Mathew Holloway is the founder of q-bot, a British company that develops intelligent tools for the construction industry. In 2015, q-bot was one of 23 winners of French Tech Ticket, a prestigious competition which incubates international startups in France for a period of 12 months, as well as providing them with funding, and other advantages.
While San Francisco may be touted as the Mecca for entrepreneurs and startups, Europe is hardly sitting on its laurels. Indeed, the past few years have seen a surge in home-grown talent turning their business acumen to starting up independent businesses, taking a far more entrepreneurial approach than ever before.
For government bodies and big corporations, it is therefore important to foster this talent and to offer mentoring and incubation programmes for those starting out. After all, financial backing is only a small proportion of what early stage businesses and startups require. Looking to those with more experience and the network to help business grow is crucial.
Inspired by the wealth of talent on show in Europe, the French Tech, a vibrant tech startup ecosystem, launched its annual French Tech Ticket – a competition open to technology startups and entrepreneurs from around the globe who are in creation or early growth phases. The competition provides businesses with a great opportunity to grow, learn and network with high calibre incubators and peers.
In 2015, 722 startup projects were submitted, with 23 winning the prestigious prize. Applications came in from all around the world and the projects ranged from robotics to e-commerce. One of these startups was q-bot, of which I was one of the founders. The idea came about in 2012 when architect Tom Lipinski bemoaned a perennial problem in the construction industry – namely, how to insulate floors without destroying the property in the process. The solution was to build little robots, small enough to access hard-to-reach areas, where it would otherwise be too difficult for a human to do so.
Far from having any ambition of replacing humans with robots, we are focused on developing intelligent tools that empower workers and create new jobs – to help them do things that couldn’t be done previously. While new materials and more powerful tools have emerged in the construction industry, the bulk of work is still done by hand. There is room, therefore, to add real value to the industry and drive efficiencies and services that were historically impossible to offer.
With support from the EU Commission’s H2020 program, we identified an opportunity in France, and the team began working with social housing providers and construction based in France. Due to the frequency of our trips to France and the stage at which the business was, Impulse Labs recommended we enter the French Tech Ticket competition. The competition is well connected and offers a good group of mentors and business hubs. It is also taken seriously in France and offers a strong support infrastructure. It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up – q-bot was therefore part of the first class to graduate from French Tech Ticket in 2015.
All business leaders looking to innovate should work outside their comfort zone. By stepping away from the status quo you are less likely to become comfortable or complacent, and this helps create the drive and determination necessary to change the world. The opportunity to live and work in France provided the space to gain perspective and push the company’s development.
What else can you do? Be clear in your goals and objectives; make sure your team understand them and hire people that are better than you!
So why participate in the French Tech Ticket competition 2016?
70 winning teams can speed up and internationalise their startup in a vibrant startup community in France.
- € 45,000 in funding for each startup team
- Fast-track procedure to obtain a French resident permit
- Startup team hosted in one of 41 top incubators around France for 12 months
- A tailored acceleration programme of master classes, networking events, mentoring sessions to accelerate the startup’s growth
- Full details on French Tech Ticket Season 2 and how to compete: www.frenchtechticket.com
- Closing date extended until September 23rd 2016, make sure you complete your application before it’s too late!