The City of Atlanta announced that the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs and Invest Atlanta, along with international partners including the U.K. Department for International Trade, Sage and Metropole Toulouse, have selected the final ten companies for the 2017 Atlanta International Startup Exchange. The Startup Exchange is a one-week international residency which will provide four Atlanta-based companies a platform for global expansion in either Toulouse, France or the United Kingdom. Two Toulouse-based and four United Kingdom-based companies will travel to Atlanta on this occasion.

“The International Startup Exchange provides the selected Atlanta companies a unique opportunity and resources needed to grow their business and ultimately create jobs here in Atlanta,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “I congratulate the Atlanta-based companies that will participate and share innovative ideas in this year’s Exchange.  We also look forward to welcoming the French and British companies to Atlanta where they will find a city with a robust and growing startup community.”

Atlanta-based companies Qoins, a FinTech startup that encourages savings for millennials, and Babylogger, a software and hardware company that helps catalogue baby activities, will travel to the U.K. the week of November 14, 2017 during Venturefest North East. In addition, Vayando, a social impact travel organization and Volantio, an airline booking tool for improving flight utilization, will visit Toulouse the week of October 1, 2017 during the EmTech Conference.

“The startup exchange program between Atlanta and Toulouse has been a great opportunity, not only for the selected startups, but also for our entire innovation ecosystem that works together towards the same goal,” said Stéphane Béquet, Director of the International Relations Dpt, Toulouse Métropole. “It enables our ecosystem to get together in order to help our companies find new growth levers abroad."

Toulouse companies Nanomade and Nanolike, which provide IoT solutions applicable to smart cities initiatives, will travel to Atlanta during VentureAtlanta, which will take place October 8-14, 2017. They will be joined by Newcastle-based companies Drone Ops and Recite Me, which respectively provide commercial drone capabilities and web access solutions for the disabled.

“Atlanta and Newcastle have a long standing civic and business relationship dating back to its sister city inception in 1977. Atlanta serves as a home to 314 UK based companies, and we are proud to partner with the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs and the Sage Group plc to further strengthen this relationship and open trade channels between innovative start-ups,” said UK Consul General Pilmore-Bedford. “We look forward to assisting the winning participants on both sides of the pond in hopes to promote entrepreneurial activity and foster global business collaboration.”

Finally, London-based companies Citizen and Immersive labs, two cyber-security companies providing authentication services and skills training, will participate in CyberCon the week of October 1.

Atlanta, Toulouse, and the U.K. have partnered for the exchange based on the strength of existing relationships and shared growing industries. Over the course of the one-week residency in each location, the visiting startups will connect with local startup ecosystems, gain access to international conferences and engage with investors, business leaders and potential clients. 

The inaugural Atlanta International Startup Exchange program was launched in October 2016. Atlanta startups Carbice and Partpic traveled to Toulouse while the City of Atlanta hosted Toulouse companies Uwinloc and Donecle. The Atlanta International Startup Exchange program was awarded Sister Cities International’s Innovation Award for Economic Development in 2017.