Publicis Drugstore and Plexal in new partnership to help startups and corporates collaborate

Publicis Groupe's open innovation and startup offering ? Publicis Drugstore will partner with Plexal, the new innovation destination for technology entrepreneurs and global businesses

PARIS and LONDON, Sept. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Publicis Communications announces that Publicis Drugstore, its open-innovation brand that helps clients to co-create innovation culture and innovation programmes, will partner with Plexal, the London-based innovation destination that brings together startups, scaleups and corporates, to foster deeper collaboration between larger enterprises and the startup community.

This new Drugstore-Plexal partnership combines the powerful insights, creativity and data from Publicis Groupe hubs with Plexal's corporate innovation team to help drive business transformation.

1. It creates an open technology ecosystem at Plexal that encourages businesses of all sizes to collaborate, innovate and generate new solutions.
2. It will harness the scale and engineering expertise from Publicis Groupe to take transformative ideas to market quickly.
3. Through mentorship programmes, entrepreneurship training and a range of bespoke professional services, Plexal is dedicated to forging successful innovation partnerships between entrepreneur members and corporate partners.
4. The new partnership will create a space and an open innovation culture that will allow businesses to cross-pollinate, learn from each other and find solutions to their most pressing problems.

Located at Here East, within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London and with room for 800 people, Plexal has been designed on the principles of a mini city. Features include sociable, civic spaces like the indoor Plexal Park, a high street, an events stage and Monument Square that aid collaboration. There are also private booths, quiet seating and a choice of meeting rooms for individual work, presentations and private meetings. Members can choose to hot desk, rent a fixed desk or take a private office. Here East tenants include Loughborough University and Ford, which is setting up its Innovation Office at Here East to explore smart mobility solutions.

Claire Cockerton, CEO of Plexal, said: "Our vision for Plexal is fundamentally rooted in creating an environment that allows businesses to collaborate and create new technology solutions. Our partnership with Publicis Drugstore delivers this shared ambition and is a real meeting of minds: we've joined forces to nurture, accelerate and make business innovation happen."

Guy Wieynk, CEO of Publicis Western Europe and global lead of Sapient Inside, said: "Our clients are constantly challenging us to find new approaches to help them grow. We experienced the tremendous value of the startup community with our London pilot and Publicis90 global initiative. It's time to take the next leap, and Claire and her team at Plexal are the perfect partner to help realise our shared ambition to create an open innovation culture with our clients."

Publicis Drugstore started as a Publicis Worldwide pilot in 2014 to open the doors of the agency and its clients to the London start-up ecosystem. Since then, it has expanded into eight different global markets including London, Mexico, Sydney, Hamburg, Zurich, Shanghai and Mumbai and has worked with key Publicis clients, including P&G, Sanofi and others. Following the Publicis Groupe reorganization in 2016, Drugstore was elevated to become Groupe-wide, and sought a new operational partner to augment its capabilities and reach.

Open since June 2017, Plexal is a world-class innovation destination for technology startups, scaleups and corporates to join forces, spark ideas and create products and services that improve lives. Its core focus is on high-growth areas like AI, cybersecurity, data analytics, the Internet of Things, VR, AR, fintech, fashtech and health technology.

It offers a range of innovation services across the entire product and service lifecycle, including external stimulus programmes to anticipate a client's future needs, open innovation programmes with carefully-matched partnerships, and accelerator and incubator programmes.

About Plexal

Plexal is the innovation destination for startups, scaleups and corporates to join forces, swap ideas and create products that make our lives better. Founded by Claire Cockerton, Plexal's aim is to nurture an ecosystem that supports innovators in high-growth areas like AI, robotics, the Internet of Things, smart cities, data analytics, fashtech, cybersecurity, fintech, VR, AR and health technology. We believe that great things happen when people from all walks of life collide and collaborate.

About Publicis Communications

Publicis Communications is one of the four solutions hubs of Publicis Groupe, alongside Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Healthcare. Publicis Communications unites the Groupe's creative offering: Publicis Worldwide, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH, Fallon, Marcel, Prodigious, a global production leader, and MSLGROUP, specialized in strategic communications. Present in 20 markets, Publicis Communications aims to be the indispensable creative partner in their clients' transformation. Publicis Communications draws upon the expertise of over 30,000 employees.

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