VivaTech 2026 Recap: HEC Paris at the Heart of Europe’s Most Ambitious Tech Milestone

For its landmark 10th anniversary edition, VivaTech drew more exhibitors, more visionaries, and more ambition than ever before, and HEC Paris was once again at the very center of it all.

From June 17 to 20, the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute mobilized students, faculty, startups, researchers, as well as institutional and corporate partners across four days of pitches, panels, partnerships, and performances on the global stage. This year's presence was deeper in substance, weaving together threads of physical technology, AI leadership, women's entrepreneurship, sustainability, and international innovation into a tapestry that reflected HEC Paris' full ambition.

When AI Leaves the Screen: Europe's Defense Imperative 

In one of the most talked-about moments of the week, HEC Paris co-hosted a flagship workshop with Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Paris) and Hi! PARIS  on a question that is reshaping geopolitics and industry alike: what happens when AI stops processing information and starts acting in the physical world, and what does that mean for defense?

Moderated by Anousheh Ansari, entrepreneur, CEO of XPRIZE, and the first self-funded woman to fly to the ISS, the session entitled “Dual-Use & Defense in the Age of Physical AI” brought together panelists including Tom Villinger (D11Z. Ventures), André Loesekrug-Pietri  (Chairman of JEDI - Joint European Disruptive Initiative), Isabelle Duvaux-Bechon (Consultant on Security & Defence Projects for European Space Agency - ESA), and Florian Corgnou (Founder of Neurobus). 

The discussion examined Physical AI from four angles: VC, policymaker, space security expert, and founder, surfacing the urgent need for Europe to coordinate its formidable existing assets rather than start from scratch. As Isabelle Duvaux-Bechon put it:

"All categories of physical AI will ultimately need to be embedded. Today, Europe is not fully leveraging the wealth of assets at its disposal. The challenge is to find better ways to maximize and coordinate the resources we already have."

The Pitch Contests: Four Stages, Dozens of Ventures

X-HEC Entrepreneurs & Startup Launchpad

Thursday, June 18 opened with the X-HEC Entrepreneurs and HEC Paris Startup Launchpad pitch session at the Pitch Studio. Four startups from HEC Paris's two flagship entrepreneurship programs went head-to-head before a jury of investors and industry leaders.

The four finalists were:

• Triloge, simplifying home clearance in a stress-free way.
• TailorLead, an M&A data platform for the French mid-market.
• Fleuret AI, an all-in-one offensive security platform powered by AI.
• Regorus, automating succession case management so notaries can focus on their clients.

The Jury Prize was awarded to Fleuret AI founded by Yanis Grigy and Augustin Ponsin, while Regorus, founded by Sixtine Lerailler and Louan Bélicaud, earned the Audience Prize. A standing ovation capped a session that encapsulated everything HEC entrepreneurship stands for: diverse domains, bold ambition, and venture-ready solutions.

HEC Challenge+ Pitch: Science, Technology, and IP in the Spotlight

A curated selection of ventures from the HEC Challenge+ program took to the Pitch Studio stage. Five solutions built at the intersection of science, technology, and intellectual property presented their projects in front of a high-caliber jury of IP experts from INPI France, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the European Patent Office (EPO).

The First Prize went to Beams, founded by Virginie Simon and Estelle Villedieu de Torcy, whose intraoperative detection technology helps surgeons identify tumor tissue in real time. The Second Prize was awarded to WHEELMOVE, where Amaury Dupas and Kévin Surbled developed a patented electric assistance system for wheelchairs that opens terrain and possibilities previously out of reach.

The jury, comprising Julie Zerbib. (INPI), Ali Jazairy (WIPO), Pere Arque-Castells (EPO), and Aymeric Penven of the HEC Paris Deep Tech Center, praised the quality and depth of the ventures.

Women Entrepreneurs For Good: Pitching for Impact

On Friday, the Business Redefined Arena hosted the Women Entrepreneurs For Good (WE4G) Pitching Session. Co-founded by the Women's Forum for the Economy & Society and HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, WE4G is a unique accelerator program that supports women entrepreneurs at the early stages of their journey.

Nine early-stage women entrepreneurs from around the world, from Uganda to France, from food security to fintech, took the stage to present innovative solutions to social and environmental challenges. 

The winners of the session were:

• Ainembabazi Cathybert, founder of PearlOxy Uganda Limited for the Jury Prize 
• Phionah Nagaba Nagaba, founder of Jukye BananaPak for the Audience Prize

The event drew significant engagement, spotlighting trailblazing entrepreneurs ready to make their mark.

HEC Paris International Startups: A Global Pitch Showcase

Friday's Pitch Studio also hosted the Global Pitch Showcase for HEC Paris International Startups, powered by the HEC Paris Incubation & Acceleration Center. Bringing together innovative ventures from leading global entrepreneurship ecosystems across Asia — including programs from KOSME (South Korea), JETRO (Japan), and IndiaAI (India) — the session highlighted the growing importance of cross-border collaboration in shaping the future of innovation.

The Jury Prize went to Japanese startup Asilla, Inc., while the Public Prize was claimed by Korean venture KIMUSTUDIO, two standout ventures that demonstrated the global reach and quality of the HEC entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Signing the Future: New Alliances for the AI Era 

The HEC Paris–Artefact Partnership signing: Bilingual Leaders for the Agentic Era

Right at the start of VivaTech 2026, HEC Paris and Artefact formalized a strategic partnership live from the event. The two organizations aligned around a shared conviction: the next phase of the AI revolution will not be defined by algorithms alone, but by hybrid leadership and a new generation of business-tech talents.

