AGT, Lozère Développement and the "Coeur de Lozère" community of communes launch BLOOM'UP to promote digital innovation in Lozère.
This agile, non-commercial collaborative program is a free electron in the crowded world of innovation capital.
Based in the Mende technology park, next to the Pôle Lozérien d'Économie Numérique - POLeN - AGT has been developing management and decision-making solutions to improve organizational performance for 18 years. The company markets its solutions to some fifty retailers, generally organized in networks. More than 16,000 points of sale worldwide are concerned by the Lozère-based company's offer. The head office and most of the technical and administrative staff are based in Mende, but the company also has sales offices in the Paris region, Quebec and the United States.
It was precisely to enhance and strengthen this network organization that AGT's CEO, Laurent DUBERNAIS, suggested that Lozère Développement pool resources to promote Lozère as a destination dedicated to the performance of young innovative companies in the digital sector. The Lozère entrepreneur's aim is to foster collaboration and innovation between a mature company, expanding internationally, and young up-and-coming startups. The proposed partnership is a win-win situation, since everyone has a stake in the success of everyone else.
Sophie PANTEL, who was able to meet the manager and visit the company on this occasion, commented: "The Département, with Lozère Développement at its side, is playing its part when it supports a growing company, attracting new talent to Lozère that needs to be welcomed under the right conditions. This collaborative approach, initiated by AGT with the support of the development agency, strengthens Lozère's attractiveness in the digital sector".
BLOOM'UP is therefore a unique partnership between a small business and a local area, both of which wish to open up to greater innovation by strengthening third-party projects.
On the one hand, AGT masters a technological base that is particularly well-suited to remotely-accessible professional IT solutions (Software as a service - Saas). Many innovative start-ups could accelerate their access to the market by collaborating with the company's technical teams. On the other hand, AGT is characterized by the specificity of its international outlets in the retail sector.
According to Laurent DUBERNAIS, AGT's CEO: " Through the Bloomup mentoring and acceleration program, AGT seeks to enrich itself with the innovative freshness of young companies, while sharing the experience and know-how of its employees and network ".
Drawing on Lozère Développement's expertise in promoting Lozère as a destination for economic projects, and with the financial support of the Communauté de Communes Cœur de Lozère, Créative Meeting designed the BLOOM'UP peer-to-peer mentoring and acceleration program for AGT. The program is also based on the practice of outdoor sports. It aims to transpose, to the winners, the balance on which the success of Lozère companies is based, between technical and commercial performance and personal fulfillment.
For Laurent SUAU, who launched the BLOOM'UP program from POLEN with Laurent DUBERNAIS, "It's onlynatural that the Communauté de Communes Cœur de Lozère should support this program, which aims to strengthen a local company by welcoming new skills to Mende. I immediately agreed with the originality of the approach proposed by the company". From April 13 to June 30, start-up teams can apply for the BLOOM'UP experiment.
Starting in September 2016, for a period of three months, a weekly co-mentoring program coordinated by AGT will be offered to the winners. The winning teams will be able to move into AGT's premises to facilitate exchanges with the company's technical and sales teams. They will also be provided with accommodation and a vehicle by the Communauté de Communes Cœur de Lozère, a partner in the operation.
The BLOOM'UP operation will be presented in Paris on April 25 at the Maison de la Lozère, at 5:30pm.
Article published on the Official website of the Département de la Lozère on Thursday, April 14, 2016
