Paris Tech and Startup VIP Chauffeur — Station F, Viva Tech, the Venture Capital Circuit and the French Tech Ecosystem Transport

Station F — the world's largest startup campus

Station F (5 Parvis Alan Turing 75013 — in the 13ème arrondissement, in the Austerlitz district, adjacent to the Bibliothèque nationale de France François-Mitterrand, on the site of the former Halle Freyssinet — the steel-framed freight depot of the Austerlitz railway station, built 1927-1929 by the engineer Eugène Freyssinet, 344 metres long, now classified as a Monument Historique) :

**The campus:** Station F was opened in June 2017 by President Macron — rehabilitated and fitted out by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte at a reported investment of €250 million by Xavier Niel (the founder of the French telecoms group Iliad/Free, net worth approximately €9 billion). The campus covers 34,000 square metres and accommodates approximately 1,000 startups across 30+ programmes operated by Station F directly or by partner organisations (Facebook [Meta], Microsoft, Apple, LVMH, Ubisoft, Founders Program, HEC Challenges). The campus includes 3 workspaces (Roxette, Kima, Fighter), a food hall, a residence for international founders, and a series of meeting and event rooms.

**The resident startups:** Station F has hosted 12,000+ startups since its opening — among the graduates are companies that have become the reference French tech success stories of the late 2010s and 2020s: Withings (connected health devices), Spendesk (spend management SaaS), 360Learning (LMS), and hundreds of B2B software companies in the range of €10-500 million in enterprise value.

**VIP access:** Station F maintains a dedicated reception and VIP access protocol for visiting investors, government delegations, and international tech company executives. FFGR positions vehicles at the Parvis Alan Turing (the forecourt of the station hall) for drop-off and collection of VIP guests.

VivaTech — Europe's largest tech event

VivaTech (Paris Expo Porte de Versailles — 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles 75015 — in the 15ème arrondissement, in the Paris Expo convention and exhibition centre, 8km from central Paris) :

**The event:** VivaTech (Viva Technology) was launched in 2016 as a joint venture between the Publicis Group (the Paris-based global advertising and communications conglomerate) and Les Echos (the French business daily, owned by the LVMH group). The event has grown from 45,000 attendees in its first edition to 145,000 in 2023 — making it the largest tech event in Europe by attendance. The 2023 edition featured: - 2,400 startups from 149 countries - 450 venture capital and growth equity funds - 13,000 corporate participants - 20 world leaders and heads of government (Emmanuel Macron delivered the opening keynote; Narendra Modi of India and Ursula von der Leyen of the EU Commission both participated in dedicated sessions) - 1,800 journalists from 130 countries

**VIP logistics:** VivaTech has a dedicated VIP programme (the VivaTech Summits — private sessions for heads of state, CEOs, and investment chiefs), accessible via dedicated invitation from the event organisers. FFGR provides the VIP transport for the summit sessions — vehicles at the Porte de Versailles VIP entrance, with the event security team coordinating the arrival and departure protocols.

**The Choose France summit at Versailles:** the annual "Choose France" summit — launched by President Macron in 2018, held at the Palace of Versailles (78000 Versailles, 20km southwest of Paris) — precedes VivaTech and targets the CEOs of the world's largest companies. In 2023, 200 CEOs attended, with announced investments totalling €13 billion. FFGR provides the transport between the Paris hotels and Versailles for the corporate delegations attending the summit.

The Paris venture capital and growth equity circuit

The Paris venture capital ecosystem is concentrated in two districts :

**The 8ème and Triangle d'Or VC offices:** - Sofinnova Partners (17 Avenue George V 75008 — one of the oldest and most active European VCs, founded 1972, €2.5B AUM, focus on life sciences and tech) - Xavier Niel's Kima Ventures (managed from the Station F campus and the Iliad headquarters — 16 Rue de la Ville l'Évêque 75008 — the most active seed fund in France by investment frequency, typically 100+ investments per year) - Idinvest Partners (now Eurazeo Growth, 1 Rue Georges Berger 75017 — €2B growth equity AUM) - Breega (23 Rue d'Anjou 75008 — seed and Series A, portfolio includes Payfit, Agricool, Back Market) - Balderton Capital Paris office (47 Rue de Monceau 75008 — the London-headquartered tier-1 European VC) - Accel Partners Paris (24 Rue du Boccador 75008 — the Silicon Valley-founded VC with a Paris office managing the French and Southern European portfolio)

**The sovereign tech investment circuit:** the French sovereign investment ecosystem includes Bpifrance (27-31 Avenue du Général Leclerc 75014 — the government-backed investment bank managing €45 billion across VC, growth equity, and mezzanine debt), the Fonds Européen d'Investissement (EIF — Boulevard Konrad Adenauer, Luxembourg, but with Paris-based teams managing the French market), and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (56 Rue de Lille 75007 — the French state financial institution, founded 1816, managing €180 billion).

