Last week, Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Europe’s Trade Commissioner, Jodie Stewart, attended VivaTech 2025, Europe’s biggest startup and tech event. From 11–14 June, VivaTech brought together startups, tech leaders, major companies, and investors to explore the innovative technology responding to a range of challenges in the world today. Beginning in 2016, VivaTech is the annual host of Europe’s entire technology ecosystem, as well as those leading in other countries or regions beyond. Over four lively days of demos, launches and conferences, VivaTech paves the way for key relationships to be developed and for businesses to swiftly accelerate innovation and growth.
Held at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, the event hosted 13,500 startups, 3,500 exhibitors, 3,200 investors and more than 165,000 attendees. Speakers included, French President, Emmanuel Macron; Vice President and Chief Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scientist at Meta, Yann LeCun; and general partner at Google Ventures, Frédérique Dame. The Pacific Tech Village stand was a collaboration supported by the Pacific Community (SPC), French Tech Nouvelle-Calédonie (a La French Tech network branch), and New Caledonian Tech Communications company, Neo Tech.
Representing the Pacific were innovative businesses and projects, including Pacific Data Hub, a central repository for Pacific-focused data; Digital Earth Pacific, an earth observation system; Smartie, an app offering instant, secure and user-friendly financial management; and Sea & Soil Fiji, a company making seaweed-based fertiliser, biochar and biopesticides.
Reflecting on her experience at VivaTech, Jodie shared:
“The quality of the Pacific startups was exceptional, with blue tech and green tech serving as the core purpose for most of these businesses. While many of the innovations are designed to address challenges specific to the Pacific region, their applications extend far beyond, sparking strong interest from investors, potential clients, and international companies seeking collaboration.”
Jodie also noted that showcasing at VivaTech provided a powerful platform for Pacific businesses to position themselves alongside global innovators, build visibility, and create commercial pathways into the European market.
PTI Europe remains committed to supporting Pacific entrepreneurs as they scale their ideas, connect with capital, and access new markets—ensuring the region’s voice and value are firmly embedded in the future of global innovation.
