Fundraising
ZEvent 2026: a record-breaking final edition with almost €33 million collected in aid of 22 associations including the Institut Pasteur!
From September 3 to 6, thousands of people rallied for the final edition of ZEvent, the French streaming community's go-to charity fundraiser launched a decade ago. For the final edition, almost €33 million was collected in aid of 22 associations and foundations, including the Institut Pasteur. Some of this staggering total will go directly towards funding Institut Pasteur scientists' research projects on the microbiome.
A record-breaking event
Once again this year, ZEvent served to shine a light on important causes and unite a particularly committed community. For over 50 hours, participants (artists, streamers) live-streamed content together and encouraged viewers to unite and support a common cause. For the Institut Pasteur, the donations collected are a major opportunity to support research and accelerate progress.
Several Institut Pasteur staff were actively engaged at the event and shared in this unique experience: Cécile Apert, a scientist by training, to talk about the microbiome, and Antoine Bogaerts, Director of Philanthropy, to talk about the power of public generosity, as well as Department of Communications and Public Affairs team members Mathieu Fortoul, Jeanne Fenouil and Sacha Tembe, who accompanied the two spokespersons and shared the event's highlights on the Institut Pasteur's social media. They joined forces to share the challenges facing research and bring the voice of the Institut Pasteur to the public sphere.
Read on for their testimonials
“First of all, I would like to thank the Institut Pasteur and Antoine for their trust and for giving me the opportunity to represent the Institute alongside them at ZEvent 2026. This weekend was a particularly powerful experience, and it was a pleasure to see two worlds that may seem very different – that of science and that of gaming – come together for a common cause: supporting research and healthcare.
Throughout the weekend, I was able to interact with curious, committed and motivated people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Beyond the event itself and the donations raised, what I’ll remember most are the deeply human connections I made.
In my view, ZEvent also carries a particularly powerful message: everyone can play their part in making a difference, in their own way. The substantial sums raised are, above all, the result of thousands of individual contributions – sometimes very modest – which gain their full power when they come together around a shared goal. Ultimately, this is what I take away most from this experience: when each and every one of us does our bit, it becomes truly possible, collectively, to make a real difference.”
Cécile Apert
“I had the privilege of representing the Institut Pasteur alongside Cécile to report on how the donations collected in 2019 were used – just a few months before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic – and to explain why research into the microbiome has caught our attention regarding the use of the donations collected this weekend. I had the opportunity to discover a close-knit, committed and supportive community, fully aware of the challenges facing the charitable sector in 2026 and keen to do everything possible to support it. On a personal level, this was an exceptional experience and I am certain that this is just the beginning of a wonderful story to be written between these streamers and the Institut Pasteur, well beyond the ZEvent.”
Antoine Bogaerts
"Last weekend, the Institut Pasteur once again experienced an unprecedented outpouring of generosity during the 10th and final edition of ZEvent. We witnessed a tremendous mobilization - spanning more than 50 hours - by an entire community, which once again led to a record-breaking fundraising total!
This marathon provided the Pasteur Institute with an opportunity to reconnect with a community of people driven by joy, good spirits, and a collective commitment to several causes - among which the Pasteur Institute was prominently featured.
This type of event truly helps raise awareness among a new audience by highlighting the importance of research and the challenges we face. We must continue - particularly through our communication tools, such as our new website and social media - to commit to ever greater engagement and outreach with the Institute’s audiences regarding the philanthropic challenges facing Pasteurian science."
Henri Pitron
Check out the highlights from the weekend on the Institut Pasteur’s Instagram account