Michel Combes, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, joined Romain Lavault and Bruno Cremel, partners of Partech Ventures, the backers of Partech Shaker
Paris, France, March 12, 2015 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) has formed a technology partnership with Partech Shaker, the Paris-based hub dedicated to open innovation in digital technologies.
At a press event today, Michel Combes, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, joined Romain Lavault and Bruno Cremel, partners of Partech Ventures, the backers of Partech Shaker. During the event Mr. Combes highlighted the importance of open innovation within Alcatel-Lucent as well as the industry ecosystem it works within, supporting the role of large companies in the development of start-ups.
“The opening and mixing of skills, competencies and methodologies is at the heart of our innovation strategy,” Mr. Combes said. “The partnership with Partech perfectly illustrates our spirit of openness. In a digital economy where agility is a key success factor, large companies and start ups have a shared interest to collaborate. The Partech Shaker model, which mixes starts-ups with large companies, is innovative and very promising for the development of relationships at all levels.”
Commenting on the collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent, Romain Lavault, partner of Partech Ventures said: “The Partech Shaker is very proud to welcome a company like Alcatel-Lucent as an innovation partner and I have no doubt about the multiple synergies that are possible between the company and the start-ups that we house. Alcatel-Lucent and its Bell Labs already have a lot of experience in open innovation and this partnership will allow them to further broaden the spectrum of their technology partners.”
During the event, Michel Combes highlighted Alcatel-Lucent’s contribution to the global digital transformation, emphasizing how the collaboration with Partech Shaker underlines the company’s commitment to open innovation, and how entrepreneurism is at the heart of its innovation strategy. He added that by connecting the Partech Shaker with the Innovation City project, located south of Paris and which is already housing start-ups, Alcatel-Lucent is helping such businesses with both their development and their internal entrepreneurial culture.
The Partech Shaker has already regrouped twenty start-ups in a former newspaper office in Paris, and is the first campus in the world dedicated to open innovation to be sponsored by a venture capital firm. With other innovation partners at the site, Alcatel-Lucent teams and, in particular, Bell Labs researchers will have access to a working space where they will be able to test innovative new models with the Partech Shaker start-ups, as well as participate in numerous innovation events held there.
