Third Trianon Startups Forum at Versailles

7 June 2021

7 June 2021

June 7^th, the Trianon Startups forum started at the Palace of Versailles, where representatives of Russian startups met with employees of major French corporations. The event is one of the key projects of the Russian-French civil societies forum the "Trianon Dialogue" devoted to enhancing relations between the business communities of the two countries.

In her welcoming speech, the Head of the Versailles Museum Complex, a member of the Coordination Council of the Trianon Dialogue, Catherine Pegar, reminded the audience that it was in Versailles in 2017 that the first meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron took place, during which the decision was made to create the Trianon Dialogue forum.

The Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov underlined the uniqueness of the format of this event and expressed confidence that the third Trianon Startups meeting would make a significant contribution to the deepening of Russian-French cooperation, allowing for the establishment of bilateral mechanisms to promote promising innovative projects.

The main partner and sponsor of the Trianon Startups is TotalEnergies. According to Director of Research and Technology Marie-Noelle Semeria, the forum in Versailles, dedicated to "Industries of the Future", is of particular importance for TotalEnergies, which prioritizes innovation and low-carbon development.

MGIMO’s Vice-Rector for Strategic Development, Coordinator of the Trianon Dialogue Artem Malgin presented the plans of the Dialogue to further develop the business track of cooperation between Russia and France, and also mentioned the different "Trianon" projects the forum participants could join.

Business meetings were held, during the day, between thirteen large French enterprises and twenty-six startups from Russia. On the French side, large corporations such as TotalEnergies, Air France, Orange, Saint-Gobain, Renault Group participated in the forum. MGIMO’s Endowment contributed to the organization of the event by selecting and inviting different startups from Russia. Also participating on the Russian side were graduates of the international accelerator Sber500, of the Digital Laboratory of PJSC Norilsk Nickel, AFK Sistema, the Skolkovo Foundation and the investment company Classic Invest.