Sportup Summit: Groupe BPCE, a benchmark player in the sports economy

Innovation, performance and high-level sport: the game sheet of the latest Sportup Summit was full to burst! Organized on October 3, 4 and 5, this event brought together the various players in the sports ecosystem: start-ups, established companies, major groups, professionals in the sector, members of the French sports movement or top-level athletes. The stated objective was to prepare and identify the new rising stars in the world of sport. The summit’s agenda included workshops, discussion sessions, sport and, above all, a major competition involving 30 start-ups from the Sport industry and 90 coaches.

Detecting and supporting “sports” start-ups

Groupe BPCE has always been actively involved in the sports economy and in providing support for innovative companies, and naturally teamed up with the event. Two representatives from Banque Populaire and the Caisse d'Epargne took an active role in coaching the start-up candidates. This represented an opportunity, first of all, to highlight the Group's expertise in the field of sport: active sponsorship policies, the creation of the “Sport and Performance Capital” investment fund, or the acquisition of the start-up E-Cotiz. 
It also provided an opportunity to highlight the know-how of the Group's different brands in the detection and support of high-potential “sports” start-ups thanks to the NEXT INNOV and Neo Business systems. One example of this detection process is VOGO, a sports tech company supported by innovation experts from Banque Populaire du Sud, Caisse d'Epargne Languedoc-Roussillon and accompanied during its recent IPO by the teams from Natixis Equity Capital Market.
In the same spirit, Groupe BPCE also took part on two panels of the competition: the “Impulsion” panel for young start-ups ready to roll, and the “Springboard” panel for companies undergoing development, before awarding a prize to one of the winning companies.

Benchmark player in the sports economy

Through its participation in the Sportup Summit, Groupe BPCE confirms “its full involvement in the sports sector and in innovation within this industry,” as emphasized by Christine Fabresse, Chief Executive Officer in charge of Retail Banking and Insurance within Groupe BPCE, during her speech. It could be stately even more emphatically, perhaps: the Group is stepping up its ambition to become a major benchmark player in this ecosystem.