[Evènementiel] After Marseille, One Xperience deploys La Coque in Istres and Aix
The events company run by Vincent Richet, manager of La Coque in Marseille, is continuing its expansion in metropolitan France. After having taken over the management of the Château des Baumes in Istres last November, VF Events – which is changing its name to be called One Xperience – is preparing to set up in Aix-en-Provence. If Vincent Richet, contacted by Gomet’, does not wish to reveal the details of this future building, he recalls however that it will be a place dedicated to innovation on the model of La Coque and the Château des Baumes. The management of the premises was won as part of a public contract, also specifies Vincent Richet, without testing the name of the community.
VF Events was founded in 2017 on the occasion of the creation of La Coque by Vincent Richet and his partner at the time, Fabien Sarrazin, who is no longer part of the business today. “It’s a name that we found quickly by adding our initials because we had to set up a structure for La Coque”, recalls Vincent Richet. Located in Marseille within the scope of Euromed, La Coque hosts local economic events, but not only: it also offers support services for start-ups in innovation, training and digital technology. The name change for One Xperience aims to better respond to the development project of this device in the Metropolis.
Communicate between Aix-Marseille and Ouest-Provence on innovation
“Having three locations in Marseille, Istres and Aix will give meaning to the metropolis. The idea is to make the three places communicate on the different innovations, to create a link between them », explains Vincent Richet. Last November, VF Events won the call for expressions of interest to operate the Château des Beaumes, in Istres. “While the architecture of the building is completely different, the principle is similar to that of La Coque in Marseille: to be a beacon of innovation, with a more in-depth approach to entrepreneurship, because the City of Istres ‘asked “, says Vincent Richet.
The place is also intended to host events. If the health crisis has limited their holding, several companies have already come on site, such as Transdev and the Club Ouest Provence. Vincent Richet hopes to see activity at the Château des Baumes take off within six to eight months, especially as the château will soon include a showroom to showcase innovations.
Although he recognizes that Istres was not the first choice to set up a place dedicated to innovation, today the potential of the territory has become clear to the entrepreneur who castigates the lack of cooperation between the territory of Aix-Marseille and Ouest Provence in terms of innovation. “The people of Marseille and Aix only travel there very little, even though it is a territory where transport, armaments and today digital technology are developing. Finally, the opportunity, and the fact of winning the call for expressions of interest convinced us and we are looking for a strong potential here”, he explains. With these three sites, Vincent Richet intends to instil a new dynamic of cooperation between the different territories of the metropolis to improve its capacity for development in digital technology and innovation.
Useful links :
> The hull website
> La Coque wants to become the central place for meetings and exhibitions of metropolitan innovation (1/2)
> News from the city of Istres in our dedicated section