Gide, CroissancePlus and PME Finance are organising a trip to Silicon Valley for 30 French growth entrepreneurs, from 9 to 13 November 2014.

The trip’s aim is to enable the entrepreneurs to gain a better insight into the innovative companies that thrive in the United States, and to identify growth factors that can be transposed to France.

The American West has always held a certain attraction for entrepreneurs. The region is a hub for a number of world-renowned companies, and is considered as the "international lab", working on the trends and innovations that will shape the future.

Thirty French Start-Up, SME and Mid-Cap entrepreneurs will visit this legendary region in order to better understand why so many companies are set up here, as well as the methods and tools they use to succeed. It will also be a golden opportunity for them to get a preview of the up-and-coming Tech trends.

The 5-day trip will involve:

• Meetings with French and American entrepreneurs set up in the Bay of San Francisco: Jérôme Lecat (Scality), Alexandre Dayon (SalesForce), Vera Shokina (SVB), Eric Didier (Ividence), Marc Rougier (Scoop.it), Carlos Diaz (Kwarter), Benjamin Bergeret (Myriad Group AG), Reza Maleksadeh (VMware), and more.
   
• Meetings with key players in the development of companies (banks, investors, law firms, head-hunters, academics, business incubators): Berkeley University, Bpi International, etc.
   
• Visits to symbolic companies: Facebook, PlugAndPlay, Netflix, etc.

Should you wish to obtain statements from our partners or entrepreneurs at the end of this trip, please contact us.

You can follow this Silicon Valley discovery trip live on our Twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/CroissancePlus
https://twitter.com/GideLawFirm
#SiliconValley

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About Gide
Gide is a premier international law firm and the first to have originated in France. Founded in Paris in 1920, the firm now operates from 17 offices throughout the world. It has 600 lawyers, drawn from 35 different nationalities. Gide offers some of the most respected specialists in each of the various sectors of national and international finance and business law.

About CroissancePlus
CroissancePlus is the leading French network for growth entrepreneurs, bringing together a new generation of nearly 400 innovative entrepreneurs. It aims to reform the economic, social, legal and tax environments, and foster the creation of businesses and start-ups in France. Chaired by Stanislas de Bentzmann, CroissancePlus acts every day as a lobbying force to influence and suggest improvements to the government and opinion leaders.
CroissancePlus is designed to foster meetings and networking opportunities between entrepreneurs and is established in the public debate through the organisation of a number of events around frontline figures in the political and economic arenas. CroissancePlus aims to elevate the entrepreneurship spirit to its highest degree and give entrepreneurs voices that will be heard in the media. With this in mind, CroissancePlus helps business leaders to develop in France and abroad. www.croissanceplus.com

About PME Finance
PME Finance is an independent charity that aims to bring together the broadest possible range of French SME financing professions. This apolitical ideas lab promotes the dissemination of financing best practices to entrepreneurs, political decision-makers and senior civil servants.