City of Boston hosts 'Big Booster' entrepreneur program

Big Booster, launched in April 2015, is the first non-profit, international accelerator program between Boston and Lyon, France, and is intended to foster a creative global entrepreneurial exchange.

In partnership with the City of Lyon, France, Mayor Martin J. Walsh last week welcomed 20 global startups in the biotech, information and cleantech fields at a reception concluding Big Booster's week-long boot camp program intended to accelerate innovation for technology startups globally. Big Booster, launched in April 2015, is the first non-profit, international accelerator program between Boston and Lyon, France, and is intended to foster a creative global entrepreneurial exchange.

"I am thrilled that international entrepreneurs are not only coming to Boston to share innovation ecosystems, but also to highlight and collaborate on sustainability, culture, education and tourism stewardship," said Mayor Walsh. "I am thankful Lyon is such a cooperative and proactive global partner, and Big Booster's robust and continued support of entrepreneurship helps foster our vision of global innovation and economic development."

"We are proud to sustain Big Booster for this second wonderful year," said Karine Dognin-Sauze, Lyon Deputy Mayor. "The quality of the start ups of this year, their ambition, and the way they improved this week is a reflection of the power of Big Booster, and of the dynamism of the ecosystems between Boston and Lyon."

In Big Booster's second boot camp to Boston, industrial partners shared their expertise with startups from France, Italy, Israel, Senegal and Belgium through mentoring sessions and panel discussions that included some of Boston's industry-leading and innovation stakeholders. Last Thursday, nine startups were selected by local industry experts as finalists to compete in the final stage of the Big Booster competition in April in Lyon.

"Thanks to the quality of the Lyon Booster Camp selection and a customized program with specific content crafted for our start-ups by Big Booster, this week in Boston was a real success both for our partners and the companies participating through intense, prolific networking in a kind spirit of efficiency, under the guidance of the Big Booster team," said Anne-Marie Graffin, CEO of Big Booster.

The finalists were announced at a reception in the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building by John Barros, Chief of Economic Development, Lyon Deputy Mayor Dognin-Sauze, French Consul General in Boston Valéry Freland, as well as some of Boston's leaders in innovation and business development. The nine finalists are:

Clim8, the first clothing to be intelligent enough to regulate your temperature and improve comfort whatever the activity or climatic conditions.
FineHeart, a medical device company focused on creating innovative technologies in the cardiovascular space.
ForCity, empowers cities and companies with unique capability of simulating and optimizing the future of their businesses in systemic cities.
Glomeria Therapeutics, an Innovative Pertoneal Dialysis solution with enhanced patient safety level, preventing peritonitis, membrane rapid degradation and personalization.
Gulplug, develops disruptive wireless and self-powered energy sensors to help building and industry energy managers save their power consumption.
HySiLabs, based on an unique modular liquid solution which makes H2 easy to use, enables anywhere, anytime smooth transitions from fossil to clean fuel.
In Touch, aggregates all mobile payment solutions and digital services available on the African market on one device with one account for all operators.
Micropep Technologies, provides natural genes silencing boosters for a new generation of biostimulant, biocontrol and plants' biotechnologies solutions.
Sylfen, integrates energy storage and production solutions for buildings and ecodistricts, willing to secure their energy supplies with local sources.

About the Mayor's Office of Economic Development
The Economic Development Cabinet's mission is to make Boston an appealing and accessible place for working families, entrepreneurs, businesses, and investors to innovate, grow, and thrive in a way that fosters inclusion, broadens opportunity, and shares prosperity, thereby enhancing the quality of life for all Bostonians and the experience for all visitors. Learn more on their website .

About BigBooster
Founded in April 2015, BigBooster is a unique international non-profit acceleration program for early-stage startups with cutting edge innovation in the fields of Bio Health, Informative Tech, and Global Impact. Organized between Lyon (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France) and Boston (Massachusetts, USA), 2 worldwide renowned hubs with strong innovation ecosystems, its goal is to become the largest European competition for early-stage startups with a global outreach and namely from the Europe-Middle East-Africa zone. Bolstered by many public and private partners, BigBooster is organized by the Fondation pour l'Université de Lyon. For additional information, please visit www.bigbooster.org.