Experience VivaTech 2025 | 12 June

Among the Forvis Mazars delegation at VivaTech, the atmosphere is one of clarity: a focus on excellence, the rise of AI in service of business, diversity, and an ecosystem-driven approach. A rich and varied programme to be enjoyed to the very last detail.

#1 | Major announcements

LVMH innovation award 2025 celebrated the fusion of luxury, data and AI. The group announced 900 collaborations with startups and AI ventures aimed at building a more sustainable supply chain. The trophy, presented by Antoine Arnault, set a high benchmark for innovation at the intersection of luxury and technology. Highlights include:

• Kahoona (best business prize): A solution that analyses online user behaviour without cookies, enabling privacy-conscious personalisation across all channels.
• Genesi (best impact prize): Pioneering decarbonisation in luxury production through advanced biomaterials.
• OMI (best promising prize): Employing generative AI to produce ultra-realistic product visuals and accelerate marketing cycles.

This year’s edition has been widely praised for its breadth of meaningful innovation, with a stronger emphasis on ethics, sustainability and consumer respect.

Jensen Huang (Nvidia): His much-anticipated keynote was a highlight of the day, addressing leadership and AI, advocating for European sovereignty (with a clear nod to President Macron), and announcing new AI data centres in Europe in partnership with local firms. Nvidia plans to increase its investment in the continent by an unprecedented 30 percent by 2025.

Unitree Robotics: Dazzling demonstrations of robotic dogs and a boxing robot created a viral sensation, while also sparking debate on ‘robo-security’. A friendly “duel” between China’s performance-focused robots and Canada’s ethically oriented systems illustrated two contrasting visions of robotics: technological prowess versus social responsibility. These machines had already impressed at CES 2025 in Las Vegas and continue to astonish.

Canada, guest of honour: New acceleration programmes for European startups, with a focus on AI and biotech. Ottawa has set a goal to double the proportion of women founders by 2030. Canada is making a bold, unequivocal commitment to AI.

IBM and Orange: A new partnership to secure generative AI data in France, with the aim of ensuring data sovereignty and a trusted cloud infrastructure. Strategic alliances between industrial giants are multiplying, and ‘coopetition’ is in full swing.

#2 | Diversity and inclusion in focus

VivaTech 2025 is clearly moving beyond token gestures: inclusion and gender parity are now firmly on the business agenda. The Female Founder Challenge continues to highlight the disparity—only 2 percent of global venture capital funding goes to startups founded by women, a troubling figure that is improving far too slowly. Nevertheless, Europe is making progress, with nearly 20 percent of VC deals now involving startups founded or co-founded by women.

At Forvis Mazars, the commitment remains steadfast. The XFactory accelerator supports 70 percent of projects led by women and serves as a knowledge partner for the Female Founder Challenge. FemTech villages, inclusive job boards and mixed-gender hackathons represent a qualitative leap forward. Yet much remains to be done. For those still hesitant, let us remember: diversity delivers results. Companies with gender parity experience a 73 percent increase in growth and productivity. In Europe, the investment race is still wide open.

#3 | Artificial intelligence and robotics: promise and uncertainty

In 2025, artificial intelligence is omnipresent at VivaTech. Jensen Huang’s keynote underscored the importance of technological sovereignty for Europe, while robot demonstrations—reminiscent of science fiction—captivated audiences.

France is distinguishing itself with a growing number of startups specialising in niche AI applications (healthcare, HR, security), while Canada is taking a more business- and sector-focused approach, particularly in health. Ethical considerations—data protection, transparency, environmental impact—are becoming central, although the sector continues to waver between rapid innovation and responsible development.

AI applications in human resources and biotech are on the rise, yet concerns persist around data protection and sustainability. The key question remains: should we prioritise the race for innovation, or opt for a more measured, responsible approach?

#4 | Forvis Mazars highlights

Female Founder challenge: A standing ovation for the five finalists, whose projects ranged from hormonal health to foodtech and voice AI. As knowledge partner, co-sponsor and jury member, Forvis Mazars—represented by Sylvain Freon, member of the France Executive Committee—had the honour of awarding the prize to Hélène Briand, founder of Verley, in recognition of her entrepreneurial success.

Business France pavilion: Florence Sardas, Partner, CTO, Group Executive Committee member and founder of XFactory at Forvis Mazars, participated in a roundtable alongside Paul Midy (MP, Paris-Saclay), Ines Besbes (Founder, Seedext) and Thierry Golliard (Swiss Post). The discussion centred on corporate-startup collaboration, echoing the new Forvis Mazars manifesto on the subject. Paul Midy advocated for a “European Tech Act” to create a regulated European tech sector that is both bold and dependable.

VivaTech night x The Blaze: A grand networking event beneath a dome, featuring spectacular visuals and sound. The atmosphere was distinctly nocturnal: business, inclusion and DJ sets—à la française.

French-German tech battle: Jeff Wang, Web3 Evangelist at Forvis Mazars, served on the jury for France alongside Bruno Gueit (Bpifrance). The competition featured three rounds, each pitting a German startup against a French one. The mood was friendly, but the drive for disruptive innovation was palpable. Congratulations to the winners: Optipus, Go AVA and DENKweit. A brilliant opportunity to foster team spirit and spark debate on European AI governance.

Forvis Mazars Learning Expedition: A bespoke, immersive tour of VivaTech for Forvis Mazars clients, guided by Florence Sardas. For those who have not yet experienced it—see you next year.

#5 | Number of the day and fun fact

Number of the day: 1,000
That is the number of women-led startups that have applied to the Female Founder Challenge over the past three years, representing 83 countries.

Fun fact:
What is the most unusual innovation we have come across at the event? A medical exoskeleton from a Canadian startup—powered by the user’s own jaw. Designed for post-stroke rehabilitation, the device converts the energy generated from chewing (imagine chewing gum) into electricity to operate the robotic arm’s sensors. Eating to recover: where health technology meets North American ingenuity, with a touch of humour.

#6 | Our perspective

VivaTech 2025 represents a genuine turning point. The rise of AI and humanoid robotics raises important questions: should we press ahead at full speed, or proceed with caution and control? The conversations in the corridors are measured, yet the tension and uncertainty are unmistakable.

Public debate is increasingly centred on sovereignty, with repeated calls to scale initiatives such as Choose France or Je choisis la French Tech - I choose French Tech - to a European level. Is the continent finally recognising the multidisciplinary strengths of its member states and the need to simplify regulatory frameworks for companies operating within the Union?

These two days at VivaTech—meeting entrepreneurs, investors, clients and partners—have shown that the ecosystem is striving to move beyond buzzwords towards meaningful, effective action. However, there remains a considerable journey ahead to build a technological Europe that is sovereign, equitable and high-performing.

In short, celebrating innovation is worthwhile, but insisting that it be inclusive, responsible, sustainable and enduring is the only viable path forward. The question remains: will we collectively have the courage to transform momentum into lasting impact?

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See you tomorrow for more coverage.