Innovative Start-Up Forum As Launchpad For Business
The Innovact exhibition is held annually in the Champagne-Ardenne region, and has proved to be an inspiring experience for its attendees, as well as a valuable business opportunity and a business incubator.
In 2010, the company Distriplis received the Innovact prize for its development of the first automatic dispenser of confidential documents
One year on, Frédéric Louis, Distrplis’ Managing Director, can testify to the benefits of receiving the distinction. Despite being a relatively ‘local’ prize, “the trophy had a big impact in terms of our credibility as a start-up. People knew that our project had been put through the mill by the panel of experts, and the judges were subsequently spreading the word about our company.”
No longer a start-up, Distriplis now has 7 employees and a turnover of €450,000. The 2010 Innovact prize enabled the company to secure €300,000 in funding from banks and Business Angels.
“A Great Mix”
For Christian Bon, Managing Director of CBI-Business, Innovact was a trigger to expanding his business. With a free ticket from a friend, Bon's first attendance at the exhibition in 2008 was pure chance. Nevertheless, his contacts had increased by 50% by the end of the event. “I met people with all sorts of backgrounds – it’s a fantastic fusion of cultures, ideas and collaborations – and I got business out of it.”
This year, CBI-Business will have its own stand at Innovact as a business provider. A specialist in resource planning and website design, the company is now marketing its web TV services. Having relocated from La Rochelle to Reims in the Champagne-Ardenne region, Bon says that he "doesn't regret a thing". The company's new service is expected to increase the size of the company by 100%. This is exactly the kind of opportunity the organisers of Innovact hoped would be initiated by the exhibition.