Edouard de Mézerac, CEO of Artefact, captured the philosophy clearly: the "engineers-only" model of AI adoption has reached its limits, and industrializing AI to transform entire business fabrics requires strategic glue that only well-rounded leaders can provide. Éloïc Peyrache, Dean of HEC Paris, framed the partnership within the school's "New Responsibilities" strategy and its "Driving Change" pillar, merging academic excellence with industry expertise to produce the "bilingual" decision-makers of tomorrow.

The Launch of LIFT: Lab for Innovation and the Future of Transformation and Work

Alongside the Région Île-de-France, represented by its President Valérie Pécresse, and with the support of Accenture and Google, HEC Paris unveiled the Lab for Innovation and the Future of Transformation and Work (LIFT) — a think-and-action lab designed to analyze and anticipate the impact of AI on businesses, employment, and economic growth.

LIFT will be led as Academic Director by Antonin Bergeaud, Professor at HEC Paris and Best Young Economist 2025. Its research will be organized around five axes:

• Measuring the economic and financial value created by AI within organizations
• Identifying the organizational, managerial, and cultural factors that enable successful AI adoption
• Analyzing the transformation of value chains and the emergence of AI agents and new business models
• Understanding the skills and talent implications for new generations
• Studying AI's relationship with innovation

A concrete output will be a quarterly barometer tracking AI penetration in the French economy, with a potential extension to the European scale.

Alongside LIFT, HEC Paris also announced a new research Chair, co-funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), the Région Île-de-France, and Hi! Paris dedicated to strengthening the scientific foundations of research on AI, innovation, and the future of work. Together, these two initiatives reflect HEC Paris's ambition to position France as a leading hub for AI research at the intersection of academia, public institutions, and industry.

Read more on the LIFT

Beauty Meets Deep Tech: L'Oréal Beauty Tech Atelier Startups Take the Stage 

VivaTech was also the occasion to shine a light on a long-standing partnership between HEC Paris and L'Oréal. For several years, the L'Oréal Beauty Tech Atelier program, developed at Station F in partnership with the HEC Paris Incubation & Acceleration Center and Incubateur HEC Paris, has been a launchpad for innovative startups at the crossroads of beauty, technology, and retail.

At VivaTech 2026, two ventures from the program were featured in dedicated pitch slots directly from the L'Oréal booth. On Thursday, June 18, Beink took the stage, presenting its technology that turns visual intent into production-grade assets, helping teams align around a single visual truth and accelerating the journey from concept to production by reducing rework and validation cycles at scale.

The following day, Ekoo presented its voice-powered solution that brings authenticity and emotion to e-commerce and in-store experiences. By enabling brands to share product stories through audio capsules and customer voice testimonials, enhanced by generative AI for multilingual delivery, Ekoo offers an omnichannel approach that connects brands with their customers in a non-intrusive way, across packaging, in-store environments, and digital channels alike.

Two very different ventures, but both emblematic of the kind of applied, market-ready innovation the HEC Paris ecosystem continues to produce.

Learning on the Floor: Gachoucha's Tour and the 100+100 Mentoring Sessions

HEC Paris Master in Marketing: An Immersive Expo Tour

On Friday, June 19, HEC Paris Master's students in Marketing joined Professor Gachoucha Kretz for an immersive tour of the expo floor. The group kicked off with a visit to the LVMH booth, before heading over to Samsung for a conversation with their Marketing team on well-being and lifestyle trends. They then explored several HEC Paris partner booths: L'Oréal, where discussions centered on influencer marketing, gamification, and brand amplification; and Capgemini and Orange, where exchanges with disruptive startups shed light on how automated AI agents are set to transform marketing in the near future. The group also exchanged with Tetmet’s team, a company founded by an HEC Alumnus, before heading to Artefact booth for an in-depth presentation on the use of AI agents in e-commerce, and wrapped up the morning at Sanofi with a session on data-driven strategies.

100+100 Mentoring: Opening Doors for the Next Generation

HEC Paris took part in VivaTech until the very last minute with the 100+100 Mentoring Sessions; an initiative designed to connect 100 women working in technology with 100 high school and university students for an exceptional mentoring and coaching experience centered on careers in tech and digital innovation.

The session offered the next generation of female talent a rare opportunity to exchange directly with inspiring leaders, explore new professional paths, and build the confidence and connections needed to shape their futures. Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Senior Executive Director of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute, represented HEC Paris as one of the mentors; a fitting presence from an institution that has made the empowerment of women in entrepreneurship and technology a cornerstone of its mission.

Also on Saturday, our student Audrey BAHA was selected to speak on the Entrepreneurship Zone (Exec Arena) panel, which explored the question: "Student Entrepreneurship: Should You Wait Until You Graduate to Launch Your Venture?"

To culminate the four-day event, the HEC Paris IEI team attended an exclusive closing reception at the Élysée Palace, celebrating a decade of VivaTech.

Beyond the official programme, HEC Paris also took part in key side events. Inge Kerkloh-Devif joined the Vision Golfe 2026 forum at the Ministry of Economy, participating in the panel "AI and Emerging Tech: Building Franco-Gulf Leadership in the Global Innovation Race" alongside representatives from Mubadala, Campus IA/MGX, and Quandela. She also represented the Institute at an evening gathering hosted by the German Embassy — extending HEC Paris's presence into the high-level diplomatic conversations that unfold at the margins of VivaTech.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Ten editions in, VivaTech has become a bellwether for where technology, business, and society are heading. HEC Paris's participation in 2026 reflected the school's own evolution: from a top business school with entrepreneurship programs to a full-spectrum innovation ecosystem capable of hosting workshops on defense-grade AI, launching research laboratories with regional governments, and pioneering women's entrepreneurship globally.