Spotlight on startup innovation in Europe

Spotlight on startup innovation in Europe with Kevin Camphuis, ShakeUpFactory

Kevin Camphuis is co-founder of ShakeUpFactory, a business accelerator and a venture capital firm for tech-driven startups focused on food, beverage, hospitality and travel industries. Based in Station F in Paris, ShakeUpFactory leverages a community of entrepreneurs, mentors and investors to provide tailored support and advise to startups and entrepreneurs. Kevin Camphuis, who was director at techdriven kitchen appliance manufacturer SEB for over 15 years before joining the world of food startups, speaks to us about the state of food innovation in Europe.

How would you describe the state of startup innovation in Europe?

“We've just issued the 2021 investment report on Food Tech, which is showing rocketing figures. [...] Europe is still strong, steady, innovative. Even in categories that we wouldn't imagine Europe to be innovative in, like delivery. […] Quick-commerce, or Q-commerce, with 15-minute delivery is something that has been invented in Europe, not in Asia nor in the US. Additionally, when we're talking about ingredients, we see that there is a historical culture around innovation on ingredients that proves to be a strong competitive advantage for Europe. We are inventing what insects will be. We are doing innovation around fermentation. And we see that there are many, many opportunities and a strong know-how that makes Europe still a relevant player.”

You have said previously that Europe can be a challenging market because it comprises so many different countries. Can you explain a little bit more?

“Every country has a different language, different regulation, different business behaviours and habits, and different retailers. There is one Walmart but [in Europe] there are so many different retailers with which the relationship may be different from one country to another. [For example], if you have succeeded to list at Carrefour with one country, it doesn't mean that you will be listed in every Carrefour in every country where Carrefour is present. So, it requires a lot of effort and energy to generate the same efficiency as if you would be addressing the US market. In Europe, you will need to target each country specifically and re-adapt your value proposition accordingly. And now with Brexit, it adds another level of complexity.”

Station F is a Paris-based startup hub created by Xavier Niel, a French billionaire business leader and philanthropist. Can you tell us how Station F fosters innovation in Europe?

“[Xavier Niel] understood that if we want innovation and entrepreneurship to scale, we need to do it at scale. So, he provided the opportunity to thousands of startups to sit under the same roof, stimulating synergies between them and attracting everything that is needed for them to scale. There is a floor with 50 investment firms! [It] also helps us to be nurtured by this mindset of startups [and] entrepreneurship. I think that I wouldn't be as energised and motivated and pushy if I wasn’t sitting here. In our building, there are different ‘slots’. Each slot is a business topic, or a vertical, which has its own space managed by its partner. If you want to address food, for example, you are directed to us at ShakeUpFactory. If you are addressing gaming and you would go to Ubisoft, if you are addressing cyber security, you would be directed to Terrace, and so on. […] It's a virtuous circle. It's very positive.”

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