Greater Lyon, a land of entrepreneurship

Lyon, where it’s good to do business

Greater Lyon enjoys a thriving entrepreneurial scene. This dynamic scene has been supported by the actions of partners in the "Lyon Ville de l’Entrepreneuriat" programme (part of the Grand Lyon, l’Esprit d’Entreprise programme), aimed at raising public awareness about business start-ups and supporting project initiators at every step of the way.

Our ambition: “to make the urban area the number one business start-up zone in Europe”

A collective approach

The “Grand Lyon, l‘Esprit d’Entreprise” collective economic development support programme

90 company headquarters and administrative offices with more than 1,000 employees *
860 company headquarters and administrative offices with more than 100 employees *
390 foreign capital businesses with more than 50 employees *

The Lyon urban area accommodates more than 135,000 businesses *. They include:

Well-known international organizations
- Interpol, Euronews, Handicap International, etc.
Global leaders
- Renault Trucks, Sanofi Pasteur, Suez, etc.
A thriving start-up scene

Since the LVE system was introduced:

the number of project initiators benefiting from support rose from 53% in 2007 to 72% in 2009 **
75% of supported creators are fairly or very satisfied with the support they received **.

The Salon des Entrepreneurs de Lyon is the 2^nd largest business start-up exhibtion in France (15,000 visitors, 150 exhibitors, 100 conferences).

Population of 1,748,300 in 2006*
Estimated GDP of €62 billion in 2007 (Lyon-Rhône-Alpes GDP similar to those of the Madrid, Rome and Frankfurt regions)*
Average GDP per capita of approximately €35,700 (compared with an average of €24,900 across the 27 EU member states)*
Unemployment rate of 7 % (compared with 7.8 % in France in the fourth quarter of 2008)*
Approximately 790,000 jobs*
5 competitiveness clusters

European Cities Entrepreneurship Ranking-ECER 2009
- Lyon is 14^th in the list of the top European cities for entrepreneurship in Europe
- Lyon is second French city in this top list

Monitor Ranking, edited by Cushman & Wakefield, 10/2009
- Lyon is 19^th in the list of the top business cities in Europe

1 Université de Lyon Research & Higher Education cluster: all higher education and research establishments united under a single banner
19 establishments *
126,000 students: universities (81,500), engineering schools (9,000), business schools (6,600) *
10,000 researchers and more than 500 public and private laboratories *
2 Thematic Advanced Research Networks (RTRA) out of a total of 13 across France: infectious diseases and human and social sciences
3 Thematic Healthcare Research Networks (RTRS) out of a total of 8 across France: brain, cancer and transplants
The 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Yves Chauvin)

* Source: Lyon economic key figures (Opale, 05/2009)
** Source: LVE press kit (LVE, 06/2009)