Meeting our success stories / Interview with Roland Sicard, CEO of La Valériane

Why did you choose Montpellier?

I have lived in Montpellier since 1986. I spent all my university years here, as well as most of my professional career, notably as Deputy General Director of the Val d’Aurelle Regional Center in the Fight Against Cancer (now called the Montpellier Cancer Institute) from 1993 to 2010. I founded La Valériane in Montpellier because our ecosystem for health research is second to none, even at a worldwide level. We have world-class laboratories, including the Montpellier CHU, University of Montpellier, Inserm, CNRS, and more. Montpellier’s digital ecosystem is also remarkable, notably with IBM, engineering schools, etc. That means the two main ingredients needed by our company are truly present, in a metropolis that continues to grow and develop, and one that also supports startups.

What was the main contribution for your success brought by Montpellier BIC and its teams?

We moved to the Cap Omega incubator in 2014 and stayed there until 2017. Montpellier BIC assisted us with our development during those three years. We were able to raise funds, grow from three to thirteen employees, and triple our revenue. When we settled into Cap Omega, La Valériane was an R&D structure whose financial means were drying up. The startup transformed into a company able to focus both on sales and R&D. Montpellier BIC advisors introduced us to Soridec, which became a shareholder in 2014-2015. We took training courses and learned how to elaborate a marketing plan and build a distribution network. There are no software applications equivalent to ours on the global market. You need to know them and learn them methodically, step-by-step. Montpellier BIC helped us avoid missteps and judgment errors. During that time, we also started our international development thanks to fund raising. We filed a global patent for our EMA-Care solution, designed to improve aid and care for elderly people at home. We also opened a subsidiary in the United States. We signed agreements with American and Canadian distributors to sell some of our solutions in North America.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who want to start a company?

Human qualities are a key factor. The most important are perseverance, as you experience some very hard times and it’s important to keep going; and humility, the quality of being able to accept criticism and advice from others, such as when you get a reality check on the business plan of your dreams. You need to have a good support system and listen to others even when it’s not what you want to hear or when it’s frightening. There are three milestones to surpass. First comes R&D, typically accompanied by a first round of funding. That’s the easiest phase. You’re full of ideas, innovative capacity, and you still have seed capital. If you are successful, you must then start generating value and distributing the product or service you created, find the right business model, and obtain funding. Americans call that the “Death Valley” phase. If you don’t have enough gas and water, your startup may perish. Growth comes in the third phase. You need to learn how to manage a company with about a dozen employees continuing to work on R&D while selling products or services and ensuring profitability. You go through different phases. You need to make decisions about the company’s equity, perhaps thinking about whether to join forces with other industry players. The company’s destiny is at stake.

How do you envision the innovative company of tomorrow in Montpellier?

The company of tomorrow will need to be technological, computer-oriented... it’s essential. It must also have a “human” side, creating services that have meaning for people, leverage emotions, and encourage exchanges. Montpellier is a wonderful living laboratory, complete with all types of challenges relating to urban and rural environments, as well as aging. The digital ecosystem’s health focus favors innovation.