France is best place for technological innovation, envoy tells Indian startups

Nov 21, 2020

New Delhi: Home to more 10,000 startups, France is looking for further enhancing cooperation with India in promoting technology and innovation by the industry, and it is with this aim that it is participating in a big way in the Bengaluru Tech Summit

Highlighting this in his keynote speech at a session at the Summit, Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said: “Digital economy, innovation and tech are important drivers of growth to help the post-pandemic recovery, but more than that, they can be a force for good to find better solutions for health, sustainability and reducing inequalities. This is a major cooperation track between France and India. Mastering these technologies together is a matter of strategic autonomy for both our countries.”

The session, held on Thursday, was devoted to France and titled, “Why the Future of Fintech is French”, It had several other prominent participants, including Mr Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys and Founding Chairman of UIDAI. The country session was organised by Business France – the French Trade and Investment Agency in India – and opened by Dr Marjorie Vanbaelinghem, Consul General of France in Bengaluru.

The Ambassador highlighted that France had taken significant measures in the last few years to promote technology and innovation by building a strong institutional ecosystem and making it easier to welcome talent in the country. These efforts have paid off: France is now home to more than 10,000 startups (+20 % annual increase) and 14 unicorns, and is number 1 in continental Europe in terms of funding raised. France is also gearing up for the future, by setting aside a large tech budget of EUR 7 billion in 2021-2022.

Mr Nilekani in his remarks praised the pioneering role of France in technology. He pointed out the significant number of start-ups in France and underlined the cooperation potential between India and France, especially to work towards solutions for more data empowerment for the people.

The keynote speeches were followed by a panel discussion between leading French and Indian fintech experts and solution providers, moderated by the CEO of Numa Bengaluru, Mrs Souad Tenfiche-Arcelle, who is also co-chair of the French Tech Community Bangalore – India.

Panelists included the CEO of Paris Europlace, an association promoting Paris as a financial hub, high-level representatives from Sopra Banking, a French banking digital solutions provider, and from Thales, the French multinational for identity and security solutions. Smaller, niche players were represented by the founder of Stride.ai, a fintech startup leveraging AI, and the CEO of Famoco, manufacturer of secure point-of-sale devices. The India Innovation Head of French bank Société Générale concluded the session.

France has always had a strong presence at the annual Bengaluru Tech Summit, and Karnataka has been a favoured destination for French companies in general. It is home to more than 150 French companies out of the 600 present in India. Besides IT, they cater to sectors ranging from aviation and aerospace to biotech, pharmaceuticals and agrifood. French multinationals Schneider Electric, Atos, and Dassault Systèmes have large global R&D centres in Karnataka, and one fourth of French IT giant Capgemini’s 1,25,000 Indian employees are in Bengaluru, the French Embassy said in a press release here.

Beyond economic ties, Indo-French cooperation on innovation is also underpinned by a shared vision of the role of tech for addressing national and global challenges.

This common vision was endorsed by the two governments through the 2019 Indo-French Roadmap on Cybersecurity and Digital Technology, which lays a path to bring our two ecosystems closer together and deepen cooperation in areas of critical importance for the autonomy and sovereignty of our two countries, such as cybersecurity, supercomputing and quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
IANS