ZOOMING ON NEUILLY NOUVEAUX MDIAS , A unique distributed incubator in France !

e ! Municipality fostering and facilitating support of entrepreneurship by Large Corporations.

What is Neuilly Nouveaux Mdias ?
Neuilly Nouveaux Mdias is an initiative led by the municipality of Neuilly sur Seine, a 62,000 inhabitant city on the west side of Paris, located between Paris and La Dfense, the largest French business center. Neuilly sur Seine is well known for being the hometown of France President Nicolas Sarkozy who was mayor of Neuilly during almost 20 years. Under the leadership of newly elected council, with high representation of entrepreneurs, the city of Neuilly has spearheaded an initiative to support entrepreneurship, as a key driver of economic growth. They have convinced the CEOs of the 14 major companies headquartered in Neuilly (such as M6 group, CHANEL, JC Decaux,Micahel Page, ) to found a nonprofit organization called Neuilly Nouveaux Medias The objective of this organization is to select projects in the broad technology sector (New Medias, Digital convergence,) and help them in their development phase by offering them free office space among those major companies in Neuilly. Having access to free space in the form of a large office for 3 to 6 persons can make a key difference to ensure success.

What are the missions of Neuilly Nouveaux Mdias ?

Mobilize the largest Neuillys companies to host the new projects teams for a period of 2 years Companies will assign a mentor to follow up the entrepreneur project. Among the assistance providedwith the support of the economic development team of the city of Neuilly: legal, business plan, IP, HR, advice. Selection committee composed of a combination of : o Representative of major companies members of Neuilly Nouveaux Medias organization. o Citizens of Neuilly (member of the Talent Network) with background in Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship Selection committee meeting every 6 months and assigning 3 slots every 6 months.

Who are Neuilly Nouveaux Mdias members ?

Neuilly Nouveaux Mdias association is composed of the top 14 large companies in Neuilly : Chanel, Clarins, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre, Deloitte, Fidal, Gras Savoye, Groupe Servier, JC Decaux, Kurt Salmon, M6, Michael Page, Spie Batignolles, UGC, Warner Bros.

What is unique in this initiative ?

Neuilly Nouveaux Mdias is a unique initiative as it gathers together 3 main communities towards a common goal to boost entrepreneurship. o Municipality of Neuilly o Large companies o Entrepreneurs It fosters a network of support between large enterprises and newly created ones. Keeping 200 to 400 Sq feet is not difficult when it is planned in advance for companies with a couple of thousands of employees. It is about keeping roughly one large office to host one project. Cost is very low. Moreover, Neuilly Nouveaux Medias provides all the support for the selection, legal support (in order to ensure insurance, free office rent paperwork is done), etc to limit any additional cost or hassle for large companies Employees of hosting companies see this very positively in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility which creates more loyalty and commitment. This is also beneficial for the overall company as it brings new people with different culture, style, etc It mobilized a network of talents, young retired or active professionals willing to volunteer in their local community to provide some advice and expertise to help this new network of entrepreneurs. This is a great network development tool among the Neuilly business community. Last but not least, this is a very cost effective initiative for the municipality in a context of local finance being quite challenged. Not only is it far less expensive than having the municipality investing itself in the offices, logistics, etc and, more importantly, far more efficient as it leverages a network of talents and professionals. This is completely in line with the objective of newly elected council with high representations of entrepreneurs. As a matter of fact, Jean-Christophe Fromantin, mayor of Neuilly founded its own company which has developed successfully as a technology and Web development provider for international trading and Christophe Aulnette, First Vice Mayor has a strong background in technology sector including being president of Microsoft France 2001-2005. The spirit of this project is in line with the vision of Jean-Christophe Fromantin not to be a professional politician but to do Politics professionally. This initiative could be easily replicated in France and abroad.