Stepping onto the grounds of Paris Expo Porte de Versailles at VivaTech 2025 feels like landing at the epicentre of global innovation. Over four days, 180,000 visitors from 171 nationalities converged to explore 14,000 startups, rubbing shoulders with corporates, investors, and deep‑tech pioneers. As a visitor, the buzz is immediate: an electrifying fusion of AI, robotics, and startup energy from every corner of the world.
1. Startups at the forefront 🌍
VivaTech 2025 isn’t just about big names; it’s where early‑stage startups shine. Wander down “AI Avenue” and you’ll meet innovators like Bodyo, whose Buddyo robot monitors vital signs, including blood pressure, ECG, and even air quality, in underserved areas. Mandro, from Korea, is creating affordable robotic prosthetics, dismantling barriers between healthcare and affordability. These companies embody the spirit of deep‑tech, tackling real-world challenges. The Startup‑Italia team spoke to François Bitouzet of VivaTech, who emphasised the event’s commitment to showcasing tech from Europe, Asia, Africa, and beyond, debunking the myth that innovation lives solely in Silicon Valley.
Startups are everywhere, embedded across pavilions alongside industry giants. Whether you’re at LVMH’s Dreamscape or L’Oréal’s beauty tech zone, you’ll find early-stage innovators pitching beside legacy brands.
2. Robotics takes centre stage 🤖
This year, robotics arrived in force. Thirty‑six robotics companies exhibited, and their presence was impossible to ignore. From Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid, showcased in a fireside chat about the future of work, to AXGROUP’s solar‑powered cleaning “Spider” and LOGIE‑AI’s open‑source logistics robot supported by France 2030 funding, there was a palpable sense that we’re moving into a new era of embodied AI.
Even service droids from Pudu Robotics greeted media at the entrance, cute, mischievous, and strangely empathetic. The message was clear: robotics is no longer peripheral, it’s woven into everything from public health to logistics, manufacturing, and beyond.
3. AI and deep‑tech ‘go global’
AI was literally everywhere: over 40% of exhibitors showcased AI-powered solutions. Hall after hall overflowed with generative AI, cloud infrastructure, and quantum computing demos. NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and Mistral AI’s Arthur Mensch announced Mistral Compute, a sovereign European AI infrastructure built on 18,000 Blackwell chips. Through stage presentations, panels, and side conversations, the importance of both European leadership and global openness was thunderously clear.
Station F’s involvement, from hosting GitHub’s CEO to providing a physical space where 70+ nationalities innovate, underscored Paris’s emergence as Europe’s leading tech hub. Business Insider described Station F as Europe’s incubator colossus, housing thousands of startups, many AI‑driven, making Paris a serious rival to Silicon Valley.
4. Global ecosystem, local impact
From the Canada pavilion to delegations from the US, China, Korea, Brazil, Nigeria, no region was missing. Across sectors, luxury, health, mobility, and quantum, the message was unity: in an age of global challenges, technology requires collaboration across borders.
Final thoughts
Visiting VivaTech 2025 is like a four-day sprint through our global tech future. Early-stage startups, grounded in meaningful innovation, share space with robotics makers building a world with physical AI, while international players underline how deep‑tech transcends boundaries.
For anyone serious about where tech is heading, especially in robotics and AI, VivaTech is where you witness the real action: bold startups, sovereign infrastructure, and global collaboration converging on one of Europe’s most vibrant stages.
