Made in 92, a local startup competition in the Hauts-de-Seine department just outside Paris, is marking its 10th edition in 2026—sticking to a simple bet it has made since 2016: find entrepreneurs before they break through.
Organizers frame the contest as an alternative to big-company culture in a territory dominated by corporate headquarters, pitching what they call “a garage spirit, far from CAC 40 companies.” (The CAC 40 is France’s benchmark stock index, similar to the S&P 500 in the U.S.)
A contest rooted in Hauts-de-Seine since 2016
Made in 92 targets young companies based in Hauts-de-Seine. The idea is to give early-stage founders visibility and support—especially those who don’t yet have the scale of the major firms clustered in La Défense, the nearby business district.
The area is a paradox: it concentrates one of the highest densities of CAC 40 headquarters while also hosting a large number of emerging organizations that struggle to stand out alongside those giants.
Le Parisien, which is covering the 2026 edition, is published by a company whose headquarters is listed in Strasbourg at 20 rue du Vieux Marché aux Vins. The company has been active since May 2006, according to INSEE and INPI data available on the French government’s data.gouv.fr platform, and is led by Imdat Kocaman, described as manager and an indefinitely liable partner.
The goal: getting out of investors’ blind spot
Competitions like this are meant to fill a real gap. Startups in Hauts-de-Seine—despite being located in one of Europe’s densest economic hubs—often struggle to attract investor attention, which is frequently pulled toward Paris-based ecosystems or national tech centers.
Made in 92 offers them a local stage before broader exposure. The 10th edition, held in 2026, is a symbolic milestone for the contest, which can now look back on a full decade and measure how far its past winners have come.
