At the start of their development project, the founders quickly targeted the region and contacted Nord France Invest, the economic development agency for the Hauts-de-France region. This initial contact enabled them to refine the specifications and the search for an investor. The Hello Lille and NFI teams worked together to provide the best possible support for the company.
Bohemia Contractors
Starting with a blank sheet of paper, the two founders, Antoine Schvartz and Baptiste Larbre, enlisted the help of over a hundred wine professionals to create the glasses that are best suited to tasting. All the parameters have been optimised, including the height, diameter and opening of the glass.
To achieve this finesse, Sydonios relies on the ancestral technique of mouth-blowing, used by the great master glassmakers of Bohemia, a region on the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In less than 4 years, Sydonios has conquered the world of wine, and now exports two-thirds of its business to over thirty countries. In France, Sydonios mainly targets wine estates, gourmet restaurants and private customers (websites, wine merchants and upmarket shops).
Relocating traditional know-how
Sydonios has an ambitious project: to bring its production in-house and relocate it to France. To achieve this, Antoine and Baptiste, the two founders, plan to reintroduce the know-how of Bohemian glassmakers, which was lost in France in the 1990s.
“Four of our glassmakers are currently undergoing training in the Czech Republic to learn the skills and methods of the craftsmen at one of our subcontracted glassworks. The aim is to produce 100% of our products in France within three years,” says Antoine Schvartz.
An artisanal crystal glassworks in Bondues
With almost 70,000 lenses produced in 2022, Sydonios needed to find the ideal location.
Faced with stiff competition from the Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Grand Est and Normandy regions, the founders finally chose the Hauts-de-France region.
Nord France Invest suggested several locations, including the European Metropolis of Lille, which the company found attractive.
After discovering the Lille ecosystem with the Invest team from Hello Lille, the brand set about its property search with the help of Tostain Laffineur, a partner of Hello Lille. A major asset for founder Antoine Schvartz
As well as putting us in touch with partners in the sector, it was great to have Hello Lille’s sound advice during the visits. Usually, this information is difficult to get when you don’t know the sector.
The founders chose Bondues for two reasons.
Firstly, the living environment, to attract and retain talent:
“For young glassworkers coming out of training, it’s important to offer them a living environment conducive to personal fulfilment. We wanted to find a dynamic city with plenty of opportunities for them and their families.
Ultimately, 21 jobs are envisaged at the Bondues site.
Another is the accessibility of the city from Brussels, where Antoine, one of the two founders, lives.
I have to make daily return trips between Brussels and production, so I needed to find a location that was accessible and less than 10km from the station. For both my professional and personal life, it’s a real luxury to work in an area at the crossroads of London, Paris and Brussels. We also have easy connections to major French cities.
Thanks to its proximity to Lille Europe station, the Bondues site will enable Sydonios to develop a tourist activity within a few months. Production is scheduled to start at the end of 2022.
There’s no shortage of prospects for Antoine and Baptiste, who are keen to become part of the local ecosystem and, why not, create prestigious beer glasses for the region’s many brewers!
