NETVA program - Start in America

The NETVA – Start in America program has a triple objective for French deeptech: learning best entrepreneurial practices on the other side Atlantic, building technological partnerships, and developing international prospects.

NETVA is one of the rare startup support programs offering a high-impact, week-long immersion in the United States, packed with tailored meetings and strategic connections.

In 2026, NETVA mobilized over than 270 stakeholders across 9 U.S. diplomatic posts, including:

• 50 companies
• 81 support organizations (incubators, accelerators, chambers of commerce, etc.)
• 130 researchers 

Together, they enabled 190+ personalized meetings, helping French deeptech startups build bridges with the American innovation landscape.

With this in mind, through an annual call for projects, the program selects French early stage and deeptech startups, and offers its laureates a three-stage training program:

• A training seminar in Paris, consisting of workshops led by French and American innovation professionals. Tackling the specificities of North American technology ecosystems and approaches to raise awareness among the winners of issues relating to national security, entry into the North American market, economic security, communication, intellectual property, investment, human resources, and prepare them to better understand the specificities of North American technological ecosystems.
• A immersion week in the United States, in one of the nine highly innovative American ecosystems proposed by La Synapse, during which entrepreneurs take part in workshops to confront their business model to the North American reality, one-to-one meetings with key players in their field, and events enabling them to make the first strategic contacts with French, Francophile and American entrepreneurial communities.
• A 3-month post-immersion follow-up.

NETVA invites you to discover one of the nine most dynamic ecosystems in the United States: #Atlanta, #Boston, #Chicago, #Houston, #LosAngeles, #Miami, #NewYorkCity, #SanFrancisco et #WashingtonDC!

The NETVA program is aimed at French deeptech and early-stage startups; to be eligible, startups must have been incorporated in France for less than 5 years, with sales of less than €2 million and no more than 15 full-time employees.

There is no fee associated with submitting an application.

If selected, successful applicants are required to make a flat-rate contribution to cover part of the costs of the training program and immersion experience in the United States. This contribution amounts to:

• €3,000 for each ecosystem.

Air travel expenses to the United States are also the responsibility of the successful applicants.

• Application period: September 16 to October 22, 2026 (midnight, Paris time);
• Selection interviews: Early February 2027;
• Announcement of selected candidates: Mid-February 2027;
• Training seminar: March 2027;
• Immersion weeks: Spring 2027.

Most NETVA program winners come from research laboratories associated with leading universities, grandes écoles, and public research organizations. The geographical distribution of startups partly reflects the presence of major research institutions and recognized innovation hubs across France.

While a large proportion (41%) of NETVA winners are based in the Île-de-France region, 30% are located in the Occitanie region, particularly around Toulouse and Montpellier, and in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, around Lyon and Grenoble.

Because technological innovation across France’s regions is crucial to their economic development and to creating the jobs of tomorrow, La Synapse places particular emphasis on supporting deeptech startups throughout the country.

La Synapse’s thematic expertise focuses on 10 scientific and technological fields. However, the NETVA program is open to all early-stage deeptech startups in France, with the primary emphasis placed on the disruptive nature of their innovation.

The 237 startups that have participated in the program use a wide range of technologies and apply them across diverse fields. The main areas of application are biology, medicine and healthcare, information and communication technologies (ICT), energy, and environmental challenges. However, startups working in fields such as sports, real estate, and the arts have also participated.

The areas of application do not, however, fully reflect the diversity of the startups’ technological sectors. Interdisciplinarity is at the heart of innovation for nearly half of the winning startups, with many using artificial intelligence (16%), information and communication technologies (ICT) (12%), heavy industrial technologies (9%), nanotechnologies (4%), and quantum technologies (1%).

For example, among the 88 startups operating in biology, medicine, and healthcare, 20% use artificial intelligence and 10% use ICT.

Nearly 84% of the startups that have participated in the NETVA program since 2010 continue to develop their technologies and businesses, while 10% have ceased operations since participating in the program and 6% have been acquired by other companies. These closures and acquisitions occur, on average, 6 to 7 years after the startup was founded, or 4 to 5 years after its participation in the NETVA program. The most recent acquisitions include Cornis (NETVA 2012), acquired by SITES Group in 2020, and Flightwatching (NETVA 2014), acquired by Revima in 2019.

The success and disruptive nature of startups’ innovations can also be measured by the number of patents filed: more than 332 patents have been filed by nearly half of NETVA’s alumni to protect their intellectual property. Patents are primarily filed by alumni working in biology, medicine and healthcare, agriculture and agri-food, energy, aerospace, and information and communication technologies (ICT). For example, Exoes (NETVA 2013) has filed 27 patents, while Uwinloc (NETVA 2017) has filed 22.

Fundraising is another indicator of startup success following participation in NETVA. In total, NETVA alumni have raised more than €1 billion, including more than €800 million after participating in the program. Notable funding rounds include those raised by Pasqal (€125 million – quantum technology – NETVA 2021), Dynacure (€100 million – biotechnology – NETVA 2017), Treefrog Therapeutics (€87 million – biotechnology – NETVA 2019), Wandercraft (€70 million – medical technology – NETVA 2016), and Delair-Tech (€43 million – aerospace – NETVA 2014).

Following their participation in the NETVA program, several French startups have chosen to expand into the United States. These include Treefrog Therapeutics and Genoskin (NETVA 2016) in Boston, Preligens (NETVA 2017) in Washington, D.C., Inarix (NETVA 2021) in Chicago, Sensome (NETVA 2016) in Los Angeles, Shortways (NETVA 2013) in New York City, and Adaxis (NETVA 2022) in Chattanooga, near Atlanta. Others have established technology partnerships with U.S.-based organizations, such as Pasqal with the University of Chicago and CarThera with Northwestern University.