8 Up-And-Coming Parisian Startups To Look Out For

by Startacus Admin

Innovative Startups in Paris...

While there are now a multitude of startup hubs across France, Paris remains the epicentre of French ingenuity. Parisian startups are taking advantage of the great infrastructure, funding and inherent appeal of the city, with tech startups experiencing a particular boom. Here are eight of the most impressive up-and-coming startups in Paris, and why they deserve your attention.

Leavy
Founded: 2017

With Airbnb facing issues in some countries, a space has opened up for local variants with a bit more PR savvy. Enter Leavy: a community-led alternative to Airbnb that’s cheaper for renters and more equitable for hosts. Users gain reward points by interacting with the community, shopping with local partners and looking after listed buildings in their spare time. They then use the reward points to stay at others’ houses for low prices.

Leavy has been pitched as an affordable way to holiday with a lower barrier to entry than Airbnb, and a way to find like-minded hosts and guides. As well as being an appealing concept for savvy Millennials and ‘Zoomers’, it could be an ideal optimisation of the Airbnb model, which can fall foul of local legislators - especially in Paris with Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s strict ideas on short-term lets.

Hivebrite
Founded: 2015

Communication and organisational tools have never been bigger than during this pandemic, and Hivebrite is the latest player. Its pitch is an interesting one: a content management system (CMS) that’s built around managing communities. The system allows you to easily manage users data, set up events, send messages, publish content and share job opportunities.

The software has already gained popularity as a tool for alumni to keep in touch, and has been deployed by Oxford University, UCL, Notre Dame and CERN, but may have broader applications to come in forming other online communities. There’s space in the market for a clean and powerful new CMS, and Hivebrite appears to have the chops.

Karos
Founded: 2014

Karos is one of those promising businesses that’s been put on hold by the coronavirus. The premise is a strong one: Uber for carpooling. Drivers who sign up to the app can offer their spare car seats to travellers, with the app’s AI tracking your journeys. Based on where you travel, it can then suggest you to other users along your route who might need a lift.

Naturally, this premise is not going to be sensible or even legal for some time to come, but that may make it a perfect time to invest. The fundamentals of Karos’ business and the underlying technology appear to be solid, and the idea is likely to scale well to other bustling cities around the world.

Slite
Founded: 2016

While we’re all familiar with the likes of Slack and Teams, Slite seems to be an organisational tool with a difference. Instead of acting as a platform to talk and collaborate with colleagues, Slite is a sort of information hub for teams, acting as a digital record for documents and meetings. This might range from company policies, to handbooks and tone of voice docs, to notes for meetings.

It might be easiest to think of it as a supercharged version of Google Drive, where instead of diving into deep layers of folders, the documents you need are simply categorised, easy to find, and displayed without having to open them. Slite seems to have found a lucrative niche, and already boasts clients including Airbnb and WeTransfer.

Station
Founded: 2016

Where most productivity apps attempt to change the ways you use your web browser, Station aims to replace it. By adding apps to Station’s interface - e.g. Gmail or Asana - you can ensure that you only see and use the applications you need for work. If you don’t trust yourself not to pop over to YouTube while working, simply don’t install it, and you won’t have the option.

Think of it like a phone, where you can only browse to the apps you install. It’s also similar to a phone in that you can customise the alerts you receive, muting certain apps in its ever-present sidebar so they don’t distract you from what you’re working on. With a clean interface, strong search functionality, a unique premise and over 600 apps to date, Station is set up for success.

Kard
Founded: 2018

One of a slew of fintech companies attempting to revolutionise the finance space, Kard focuses on simple saving and payments for a young, app-savvy audience. Its banking app allows you to open an account in two minutes, and only requires that 12-18 year olds get permission from a parent via text.

While you get an account with a snazzy customisable Mastercard, the real star is the app, which lets you quickly and simply track your transactions in a visually appealing format, including logos next to recognised companies. The account features zero fees on payments, including those abroad, and earns you 1 euro for every person you sign up.

While this is a crowded space, the design of the app and ease of sign up could make it a serious competitor to today’s digital wallets, which are markedly more cumbersome to use.

Augment
Founded: 2011

Despite having been founded almost a decade ago, Augment is still an early stage venture, and has received limited funding. A surprise for what is an enticing pitch: augmented reality solutions for field sales and education.

Augment promises to develop fast and detailed 3D representations of your products, which sales reps can then show to a customer on a phone or tablet. The product (e.g. a sofa) will appear overlaid on their real-world space, allowing them to see what it would look like in situ, and make it easier to close the sale.

The company has already worked with luminaries including Coca-Cola, and boasts two American offices. With augmented reality continuing to develop apace, and increasingly being accepted in the business world - Augment is a smart bet to take advantage of their experience.

Liberkeys
Founded: 2017

The latest entrant into the proptech niche, Liberkeys offers a tantalising proposition: completely hassle-free property sales. Sellers will receive a free valuation at home, and get a detailed file on their property within 24 hours. Luberkeys will then manage the marketing and sale of the property for you, coordinating with you to ensure that disruption is minimised.

Perhaps the most attractive part of the Liberkeys package is that you only pay a fixed fee of € 4,990 for each successful sale. Boasting a growing portfolio, strong connections and a buyers’ portal, Liberkeys already boasts properties in cities across France. With its strong reviews and slick underlying software, international expansion is surely just a matter of time.

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Katya Puyraud is the co-owner of Euro Start Entreprises, specialising in company formation in Europe. They have helped budding entrepreneurs and expanding SMEs to open their companies in over 30 countries worldwide.

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Published on: 27th July 2020