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| Europe |
| Macron to call on US funds to build French startups, not steal them |
| 2018-12-05 |
| [DAWN] French President Emmanuel Macron will urge a visiting group of top Silicon Valley venture capitalists this week to invest in the nation’s start-ups while calling on them not to "steal" the best creations, four sources told Rooters. The discreet event, not mentioned in Macron’s official schedule, comes at a tough time for the French leader after rioters looted and ransacked boutiques and businesses in central Gay Paree, chaotic images beamed around the world. Executives from some of the biggest names in US tech funding, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic, are among the 40 expected in Gay Paree on Wednesday and Thursday for a tour of the French startup scene. The two-day roadshow includes presentations from what sources called tech ’superstars’ already investing in La Belle France as well as visits to hubs such as the Station F tech incubator in eastern Gay Paree. But instead of simply urging them to invest in La Belle France, Macron, who is scheduled to host the investors at the Elysee palace on Thursday evening, will also tell the US funds to help French businesses to flourish rather than pushing the best French entrepreneurs to move to the United States. "Today, many French companies raise money in the US, and the usual reflex of US venture capitalists is to tell them: ’come to the United States then’," a source at Macron’s office told Rooters. "We will tell them: it’s an ecosystem, your best interest is to do like in Britannia and Israel: invest here and don’t move everything (to the US)," the source said. The event was scheduled before the nationwide protests that turned the French capital into a battle zone and the format of Macron’s appearance has yet to be finalised, sources said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Every capable French person who can speak English seems to be in London. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2018-12-05 09:56 |
| #1 Hey Macron, how's that other french start-up, Airbust working out? a380s being parked after 10 years, a350 production snafus, .... fix your own stuff and leave us alone. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2018-12-05 07:06 |