Start Your Business

Innovative New Companies Prosper in Provence  

Do you plan to start a business in an innovative field? Are you coming to France from another country? Do you work at a laboratory, a university, or an industrial company? Aix-Marseille Provence provides an ecosystem that helps start-ups blossom thanks to its vast network of incubators, idea labs, clusters, experts in raising capital, and coworking spaces, not to mention its fab labs, business accelerators, schools, angel investors, and flagship tech companies.

The territory is in the Top 3 in France for new businesses (source: INSEE, 2015) and the local tech ecosystem was one of the first to receive the official French Tech designation. As a result, the Aix-Marseille-Provence area is now focused on both technology innovation and business services innovation. With the Aix-Marseille French Tech team and the dedicated support of Provence Promotion, new companies receive all the help and advice they need for success.

Join the Start in Provence Program!

Provence Promotion created the Start in Provence program for entrepreneurs and start-up creators in 2006. Start in Provence is for companies in every business sector, whether it is digital, health services, energy, clean tech, financial tech…. If you are currently located outside of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and would like free customized and confidential support, we are here to help with every phase of your project, including:

• Assistance creating your business plan (analysis of your plan, suggested improvements, help preparing presentations, pitches, and PowerPoints….);
• Contacts with key figures for starting a business in Provence;
• Meetings with major financing organizations and the mobilization of the specific resources adapted to your sector (PRI for regional innovation partnerships, DAP for seed funding, SATT for technology transfer, etc.);
• Help scouting real estate to find corporate, commercial, or industrial space;
• Help recruiting employees and collaborators;
• Connections to the local economic ecosystem;
• Help developing partnerships, whether they be commercial or technological;
• Integration into one of the 10 competiveness clusters in the region.

Another major advantage of the Start in Provence program is its network. There are more than 100 public- and private-sector experts and organizations to provide your company with the specific advice and resources it requires.

The Start in Provence Partners Network?

In order to guarantee that entrerprenuers receive quick, tailored support from experts in their sector (lawyers, accountants, consultants), Provence Promotion provides specially chosen partners with confidential access the ongoing projects to start a new company in Provence. Business services companies and consultants that deal with start-ups are able to apply to become a member of the Start in Provence partner program any time. Once part of the program, partners have free and confidential access to the ongoing dossiers via a personalized web portal.

> Become a Start in Provence Partner (web platform under construction)

Feel free to contact us if you want more information.

Key Figures For the Start in Provence Program

Over the past five years:

• Start in Provence has helped launch 85 start-ups;
• 40% of these projects originated in the USA;
• 8 projects received entrepreneurial awards from the Ministry of Research.

They’ve Launched Their Start-Up in Provence

NOVADEM – KAMP’N – K-PLAN – FENOTEK – WEEN – SUNPARTNER – CROSSCALL – GENES’INK – EXALT3D – CARDIONEXION – 3dRUDDER – CLICK for TAG – TRAXENS – TERRADONA – BLACK-EUPHORIA SOCIALLYMAP – NOVATHINGS – OPTIMUM TRACKER – THINK&GO NFC – ICCD – NAWA®TECHNOLOGIES – MEDILIPS – MEDICODOSE – PHARMAXON – ENCAPSULIX – NEOWAVE – BAZILE TELECOM – VIGIMILIA – @Health – ABREOS BIOSCIENCES – AËXOR – ENOVACOM