Deeptech Starter
About this good practice
The French government has set a goal of positioning France as a global leader in deeptech startups. Fostering closer ties between public research ecosystems, entrepreneurs, and investors, as well as enhancing collaboration among support and acceleration programs for deeptech startups, are key to achieving this objective.
In this context, Atlanpole, Laval Mayenne Technopole, Angers Technopole, Le Mans Innovation, and the SATT (Société d’Accélération du Transfert de Technologie) Ouest Valorisation have formed a consortium to define and propose the Parcours Deeptech program. It is divided in 2 parts : Deeptech Starter and Deeptech Matching.
Deeptech Starter is a three-month accelerator program that connects researchers with the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through intensive workshops (IP, pitching, business design, etc.), tailored coaching, mentorship, networking opportunities, and a final presentation to connect them with the innovation ecosystem, participants will learn how to translate their research into viable businesses. The goal is to identify innovation opportunities for products and/or services emerging from public research laboratories in the Pays de la Loire region that address unmet market needs and that ultimately have the potential for economic returns leading to the creation of a company.
Resources needed
2 FTEs per year
10 000 € per year for external experts
Evidence of success
The consortium has not only achieved the expected results, but has even doubled the number of projects it initially planned to support.
A total of 25 projects in 4 batches were detected and supported in the program.
Completed in 2023, the program is now being extended as part of the PUI (University Innovation Pole).
Potential for learning or transfer
For researchers, it is an opportunity to change their point of view, to look at the development of research results from a more entrepreneurial angle, to estimate customer potential and to identify market issues.
For business support organisations, the benefits are numerous. They can strengthen their links with universities and research laboratories, and the flow of deeptech projects detected has been considerably increased.
This practice is easy to duplicate to other regions and is both beneficial for researchers and for BSOs.
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.