Startup World Cup Aix: a wrap on a successful second national edition

The Rencontres Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence, created and organized by Le Cercle des économistes, founded by Jean-Hervé Lorenzi, have brought together, every year for more than two decades at Parc Jourdan, several hundred leading figures — economists, business leaders, public officials, academics and citizens — to debate major economic, political and social issues. Often described as “the French Davos,” the event drew more than 400 speakers across 70 sessions and debates for its 26th edition, held July 2–4, 2026, on the theme “Navigating a World Without Landmarks.”

Launched in 2025 by Le Cercle des économistes, the OFF des Rencontres Économiques extends the event across the whole city, running from June 27 to July 4, through more than 45 initiatives — talks, film screenings, art, workshops and participatory formats, most of them free — designed to make economics accessible to a wider audience beyond the conference format.

It is within this program that the Startup World Cup Aix-en-Provence took place on July 1 at the Hôtel Roi René. The fit made sense on two counts: it gave a concrete, entrepreneurial extension to the economic debates of the official program, showing how innovation and company-building offer tangible answers to the same challenges — uncertainty, technological transitions, economic sovereignty — discussed at Parc Jourdan; and, echoing the 2026 theme directly, it illustrated how startups help chart new landmarks for tomorrow’s economy. Partnering with EXPANSI, a local business-support player, also helped root this momentum firmly within the Aix-en-Provence economic ecosystem.