VivaTech 2026 in Paris attracted a record 200,000 visitors before concluding on Saturday (Photo: MIG)
The 10th edition of Vivatech, a leading technology show that is held in Paris and which has emerged as the largest technology show in Europe, that closed on Saturday drew a record 200,000 visitors, making it the largest-ever edition of the show that has gained immense global attention over the past decade.
Benefitting from this record turnout were 85 Indian technology firms, another record for Vivatech, since India was the Partner Country at this show this year. Adding some glamour and glitz to the Indian Pavillion at the show was the presence of the French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the pavillion on Thursday to interact with many of the Indian firms present at the show.
According to Jawed Ashraf, Chairman of Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), the government-owned organisation that mounts exhibitions in India and overseas and which was responsible for the Indian Pavillion at Vivatech, the show was an immense success for India and Indian technology sector.
A record 200,000 visitors attended VivaTech 2026, Europe’s largest technology exhibition
“We have over 85 startups and we have had a number of sessions on the main stage and in interviews. Most of these startups have had a number of inquiries, conversations and leads to be followed up on expression of interest. But there are many who have actually reached some kind of business propositions. We have seen letters of intent, memorandums of understanding or announcements of collaborations being made here at the stage, the India Pavillion stage. This is a great outcome and all of them feel that they have been able to actually present themselves in one of the most exciting and the largest tech events in the world and they are taking so many things away,’’ Ashraf told Media India Group on the sidelines of the show.
Jawed Ashraf
According to Ashraf it is important for India and Indian technology to look at the outside world and play a bigger role in the direction of evolution of global technology.
“I think India has to be a key player in the global conversation of the rapid evolution of AI technology and the changes that are taking place geopolitically, economically and technologically around reshaping the global order. VivaTech is one of the biggest international platforms at the heart of Europe and France. Europe is becoming a key partner for us in the emerging world order and technology is going to be an increasingly important part of our relationship with Europe and France. It is important for both of us to cooperate because of the trust we have, because of the kind of a philosophical convergence on the architecture, character and purpose of technology as essentially an instrument to advance human progress and welfare and protect the planet. In a way, it is different from the US approach and the Chinese approach. I think working together with our complementarities and our scale and our skills and talent and the brains, we can be a force in shaping this new era which will be based on the new technologies and prevent the emergence of a global duopoly,’’ he added.
“The second is that India has suddenly become, over the last few years, one of the most vibrant hubs for startups and while there is so much focus globally on the size of Large Learning Models (LLMs), the computational power and on valuations of the big tech, that is not what really AI success is going to be about. It is going to be about how it helps humanity and helps solve our problems and advance prosperity and this is where India is writing its own story, focussing on real world problems and we have the world’s largest AI pool, we have some of the most innovative companies in AI applications and we have high rates of adoption. We have the best data sets in the world, I mean in the sense of the diversity of the data sets and we have used it effectively for the digital public infrastructure which has transformed the lives of people. We will extend that to AI, so India is going to be a key player,’’ Ashraf said.
Lakshmi Pandrala
“I personally have a very strong conviction, that startups in India must get the opportunity to go global, not just remain confined to India. So being present in platforms like VivaTech is not just about capital, markets or collaborations. It is also about their understanding where the world is going, the global trends that is taking place, benchmark themselves against it and also understand what it takes to make an impact in a short period of time. In a very competitive world, they learn communications, they learn presentations and I would say that the outcome has been nothing short of excellent,’’ Ashraf said.
Amongst the companies that signed framework business agreements at Vivatech is Lami Health, a Bengaluru-based healthcare firm that has developed a predictive healthcare solution and which found a lot of interest at Vivatech.
“We are building an intelligent health operating system. So, what we do is, we do a genetic test and collect all the health data of an individual and create a digital bio-twin for that person. So, how this digital bio-twin helps us? With the data we have taken, it predicts the biological age, it predicts all the disease risk which might happen in the future, including the predisposed conditions such as diseases, food intolerances, even injuries and deficiencies. All this data helps us to help people to have a healthier version of themselves, how to better manage that condition, how to prevent the disease which might happen in the future. We just do not stop with the testing and the prediction, we actually help with the solution also,” Lakshmi Pandrala, Founder and CEO, Lami Health, told Media India Group.
According to Pandrala, over the past six years, since its creation, Lami Health has done almost 20,000 DNA tests and has half a million users on its platform. She says that the company is working with hospitals, sports organisations, some companies and also individuals.
Pandrala said that at Vivatech, her company garnered attention not just from French or European firms, but also from other parts of the world.
“We have signed an MOU with a South Korean company where we are collaborating together and jointly working together because they wanted to use our system. Also, just today itself in the morning, I had a meeting with a person owns a wellness centre in France and which works in preventive healthcare. He liked our solution and is looking to incorporate our platform in their part of their services. And quite a few people others also who were interested and were asking if they could have the lab here so that we can have the services for them. So, I am really looking forward to establish a presence here so that we can start the operations,” she added.
Rajat Jain
Coincidentally, another company present at Vivatech which signed business agreements is also a healthcare firm, Sunfox Technologies, which manufactures a small, handy electrocardiography machine that helps in detecting heart attacks and other heart abnormalities on a smartphone.
We make a device called Spandan and we are based out of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. And what do you do? So we make this device and the platform called Spandan. This is one of the world’s smallest electrocardiography machine, which helps you to detect heart attacks and other heart abnormalities on your phone.
“The way you use a thermometre or a pulse oximetre at home nowadays, you can do a hospital grade, Intensive Care Unit-grade diagnostics without a doctor sitting at home. And your doctor gets your report remotely through a cloud platform. We also make an end-to-end heart attack management system for the public health organisations,” Rajat Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Sunfox Technologies, told Media India Group.
Jain said that the Dehradun-based firm, which began in 2016, has already signed up with Uttarakhand Government to help in digitisation and building the infrastructure for the early heart attack screening, diagnosis and management. He added that the company has so far sold about 60,000 units, that are priced between INR 7,000 to INR 70,000 and is now planning to expand the capacity to 100,000 units a year.
The response at Vivatech was beyond expectations, he said.
“President Macron invited me for a meeting and he has also invited us to implement the same model to reduce the burdens of the French hospitals here. And we are following up with them. Apart from that, we also signed an MOU with a German company, which will use our technologies and the platforms as the vehicle to run a lot of AI algorithms on top of it,’’ Jain added.
Ashraf said that ITPO will continue to extend the necessary support to the Indian startups present at Vivatech and said that an app had been developed to facilitate continue the business discussions that may have begun in Paris.
