FRENCH TECH GRANDE PROVENCE

Their core work

French Tech Grande Provence is a regional innovation hub based in Avignon that bridges the arts, design, and digital technology sectors. They specialize in facilitating collaborations between artists and researchers/industry through the EU's STARTS (Science, Technology & the Arts) initiative. Their practical role involves running brokerage services, co-creation programs, and talent matchmaking that bring creative professionals into R&D and innovation processes. They operate as a connector within the French Tech ecosystem, helping translate artistic and interdisciplinary thinking into commercial and research value.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early work (2016-2018, VERTIGO) centered on brokerage services and exploitation of research results within the digital economy — essentially connecting artists with industry for open innovation. From 2019 onward, they shifted toward ecosystem-level thinking, focusing on building sustained communities around hybrid and blended talent (STARTS Ecosystem), and later expanding into recognition and visibility for arts-science work through STARTS Prize. The trajectory moves from individual matchmaking toward building permanent infrastructure for interdisciplinary creative-tech communities.

They are moving from project-level matchmaking toward becoming a structural node in the European arts-science-technology ecosystem, which positions them for larger coordination roles in creative innovation programs.

How they like to work

Always a participant, never a coordinator — they join consortia rather than lead them, which is typical for a regional association contributing specific community-building and brokerage capabilities. With 13 unique partners across 10 countries from just 3 projects, they work in moderately large, internationally diverse consortia. This suggests they function as a reliable delivery partner with strong local networks rather than a project architect.

Despite only 3 projects, they have collaborated with 13 partners across 10 countries, indicating broad European reach through the STARTS community. Their network is geographically diverse rather than concentrated in any single region.

What sets them apart

French Tech Grande Provence occupies a rare niche at the intersection of regional tech ecosystem development and European arts-science policy (STARTS). Unlike pure technology hubs, they bring creative industries expertise and artist networks into R&D contexts — a capability few organizations in Southern France or the broader French Tech network offer at EU project level. For consortium builders, they provide access to the Provence creative and digital community plus hands-on experience running co-creation and talent brokerage programs.

Highlights from their portfolio

• VERTIGO
  Their largest funded project (EUR 260,950), pioneering the integration of artists directly into industrial research and open innovation processes.
• STARTS Prize
  High-visibility EU prize program covering arts, design, science, and ICT — positions them within one of the Commission's flagship creative innovation initiatives.