EXHIBITION · VivaTech 2026
We were confident about the booth, but didn't know who to meet
Paris, France · Jun 17–20, 2026
They were confident about the booth, but did not know who they should meet.
So we shortlisted the companies worth meeting in advance,
and focused on the scheduled meetings once on site.
Story
Europe was new, so we picked the people first
We reviewed 573 candidates, narrowed them to 23, and met three teams in Paris. After the first meeting, we decided not to continue with one of them.
“We had prepared booths several times, so we felt confident about that. But Europe was new, and we did not know what kind of people we would meet.”
Show preparation usually ends at the booth: secure the space, build the booth, and refine the demo. This team knew that process well. They had exhibited several times and were comfortable working with major brands, even building a joint booth with a global sports brand.
The problem came next. They knew where the technology fit at home, but Europe was new. They had no sense of who would be in Paris or which of those people they should speak with.
We narrowed 573 companies down to 23
We first built a broad pool of potential partners. After reviewing 573 exhibitors and Paris-based companies, we contacted 23 where a real opening in Europe seemed possible.
The filter was: where can our technology fit? This team's strength was reducing the time from design to production, so we looked for industries where that time carries a real cost, such as fashion, jewellery, and eyewear.
We stopped with one company after the first meeting
One of the three teams we met in Paris was a Taiwanese AI fitting startup. The technology areas overlapped, but the approaches to connecting data were different. We decided in the meeting that it was not a fit and chose not to continue.
The faster you decide to stop, the more time remains for somewhere else. In post-show follow-up, the most expensive thing is holding on to an uncertain lead.
One company moved into a second meeting
“We met three teams in a market we had never entered before, and it did not feel disappointing. One of them went all the way to a second meeting.”
An AI eyewear brand progressed to a second meeting. Its founder had moved from architecture into product design, so the conversation about saving time at the design stage immediately resonated. We agreed to revisit the discussion when their own product development was complete.
We also arranged a meeting with someone from a European luxury group. That relationship still needs to be connected to the operating team, so for now it remains in progress.
For the first European show, we spent the time narrowing 573 companies to 23 and focused on three conversations on site. One moved to a second meeting, and one was closed out in the room.
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