatives to encourage diversity. This uncommon effervescence, an incredible energy and above all a collective will to innovate in a responsible and inclusive way were the key ingredients of this year's event, reflecting the dynamism that drives the startup ecosystem.
