paris

VivaTech's 10th edition runs 17-20 June at Porte de Versailles. The continent's largest startup-meets-VC stage: 180,000+ attendees, 14,000+ startups, 3,600+ investors, 450 speakers across four tracks - AI & Productivity, Cybersecurity & Defence, Greentech & Energy, Deeptech. Nvidia's GTC Paris keynote anchors day one. Days 17-19 are pro-only; Saturday 20 opens to the public as the VivaTech Festival. The week to be in Paris if tech is your patch - pavilions, side events, investor matchmaking, hiring fairs, demos.

Recurring AI-and-startup mixer at Pub St Germain, falling on VivaTech opening night. Short founder intros (5-7 min), open networking with investors and operators, and a heavy AI-builder skew. A useful low-stakes alternative if your VivaTech pass doesn't include the official evening receptions, or to extend the day with the broader Paris AI scene.

Held alongside VivaTech, the Greater Paris Metropolis hosts the 3rd Metropolitan Innovation Evening with the support of La French Tech Grand Paris. An evening dedicated to connecting startups, public decision-makers and key players in the Ile-de-France innovation ecosystem - one of the better stops during VivaTech week if you want to meet city governments, public operators and deeptech / impact founders.

Paris regional final of the Startup World Cup, hosted by Startup&Angels with Pegasus Tech Ventures at Le Village by CA. Ten selected startups pitch live to investors and ecosystem leaders; the winner represents France at the San Francisco grand finale, where the global prize is a $1M investment. VivaTech-week fringe with a sharp investor audience - worth attending whether you're pitching or scouting.

Two-day summit at STATION F co-hosted by INSEAD and Wharton on the political economy and applied frontier of AI. Faculty research talks from INSEAD, Wharton, Harvard, Ecole Normale Superieure, Ecole des Mines and Mainz on AI cognition, AI for health, talent movement, AI guardrails and well-being - paired with C-suite and policy panels. Designed for senior operators, strategists and policymakers thinking past the demo phase.

Morning session at Bpifrance Le Hub on how SaaS business models are mutating in the AI-native era. Keynotes and panel with SaaS operators and AI-native founders unpacking what's actually shifting: usage-based pricing, defensibility, inference cost structure, GTM, and where the line falls between AI-feature and AI-native product. Built for founders, SaaS executives and growth-stage investors.

Small, curated networking workshop at STATION F's Bodyboard Room for early-stage to scaling founders, project leaders and ecosystem partners. Brief FlexUp intro, then a series of short pitches from startups and ecosystem players, followed by open networking. Capacity is deliberately capped to keep conversations concrete - opt-in contact sharing at the end. Useful if you find big-stage formats noisy.

with Nicolas Dessaigne (Group Partner, Y Combinator)

YC comes to Paris for a one-day, in-person Startup School at STATION F. Founders of Datadog, Supabase, PostHog, AMI and others share the unvarnished stories behind their companies, alongside YC General Partners. Free but hand-picked - applications are selective. The pick of the week for anyone serious about building or backing technical startups out of France or Europe.

with Alexandra Andre (Director, La French Tech Grand Paris)

Two days in Paris on European digital sovereignty: sovereign cloud, trusted AI, cybersecurity, critical data, infrastructure. La French Tech Grand Paris has a booth (E14) and its director Alexandra Andre speaks on 30 June at 4pm on the panel 'SouvTech: which levers to make tomorrow's European champions emerge?' A solid stop for deeptech / cyber founders, public-sector buyers and investors leaning into sovereignty themes.

Demo day at STATION F's Junior Stage showcasing the latest cohort of INSEAD LaunchPad founders. Expect short pitches across SaaS, fintech, climate and consumer tech from MBA founders, followed by Q&A and networking with the LaunchPad mentor and investor network. A useful early-stage scouting evening for European investors and a sharp barometer of where MBA-founder ambition is heading.