We mentor startups right from pre-launch and support them on growth journey

He has been travelling to India for several years now, building bridge between Indian and European businesses through his own business advisory firm - BizDev. A seasoned business advisor, Jean Claude Morel, has been keenly observing and following the growth trajectory of Indian startup ecosystem. As senior Director, Creative Valley, a leading French startup incubator, his current mission is to make as many Indian startups as possible land up in Paris, join hands with a suitable European partner and grow globally. Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Morel explains how Indian startups, across verticals, stand to gain, moving beyond borders

In order to help strengthen seed financing, while in France, Creative Valley is currently mobilizing French public and private players, investment funds and major corporations to create Creative One, Euro100 million fund whose mission will be to finance the creation and accelerate the development of the most promising startups from this ecosystem, the breeding ground for entrepreneurial excellence that needs to be transformed into leadership

Creative Valley welcomes and incubates entrepreneurs in various sectors, including fashion, culture, art, IT and biotechnology. To do this, the company collaborates with clusters, groups of experts with industry expertise to support and accompany each startup in its launch and growth. We actively work across borders through its extensive network in the world. The group's goal is to bring international entrepreneurs to the Paris Region. For this mission, we work hand in hand with Choose Paris Region, a regional public agency supervised by the Regional Council

You have been visiting Kolkata and India for years together, trying to build, mostly Indo-Italian business ventures. Your company BizDev has been doing the matchmaking between Indian and European (especially, Italian) companies. But this time round, you have a different offer to make. What is this Creative Valley all about?

'Creative Valley', is a French startup incubator founded in 2011, by its President Yann Gozlan. At present, the company has four incubation centers in the Paris region, including Kremlin-Bicêtre, Paris 13ème, Paris Saclay, and Vélizy. Each center is dedicated to a different theme. Over the years, Creative Valley has built an ecosystem of innovation centers, school networks and startup acceleration programmes in France and abroad. With a strong presence in the Ile-de-France region, Creative Valley relies on more than 150 experts and mentors, has a very large international network and has developed more than 20 partnerships with schools and universities. More than 200 startups have already been supported by Creative Valley. Recently, Creative Valley has been working with midsized companies to support them in their digital transition.

So what are your plans for India?

I have been keenly observing the growth of the startup ecosystem in India. I think the time has come when these bright Indian startups need to look beyond Indian geography, join hands and collaborate with their European counterparts and expand globally. In today's context, it is only through collaboration one can expect to grow. We are therefore trying to reach out to as many Indian startups and incubators as possible and trying to connect as many of them with the European companies as possible. We are trying to make them understand how they stand to gain through such meaningful collaborations.

What does Creative Valley do? What are its activities?

Creative Valley is both an incubator and a gas pedal that supports entrepreneurs and innovative project leaders with several tools: from helping entrepreneurs to welcome companies, from their creation to their complete development in France, in Europe and in the world. Creative Valley is above all a sacred union of enthusiasts and optimists, who believe in education, entrepreneurship and innovation, in the diversity of their backgrounds and in encounters, all driven by the same desire to help students at the end of their studies, the entrepreneurs of today, to become the job creators and captains of industry of tomorrow.

Let me summarize our company's activities in the following manner:

• Co-working rental: One of Creative Valley's main missions is to provide entrepreneurs with innovative workplaces. To do this, the company offers four different centers, each dedicated to different themes - KB1: The company's headquarters is located in Kremlin-Bicêtre, where it hosts startups specializing in IT and digital technologies. Station F: Creative Valley co-hosts and manages Station F's arts and culture program called "ADN x IFM" with its partner 'Institut Français de la Mode'. V43: Located in the city of Vélizy, V43 focuses on the development of startups in the smart city sector. IPHE Saclay: The Paris Saclay region is known as the best technical and R&D center in France. IPHE Saclay is an incubator based on cutting-edge technology.

• Entrepreneur support: Creative Valley offers not only a network of sites, but also support for entrepreneurship in the form of workshops, conferences, mentoring and coaching. Coaching within Creative Valley is divided into three categories.

One of your key objectives is to support student entrepreneurs, if I am not mistaken. What do you do on that front?

Yes, you are absolutely right. Creative Valley distinguishes itself by working with students in its ecosystem to make them work together. The company has forged partnerships with more than 20 schools and universities and hosts nearly 40 startups and some 20 artists and artisans. Building on the richness of human capital and the quality of education to stimulates the emergence of our digital economy. Creative Valley was launched in partnership with the directors of Epitech and École 42, and is a spontaneous initiative with a strong local base. Its objective is to see the emergence of a new generation of companies with a strong digital component, born from the meeting of students from technical schools initiated into the 'project-based' learning method with other complementary profiles, students and young professionals from design, animation, and practical schools, as well as from business and engineering schools.

While tapping the Indian start-up ecosystem, do you have any particular industry sector or vertical in mind? How do you support international entrepreneurs?

Creative Valley welcomes and incubates entrepreneurs in various sectors, including fashion, culture, art, IT and biotechnology. To do this, the company collaborates with clusters, groups of experts with industry expertise to support and accompany each startup in its launch and growth.

We actively work across borders through its extensive network in the world. The group's goal is to bring international entrepreneurs to the Paris Region. For this mission, we work hand in hand with Choose Paris Region, a regional public agency supervised by the Regional Council. For the moment, Creative Valley has 102 partners around the world, mainly focused on Europe and East Asia.

Do you help these star-ups with access to funds as well?

In order to help strengthen seed financing while in France, Creative Valley is currently mobilizing French public and private players, investment funds and major corporations to create Creative One, Euro100 million fund whose mission will be to finance the creation and accelerate the development of the most promising startups from this ecosystem, the breeding ground for entrepreneurial excellence that needs to be transformed into leadership.