Sophia: The start-up connexion

Since the beginning of the year, initiatives to financially help (with equity participation) recent firms with a high growth are becoming more and more numerous.

In Sophia Antipolis, there is agitation among start-ups. The accent is thrown over the firms whose goal is to help recent firms with a high growth potential. There is a new structure in that domain: Start-up Connexion created by Jacques Tassi and Christophe Rivé, two former Ernst & Young employees.Research of an active partnershipAim? Give, from the beginning, to the creators all the missing skills (a strategic vision, funds, human resources…). Rather than receiving a salary against a service, the company is looking for an active partnership thanks to its participation as an initial shareholder and helping the different creators to jump over the very important stages of the development and above all fund levy.To strengthen this behaviour, Start-up Connexion is launching a partnership strategy with the main French technopoles specialised in sciences and technologies of information and communications, like Montpellier, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes, Lille and Paris. As Start-up Connexion is settled at the CICA, in Sophia Antipolis, the firm engaged a more tightened partnership with Cicom Organisation that manages the business incubator and which is the first European center for businesses and innovation in the Alpes-Maritimes. According to a press release: 'Within this common objective of accompaniment to young creators, both companies have decided to ally in order to reinforce their respective missions.'The launching of Start-up Connexion, the opening of the premise in Sophia Antipolis and the signature of a privileged partnership with Cicom Organisation will be officially announced by Jacques Tassi and Christophe Rivé, the Start-up Connexion Founders and also by Alain André, the Cicom director, during a cocktail on Monday 21 March 2000, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm, at the CICA.Chamber of Commerce, Sophia Early Stages and Up-eIn Sophia Antipolis, this is not the only initiative to help start-ups. Since the beginning of the year the Direction des Pôles de Compétences Technologiques (the technological skills department) of the Chamber of Commerce reoriented its aim towards the help to the start-ups, whereas a chair dedicated to the new entrepreneurship was opened at the Ceram by Michel Bernasconi, the former director of the ESC (Commerce Superior School)Sophia Early Stages which is a firm launched at the beginning of the year deals with seed capital. And a new firm has emerged at the CICA, 'the start-up of the start-ups': Up-e. Its aim is to make easier the access to risk-capital for multimedia creators. With a 400.000 euros capital, its hopes to take minimum participations in order to satisfy the needs in seed capital. It also must open before March 15 a site that will allow to projects holders to promote themselves in front of business angels or risk-capital firms.These are occasions to permit to the new economy entrepreneurs from the French Riviera to find funds to concretise their ideas…