The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the Silicon Valley, has for decades served as the world’s flagship hub for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. This status has been earned through a collaborative relationship among the region’s research universities, venture capital firms, and technology and life sciences companies. The ecosystem has been especially shaped by four successive generations of information technology giants: “the founding fathers” (HP, Intel), the “elders” (IBM, Apple, Oracle), the “mature” (Google, Facebook, Amazon), and the “new” (Twitter, Netflix, Uber). HealthTech is also a rising sector in the Bay Area.
The Bay Area brings together all the essential players in any effective innovation ecosystem, elite universities and private investors, specialized law firms, a myriad of support services specializing in technology startups (HR, design, banks, accelerators, media). It is also one of the few places on the planet that manages to generate innovation in fields as diverse as energy and transportation, biotechnology and connected health, digital recreation, educational systems, marine technologies or financial innovation.
This immense concentration of innovation is accompanied by an extraordinary entrepreneurial dynamism, and the region is witness to the birth of several thousand new startups that incorporate emerging technologies each year. Despite the cost of living, transportation difficulties and the cyclical risks of bursting technological bubbles, the Bay Area continues to act as a magnet for cohorts of young entrepreneurs from many countries around the world.
The NETVA laureates in San Francisco will have the opportunity to understand the workings of this unique machine that has continued to produce innovation for over 80 years. The program’s various stakeholders will highlight the unique characteristics of the “Valley culture” and will address some of the issues that are sometimes overlooked (the role of some specialized providers, the importance of digital platforms and contract services, the importance of diasporas). The NETVA laureates will be able to obtain high-quality meetings with technology partners, investors, academic specialists, and professional observers within their market segment.
is a personalized support program that offers a personalized support, opportunity analysis and development of technological partnerships in the United States, for young and innovative French startups.
