Vivatech 2026: Takeaways from Paris
Every June, the Exertis SCS team makes its way to VivaTech, and this year was no exception. Anastasia Kvasyuk and Katherine Baker spent three days in Paris, from 17 to 19 June, for the event’s 10th anniversary edition. We come back year after year for a reason. VivaTech has become one of the clearest benchmarks we have for where consumer technology and product innovation are heading, and one of the best places to meet the brands behind it all.
This year’s edition was the biggest yet. VivaTech surpassed 200,000 visitors from 165 nationalities, with more than 4,500 exhibitors (61 percent of them international), over 15,000 startups, and more than 1,155 speakers across the halls at Paris Porte de Versailles.
What stood out
The energy was hard to miss. The floor was busy from the first morning, and that buzz carried right through the week. We saw a strong wave of new and genuinely innovative brands, plenty of clever product ideas, and some of the most polished, knowledgeable presentations we have come across at an event of this kind. For a team focused on European market expansion, it also doubles as a valuable piece of market research. You get an early look at new product introductions before they reach the mainstream, and you meet the founders who are thinking seriously about global market expansion.
A few things worth knowing
If you are planning to attend, a little preparation goes a long way. VivaTech gets busier every year, which is a great sign for the event, but it does come with some practical friction. Getting into the venue takes time, so allow at least half an hour in the morning, and sometimes more.
The halls are crowded enough that holding a meaningful conversation at a booth usually means raising your voice, and with many sessions running in open-plan spaces, do not be surprised if your voice is tired after a couple of days of talking.
One trend we have watched build over several editions is the steady shift toward software and AI. The balance keeps tilting in that direction year on year, and the share of hardware and physical products on the floor was noticeably smaller this time than in previous years. It is something to keep in mind if, like us, part of your focus is physical product.
This year we left Paris with a multiple valuable connections and a few promising conversations already underway, and we are looking forward to doing it all again next year!