The French Tech ecosystem institutions

The Paris tech ecosystem is organised around a set of institutional structures that support and promote French technology :

**French Tech (La French Tech — french-tech.co):** the government initiative launched in 2013 by Fleur Pellerin (then Minister for Digital Economy) to brand and promote the French startup ecosystem internationally — the French Tech label, the French Tech visa (an accelerated residency and work visa for international founders and tech talents), and the French Tech 120 (the 120 most valuable French tech companies, collectively valued at over €400 billion).

**The Élysée Palace tech programme:** President Macron has made technology and innovation a signature domestic and international programme — hosting the Choose France summit (Versailles, annually), the AI Summit at the Sorbonne (February 2024 — the first government-hosted summit dedicated exclusively to AI policy, with 40 heads of government and the CEOs of OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Mistral), and the regular "Attractivité France" investor meetings at the Palais de l'Élysée (55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 — the presidential palace, accessible by vehicle to the Grilles du Coq gate from the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré for invited delegations).

**Mistral AI (15 Rue des Halles 75001 — in the 1er arrondissement, in the Les Halles district):** Mistral AI — the Paris-based AI company founded in 2023 by Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, and Timothée Lacroix (all former Google DeepMind and Meta researchers) — is the most-watched European AI company of the 2020s, valued at approximately $6 billion in its June 2024 Series B. The Mistral headquarters near the Les Halles is regularly visited by international AI investors and government delegations.

The tech investor Paris programme — CDG to Station F

International tech investors and founders visiting the Paris ecosystem follow a consistent circuit :

**The investor day circuit:** arrival at CDG (terminal 2E for most international long-haul flights) → hotel (typically the Hôtel Balzac 75008, the Kimpton St Honoré, or the Hôtel de Crillon for the most senior visitors) → Station F (morning — startup demo day or portfolio company visits) → lunch in the 13ème (Bistr'eau at Station F, or Mirazur Paris pop-up) → VC office meetings (8ème, afternoon — Sofinnova, Balderton, Accel) → dinner at a 8ème restaurant (Laurent, Prunier, or Pierre Gagnaire for top-tier entertainment) → hotel.

**The VivaTech delegation programme:** for international corporate delegations attending VivaTech, FFGR provides the coordinated fleet management across the event duration (typically 3-4 days in June) — morning collection from the Paris hotels, delivery to the VIP entrance at Porte de Versailles, on-call vehicle during the day for bilateral meetings, and evening return.

**The founder airport transfer:** for technology founders arriving in Paris for investor meetings, conference participation, or government meetings, FFGR provides the transfer service from CDG or Le Bourget — with the discretion appropriate to the confidentiality requirements of pre-fundraise or M&A discussions.

Booking the Paris tech VIP circuit with FFGR

FFGR structures the tech ecosystem transport as a programme adapted to the specific rhythm of the Paris tech calendar :

**The station F and VC circuit day:** FFGR vehicle from hotel (09h00) → Station F (Parvis Alan Turing, 09h30 — VIP reception, startup demos) → Sofinnova or Balderton (8ème, 12h00) → lunch in the 8ème → Bpifrance or Kima Ventures (14h00) → Mistral AI (15 Rue des Halles, 16h00) → hotel or airport.

**The VivaTech VIP programme:** coordinated fleet across all VivaTech VIP summit sessions — vehicles at the Porte de Versailles VIP entrance, on-call during bilateral sessions, departure coordination with the event security team.

**The Choose France / Versailles programme:** FFGR vehicle from Paris hotel (08h30) → Palace of Versailles (Cour Royale VIP entry, 10h00 — Choose France summit) → lunch in the Versailles gardens or at the Trianon Palace → return Paris hotel or CDG.

Contact us: reservation@ffgrparis.com or WhatsApp +33 7 43 46 14 91.