For its 3rd edition, the BIG Challenge continues to see entrepreneurship in a big way. As in previous years, the event which highlights territorial innovation brought together startups, clients, experts and decision-makers on the Méliès campus in Cannes.
“BIG allows them to save time, to meet directly with customers, supporting experts and financiers, that is to say the whole logical sequence of the functioning of a company”, explains Laurent Dys, president of Creative Business Event which is leading the event. An operation that follows very specific rules that startupers sometimes forget.
“Business creator and business manager are not the same profession.” And to imagine his words: “I play tennis. Roger Federer too. But we don’t play the same sport….” Seen like that, we understand better. There are fundamentals in the functioning of a society and the objective of BIG is not to “Create the vocation to undertake but to create the vocation to structure your business.”
Onward ISSSA
And the structuring, the thirty startups from the region found it during the approximately 350 business meetings of the day. This is the case of Emma Goujon who is creating Isssa in Nice “which means Forward in Nissart and with three S’s because the curve of this letter shows that the transition is not a straight path”.
Followed by Les Premières Sud, this designer in sustainable innovation supports companies wishing to engage their employees in eco-friendly sorting, mobility, etc. To do this, she has developed a gamified methodology in the form of a game of cards that determines what to keep, throw away, sort, sell, give away or repair. “All waste has a cost and what we don’t throw away saves money”, she recalls. This diagnosis outlines daily actions and brings back to management the desires of employees which are then easier to implement via awareness workshops that she runs. “I am currently carrying out a diagnosis for the Cleanliness department of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis”specifies Emma Goujon.
Revolutionary Novelfood
BIG was also productive for the two founders of Mycelium Technologies who leave with the Big Seller Pitch Accompanying prize (read elsewhere) seduced by the ambition of the Nice startup. She wants “Offer innovative foods to people. Intensive farming is the primary cause of global warming, we need a sufficiently convincing protein for us to eat less meat and revolutionize our eating habits”analyze Lætitia Pierazzi and Olivier Hiezely, respectively CEO and COO of the impact startup born in 2022.
Do better for the health of people and the planet. Their solution is found in the mycelium – these white filaments which are at the beginning of the development of mushrooms which accumulate lots of good points in their favor. “This 100% natural food is very rich from a nutritional point of view, full of health benefits (vitamins, amino acids, proteins, antioxidants, fibers…), has a beautiful flavor and a very rapid production process since from cultivation to harvest, a week goes by”lists Olivier Hiezely.
Accompanied by the Provence Côte d’Azur incubator, the winner of the i-Lab 2023 innovation competition has developed a hybrid technology which makes it possible to produce a powder “which can be incorporated into nutritional preparations adapted to specific audiences (athletes, seniors, etc.)”. Or mycelium fillets – similar to those of chicken – with a tasty texture and rich taste. Which can vary depending on the variety of mushroom – chicken, fish, seafood, etc. – and the substrates on which it grows.
The foodtech, which targets large agro-industry and health nutrition groups, plans to launch a pilot of its technology in spring 2024 before moving to pre-industrial scale by the end of the year. “Industrialization should follow in 2027 with a turnover of £50k from 2024 to flirt with €3M, in France alone, in 2027”, believe the founders. A well-executed pitch that allows them to see as big as BIG.
Know how to sell yourself
The innovation of this 2023 edition of BIG – in addition to that proposed by startups – is the Big Seller Pitch. “A commercial eloquence competition to prove in one minute to investors that these young companies know how to sell and that they can live without fundraising”explains Laurent Dys of Creative Business Event.
Twenty startuppers tried this exercise and Mycelium Technologies was awarded the Accompanying Prize; the one Financiers went to Finally which has developed a medical device that simplifies and secures intracranial surgeries. The startup accelerated at MonacoTech also won the Public Prize.
People In which makes it possible to identify the skills of candidates without a CV won the Principals prize while Tethys won the Coup de cœur prize. La Mandolocienne has invented a device that can be integrated into any clothing which provides thermal comfort to its user in extreme conditions.