Cédric Denoyel, President of H7 – Responsible Accelerator and digital totem of the Lyon Metropolis – looks back on the highlights of 2022 and shares the outlook for 2023.
More than 60 start-ups supported, three incubation and acceleration programs, a first national event: this is the outcome of the year 2022 for H7, the responsible gas pedal and digital totem of the Lyon Metropole. Cédric Denoyel – President of H7 – looks back on the highlights of the past year and the outlook for 2023.
66 start-ups benefited from the 250 items of content – conferences, workshops, hotlines – created as part of the support programs. Among the topics covered, business development, human resources and financing are the most popular. At the end of the year, the results are in.
On average, H7 start-ups tripled their sales and increased their workforce by 80%. In total, they have raised 259 million euros to develop their impact.
Zeplug to deploy charging stations for electric vehicles at home and in the workplace, Hupso to design and deliver training courses for jobs in short supply, Frello to enable everyone to learn French as a foreign language, LabLabee to rethink telecommunications training, and Nomad to optimize the organization of user transport in the medical-social sector.
Visit team bootstrap is also doing well: Tshoko – a solution for controlling the musical ambience of establishments – doubles its customer base, Onlynnov – insurance for innovative companies – recorded 75% growth in sales, Scalezia supports more than 120 customers in their growth hacking and WeCount commits 95% of its customers to a carbon footprint reduction trajectory compatible with the Paris Agreements.
A forward-looking gathering place open to diversity
H7’s DNA is based on a balance between technology, impact and creativity. These three concepts come to life in a place steeped in history, which we inaugurated almost four years ago. A place to meet and share, where everyone can create, learn and discover new ways of seeing the world.
By 2022, we will have organized over 100 events – professional and cultural – for more than 150,000 visitors to Heat – the dining hall – and our event spaces.
Once again this year, Nuits Sonores – a festival of electronic and independent music – and European Lab – the European forum for emerging cultural players – transformed H7 into a dancefloor and a space for reflection on the future of culture.
From culture to education – the Lyon edition of EdTech Day brought together education and digital players for a day dedicated to innovative practices in teaching.
For those who have never walked the corridors of H7, this is a good resolution for 2023.
Celebrating our third anniversary with top start-up talent
To celebrate this anniversary, we organized a start-up event in Lyon, zero to one. The name came naturally to celebrate the spirit that has guided us from the start. Going from 0 to 1 means accepting your vulnerability, stepping out of your comfort zone and changing your practices.
On May 18, 2022, the doors opened and Bruno Bonnell, Secretary General for Investment FRANCE2030, inaugurated the day. 1,200 participants have the precious pass to attend the 26 conferences in the living space.
The words of Simon Dawlat, co-founder and CEO of Batch, take on a special flavor: “021 brings together one of the most ambitious line-ups we’ve seen this side of the Rhône”.
The program is ambitious, but above all eclectic – from tech to impact, with contributions from Roxanne Varza (Station F), Jérémy Clédat (Welcome To The Jungle), Jean Guo (Konexio), Jean de la Rochebrochard (Kima Ventures) and Camille Morvan (Goshaba). We look forward to the second edition, and to seeing you in May 2023.
Web3, sustainable food and digital inclusion
Earlier this year, we launched the first WEB3 incubator in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes alongside our partner iExec. A series of conferences – attended by over 250 participants between Lyon and Paris – and a call for applications later, we welcomed 3 start-ups to the incubator at the beginning of October.
Early autumn also saw the return of the “Innovating for sustainable food” program with our founding partner SUEZ. For this second edition, the ambition is renewed: to contribute to the development of food that respects the environment and the health of citizens, through the development of innovations by the 5 winning start-ups.
Good news never comes alone: we have been selected to operate the Banque des Territoires’ first gas pedal for digital inclusion. This collective adventure gives us the opportunity to lead new actions in favor of a more sustainable, supportive and inclusive society. This has been our mission from the outset.
Following on from the work carried out alongside Banque des Territoires and Groupe SOS, the beginning of the year marks the launch of 13M – a 9-month program – to support the scaling-up of innovative solutions for France’s 13 million digitally excluded.
Collective intelligence for employer branding and innovation
The Open Innovation Club, run in partnership with Digital League, now has around twenty members. The Club’s VSEs, SMEs and large companies are supported in their open innovation initiatives in conjunction with start-ups. It’s an observatory of the spread of innovation in organizations, and a privileged forum for sharing best practices and saving time.
This year, we replicated the model with our partner TBWA\ Corporate on the theme of employer branding. The figures: 47% of working French people would like to change company, and 1 in 5 employees are unaware of their company’s values. The Club Marque Employeur aims to bring start-ups and corporates together to change things. The fifty or so CVs received each month on the H7 website and the success of the event “1 glass 1 job – in partnership with French Tech and French Tech One Lyon St-Étienne for the last edition in November 2022 – guide our mission in favor of employment, in a context where the unemployment rate is set to rise again in 2023.
See you in 2023
→ Pursuing our mission: supporting the growth and impact of innovative companies.
This year, as in previous years, our aim is to be as close as possible to the needs of entrepreneurs and their teams. Relaunching new start-up promotions for our thematic programs, and developing our support in line with the challenges facing businesses and economic, social and environmental changes, is our priority, and one that we are working on collectively with our partners. Being useful to entrepreneurs is our mantra.
→ Measuring and improving our impact
In 2023, H7 will become a company with a mission. In addition to enshrining our raison d’être in our bylaws, we have identified three areas where we can go further: a more eco-responsible location, impact measurement for each member of the community, and dedicated programs like 13M or Alimentation Durable. These actions will enable us to increase the number of impact start-ups we support each year by 25%.
→ Strengthen our national presence
We’re already working on the second edition of zero to one. On May 11, we look forward to welcoming you to discover the careers of talented people working at the confluence of tech and impact. The line-up – built in collaboration with our new partners France Digitale and Mouvement Impact France – will be unveiled in February.
→ Forging links with European structures
On a European scale, everything remains to be done. As part of a European call for projects, we met with Laurent Hublet, co-founder and CEO of BeCentral, a Brussels-based support structure. With the help of Aderly, we have set up GIFT (Grow Impact For Tech), the first European network for cooperation between support structures to share best practices. Maria 01, a start-up campus based in Helsinki, is the first organization to join the movement. Who’s next?
Thank you
H7 is a human and collective adventure at the service of the region. It is made possible by the trust and support of our founding partners (Crédit Mutuel and SUEZ), our corporate partners (iExec, Groupe Apicil, Lyon Aéroport, Icade, l’Auxiliaire, EDF), our content partners (TBWA\ Corporate, Devoteam G Cloud, Jaberson, EY, LexCase, Rocket4Sales, Ayming, Malt, Digital College), our associates (Groupe SOS, Arty Farty, Axeleo, French Tech One Lyon St-Etienne) and the Metropole de Lyon. Finally, thanks to my team, now made up of 11 talented people.
There are many predictions for 2023. The economic and social context of this new year is uncertain, but one thing is certain: we need the collective to develop our impact. I’m calling on anyone who wants to join the adventure – H7’s doors are open, you’re welcome.
Happy New Year 2023.
Cédric Denoyel
