“There is a lot of talent and business projects in working-class neighborhoods”

Yasmine Iamaren is one of the entrepreneurs participating in the forum. Aged 37, she founded MiPi 3 and a half years ago, “a transport company specializing in the last mile, in other words the delivery men and women who come to your door with a package“, which places particular emphasis on the feminization of the sector.”The company is growing. At the beginning I was alone on the project, today we have 250 employees. The headquarters is in Cergy, and we are present in Lille, Bordeaux and we are opening other regions” she says.

Having worked in the textile sector, she grew up in Cergy, in Val-d’Oise.We must not stigmatize talents. I came from the suburbs, personally I studied but around me I know a lot of brilliant people who did not. When you come from a good background, there is the opportunity to go to top schools, to access networks, to understand certain codes. When you come from the suburbs or rural areas, you do not have the same contacts through family or studies. So when you start out, you do not have the same levers to succeed” she explains.

“Talent comes from everywhere, so we need to give everyone the same chance. Starting an entrepreneurship is like walking in a desert, we need a helping hand to guide us. In particular, we need examples to inspire us. This is one of the goals of the forum: to show that the path to success is accessible to all.” she adds.

Aged 31, Youssef Koutari was born in Morocco before “come to France very young“, at 5 years old, growing up in Échirolles near Grenoble, in Isère, then in Clayes-sous-Bois, a commune of 17,000 inhabitants in Yvelines.”After working as a business engineer in a high-tech company, I founded Kout que Kout: a business school based in several cities, which trains young people from working-class neighborhoods and rural areas in digital professions. There is an establishment in Colombes, in Hauts-de-Seine, a second in Montpellier, and soon a third in Avignon” he says.

“There is a negative image of the suburbs from an economic point of view that is widely disseminated. On the ground, we see that there are many motivated young people who want to move forward. But they need mentors – visible role models – and support, and they no longer trust institutions. We need to reconnect the neighborhoods and the business world, to give real opportunities to everyone.“, says Youssef Koutari.

“We are not going to say that the suburbs are completely neglected, but we do not fully trust the neighborhoods. There is a lot of talent and business projects in working-class neighborhoods. They deserve to have better access to information and to gain the trust of institutions, large companies and public authorities.” he continues.

The “Davos of the suburbs” aims in particular to bring together 100 million euros in public and private orders for companies located in the QPVs.Investments are useful for creating opportunities and are essential for doing business, reacts Yasmine Iamaren. You have to have the opportunity to make the right encounters, personally I made sure to make these encounters in certain incubators. And we are not talking about charity: no contract is signed to be nice, we have to generate growth.“

“You have to dare to provoke your luck, she adds. When we talk about stereotypes, no one should be put in a box. Personally, I am a woman and I was born in Algeria, before growing up in the suburbs. I am an intelligent, hard-working woman, with a project that creates value. We must not create glass ceilings..”

For his part, Youssef Koutari underlines “the difficulties in finding money when starting an entrepreneurship“. “Finding investors requires very specific knowledge. An event like the forum can make people who have the funds aware that there are plenty of super interesting projects in the suburbs, with a positive impact on society. Without a network, raising money can quickly become insurmountable. The most important thing to undertake is to find funds. Otherwise, it is impossible to set up your premises or recruit a team.“, he emphasizes.

The FEB takes place on September 17 and 18, at the Palais d’Iéna.