Generali announces joint venture with Sanofi, Capgemini and Orange for the creation of a digital ecosystem dedicated to e-health

A first in Europe, the project will bring together start-ups and leading players in the healthcare, technology and insurance sectors to accelerate the development of tomorrow’s healthcare services

Generali, Sanofi, Capgemini and Orange announce plans to create a joint venture in France to fast-track the development of concrete healthcare solutions and to make them available to the market for the benefit of patients and the entire sector. With a planned initial investment of €24 million in the new entity, the project will bring together leading scientific and technological expertise in France and Europe, and benefit from both a virtual platform and a physical base located in Paris, linked to the «PariSanté Campus» initiative announced by French President Emmanuel Macron. 

By sharing and pooling their technologies, expertise and data with selected French and European start-ups as well as other players in the healthcare, technology and insurance sectors, public and private hospitals, patient associations, regulators, schools and universities, the four founding partners intend to support the implementation of digital solutions that improve the quality, security, accessibility and productivity of healthcare by focusing work on key themes for one or two years at a time, such as technologies, pathologies, a selected patient population or public health topics.

Jean-Laurent Granier, CEO of Generali France and Chairman of Europ Assistance, commented: “Through this alliance, our motivation as an insurer and assistance provider is to participate in an innovative and powerful ecosystem that will help model the healthcare solutions of the future and to work on new technologies and innovative services for patients. The insurance business works on the basis of statistics drawn from a large volume of anonymised data reaching back over several decades. This can be made available to start-ups to fuel their search for solutions. As an historical player in the healthcare market, nationally and internationally, Generali wishes to actively contribute to the creation and running of this unique ecosystem in France and Europe, in collaboration with other leading international companies in their sector.”

Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi, explained: “We believe that France, and more broadly Europe, have all the necessary assets to be among the leading global players in digital healthcare innovation. This project is the cornerstone of the open ecosystem centred on digital technology and healthcare data that we want to build with our partners. Our shared ambition is to bring together all the players, including start-ups, that will collectively invent the future of healthcare for the benefit of patients and thereby place France at the heart of European innovation in this strategic field.”

Aiman Ezzat, CEO of Capgemini Group, declared: “As a global leader in digital technology, one of our major responsibilities for future generations is to put technology at the service of health. This is now a priority for Capgemini, which is proud to participate in this fine project. The founding members all believe that digital technology will provide a tremendous boost; we have the ambition to quickly achieve concrete results.”

Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange, commented: "We are pleased to engage in this ambitious partnership that aims to harness digital technology to improve health services for everyone. At Orange, we are convinced that digital transformation is an important source of progress and that the potential for e-health is immense. This is a major challenge for society and, as a responsible operator, we believe that we can contribute to this effort. By creating a multidisciplinary ecosystem bringing together major European groups and start-ups, we are providing ourselves with the means to accelerate the development of solutions for the benefit of both patients and caregivers.”