At an event held in Paris in April 2023, attended by leading players in the French tech ecosystem, Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, laid out fresh goals for ZEBOX, the international startup accelerator, which he set up in 2018 alongside 17 major partner groups.
ZEBOX, a rapidly expanding international network
In the firm belief that innovation is developing right around the globe to address local issues, ZEBOX has established accelerators in high-potential ecosystems to play a part in their transformation by supporting local entrepreneurs.
ZEBOX is ramping up the support it provides to local ecosystems by opening up two new hubs in:
- Singapore: the sphere of influence of this fifth ZEBOX hub, located at the heart of an extremely fast-growing ecosystem, will extend across the Asia-Pacific, a region at the crossroads of major shipping and air routes. It provides a strategic gateway to the Asian market and beyond both for Singapore-based startups and for the entire ZEBOX community.
- Manchester: as the number one ecosystem in Europe for tech startups, the United Kingdom is an ideal location for an innovation hub. The city of Manchester, with its five universities, attractive funding programs for entrepreneurs and a raft of sustainable development initiatives, boasts tremendous potential for the startup ecosystem.
Following the launch of ZEBOX France during 2018 in Marseille, ZEBOX Caraïbes during 2020 in Guadeloupe, ZEBOX America in National Landing (Virginia), one of the main tech industry centers emerging in the United States, and with ZEBOX West Africa set to open shortly in Abidjan, ZEBOX will have six hubs by the end of the year.
ZEBOX Ventures, a seed fund supporting the champions of the future
Rodolphe Saadé also announced the launch of ZEBOX Ventures, a seed fund for French and international startups that aims to invest in around 50 startups every year. With an average deal size of €50,000 to €250,000, ZEBOX Ventures will cover a diverse range of sectors connected to ZEBOX’s main areas of focus – optimized shipping and logistics, mobility, decarbonization and the energy transition, process digitalization and AI, and the future of work.
ZEBOX and ZEBOX Ventures are joining CMA CGM’s Startup Hub to achieve seamless coordination of interactions between the Group and the startup ecosystem. Going forward, the Startup Hub will serve as a single point of entry encompassing startup acceleration and incubation with ZEBOX, investment in French and international startups with ZEBOX Ventures and digital innovation, too.
More than 130 startups supported to accelerate innovation
Leveraging its international network consisting of entrepreneurs, industry leaders and ecosystem experts, ZEBOX strives to connect up startups with major corporations, helping them to develop sustainable innovations that will transform industry, with a special focus on supply chains. The startups it supports benefit from programs tailor-made to meet entrepreneurs’ needs. It helps them with the entrepreneurial execution of their project, the acceleration of their expansion, with a major emphasis on international development, and fundraising via the community of investors that has grown up around ZEBOX.
The ZEBOX community, which was originally established during 2018 in Marseille, now counts 17 partners and over 130 startups. It has helped to raise more than $235 million in funding and launched over 100 co-innovation processes between startups and corporate partners.