Incubator : Sophia Euro Lab launched out on Thursday

Sponsored by the Sophia Antipolis foundation and created by the CDC PME, the Bayerische Landesbank and Johnson Pardigm Ventures, it will be endowed with a priming fund of 10 million euros.

A newcomer expected in the family of start-ups on the Riviera : Sophia Euro Lab. This incubator, which should be the first one in the department, will be launched out on Thursday January 11th 2001, 10.00 pm, at the Grand Hôtel Mercure of Sophia Antipolis. The people who represent the four partners of this operation, Albert Ollivier, the president of CDC PME, Rudolf Hanisch, a member of the direction of the Bayerische Landesbank (Germany), Candace Johnson, the president of Johnson Paradigm Ventures (Luxembourg) and Senator Pierre Laffitte, the president of the Sophia Antipolis Foundation, will participate to the presentation and they will sign Sophia Euro Lab statutes.The incubator, located in Sophia Antipolis, will be endowed with a priming fund of 10 million euros. Sponsored by the Foundation and created by three investors (CDC PME, Bayerische Landesbank and Johnson Paradigm Ventures), it will propose a high added value support for technologic priming funds in phase of incubation. As well, it will be able to bring money to incubated companies from their creation onwards.The targets of this incubator are principally young companies with a high technologic content. At the beginning, it will play a part in areas such as communication and information technologies as well as engineering sciences. It is said in a press release that ' the file prospecting will be principally turned towards the public or private research teams of the technologic park of Sophia Antipolis, without refusing projects coming from neighbouring regions. The projects linked to the spin-off or the externalisation of industrial activities, or individual initiatives are part of the investigation plan of the company as well.It is forecast that Sophia Euro Lab invest an average of 380.000 euros (2.5 million francs) by participation, out of the incubation cost. This would allow to help to create about twelve start-ups within ten years. That's a way to reinforce innovation dynamics of the French Riviera which are already very strong, by bringing a structure support as well as a financial tool for priming capital. These are two essential points for the creation of company that, until now, didn't existed in the region.ContactRoselyne Koskas, Françoise Morin, Sophia Antipolis FoundationTel : 04 93 65 35 30; fax : 04 92 96 00 87