Red Rooster Dispatch #9: Flagship event summary and Vivatech 2025
In this edition of your favorite newsletter, we’re wrapping up our flagship event, highlighting must-attend happenings, and giving you a quick glance at what stirred the tech scene in May.
The Energy from French Tech Connect 2025 Warsaw Edition Lives On!
An unforgettable evening in Warsaw! Over 600 participants joined #FrenchTechConnectPoland2025 - Warsaw Edition to celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship, and the strength of French-Polish collaboration in tech.
From high-energy startup pitches across three innovation tracks - DeepTech, HealthTech, and GreenTech - to the inspiring French Tech Awards ceremony, the night was filled with bold ideas and powerful connections.
🏆 French Tech Awards 2025 – Warsaw Edition Winners
HealthTech Award: Feyenally
GreenTech Award: EcoBean | B Corp™
DeepTech Award: Migam.org
Best Polish Entrepreneur in France: Zuzanna Stamirowska
Best French Entrepreneur in Poland: Yves Mousson-Lestang
Best French Company in Poland: iliad, represented by Michał Ziółkowski
Best Polish Company in France: InPost, represented by Jakub Kaczmarski
🚀 Startups Who Took the Stage:
🔹 DeepTech: Thorium, Migam, Minte.ai
🔹 HealthTech: Feyenally, Engineers for Medicine, BioTreat Vascular
🔹 GreenTech: WasteTracker, EcoBean, SmokeD
🤝 With immense gratitude to our partners for making this event possible:
Strategic Partners
Forvis Mazars in Poland | Keewe | Webellian | République française
Institutional Partners
CCIFP | Business France | Ambassade de France en Pologne | CCEF
Community Partners
42 Warsaw | Mother and Child Institute | ASPOL | RFE | Pitch Me Baby | Start Smart | AI w Zdrowiu | Dobry Prąd | CleanTech CEE
Event Partners
L'émotion bistro | CIC Warsaw | Venture Café | ToolersLab | Vodka J Urbanowicz
French Tech Communities
La French Tech Krakow | Bucharest | Abu Dhabi | Berlin
Thank you again to everyone who joined us — let’s keep building more bridges, more startups, and more shared success between France and Poland. #FTCP2025
📸 Catch the best moments and see who was there:
👉 For a full recap, including all the award winners, head over to our LinkedIn.
VivaTech 2025: 20% Off Startup Passes
VivaTech 2025 is coming — June 11–14 in Paris!
It’s the largest tech conference in France, bringing together founders, investors, and innovators from around the world. And now you can join them with 20% off your 4-day startup pass!
🎟️ Claim your discount using code FT20:
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and scale your startup in the heart of Europe’s tech scene.
Don’t Miss “La French Tech in Europe” at VivaTech 2025!
🚀 Heading to VivaTech 2025 in Paris? Join us on June 11th, 6–10 PM at PariSanté Campus for a must-attend side event hosted by French Tech communities from across Europe.
On the agenda:
🔹 A pitch competition featuring Europe’s rising startups (Including French Tech Awards 2025 Warsaw Edition winners: Migam.org, Feynally and EcoBean)— with a $100K perk package from HubSpot for Startups up for grabs
🔹 Panels with top investors like Claire Houry (Ventech) and Ignacio Gimenez Losano (HEC Paris – CDL-Paris)
🔹 A networking cocktail with founders, VCs & the people behind 23 French Tech hubs, including La French Tech Warsaw 🇵🇱
Thanks to our sponsors:
✨ HubSpot for Startups | ✨ Airwallex | ✨ risingSUD
Let’s make this a VivaTech highlight — see you there!
🎉 Aula Polska Turns 18!
Our friends at Aula Polska are celebrating their 18th anniversary with a special summer meetup — a relaxed evening full of conversations and community spirit.
📅 Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
🕕 Time: 6:00 PM
📍 Location: River Cafe, Riverside, opposite the Multimedia Fountain Park, 00-828 Warsaw
No formal presentations this time — just great people, riverside vibes, and good energy. We wish Aula Polska all the best and many more years of inspiring talks and fruitful meetups! 🥂
🚀 Hyper Pitch Night vol. #1 – AI Startups Showcase
We’d like to highlight an exciting upcoming event in Warsaw for AI enthusiasts and investors: Hyper Pitch Night vol. #1. This evening features fast-paced pitches from 10–12 promising AI startups, expert panels, and networking opportunities.
📅 Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2025
🕔 Time: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
📍 Location: Google Campus for Startups, Centrum Praskie Koneser, Warsaw
If you’re interested in the AI startup scene, this could be a great chance to discover new innovations and connect with industry leaders.
🚀 StartSmart CEE DemoDay
📅 Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
🕔 Time: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
📍 Location: Google Campus for Startups, Centrum Praskie Koneser, Warsaw
StartSmart CEE, one of our community partners from French Tech Connect Poland 2025, is hosting their DemoDay — an exciting evening where top startups from Central and Eastern Europe pitch their innovative ideas.
This external event is a great chance to discover fresh talent and connect with the CEE startup ecosystem.
🛡️ IDA Bootcamp 2025 – Recruitment Open for Defense Sector Startups
The Polish Development Fund (PFR) has opened applications for IDA Bootcamp 2025, an accelerator for startups developing dual-use (civil and military) technologies. The program offers mentoring, workshops, and a Demo Day to showcase solutions to key defense stakeholders.
📅 Application deadline: June 22, 2025
📍 Partners include: Ministry of Defense, Polish Armed Forces, PGZ, CTM, Grupa WB, ICEYE, Palantir, and PFR Ventures.
Polish VC Invests in French AI Startup Orasio
Polish VC firm Expeditions Fund has joined a €16M seed round for Orasio — a French startup using multimodal AI to protect real-time video streams. Founded in early 2025, Orasio combines image and language processing to enhance video security.
The round also included Frst (France) and Global Founders Capital (Germany), and will fuel Orasio’s European expansion.
💡 Cathay Innovation Unveils €1B Global AI Fund
Cathay Innovation, the Paris-based VC firm, has launched a new €1 billion fund focused exclusively on AI. The fund will support around 30 early-stage and growth-stage startups worldwide, with at least 50% of the capital dedicated to European founders.
Backed by major corporates like Sanofi, TotalEnergies, BNP Paribas, and Michelin, the initiative aims to strengthen Europe's position in the global AI race. Early investments include French startups Nabla (AI for healthcare), Bioptimus (AI-first biotech), and Entalpic (AI for chemical discovery).
The fund is also classified under Article 8 of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, highlighting its ESG commitments.