Université Paris-Saclay - at the heart of the innovation community
With its sights set on accelerating business creation, Université Paris-Saclay is making its own mark within the Paris-Saclay cluster’s innovation community by encouraging its students to “dare to be entrepreneurial”.
What if the next Steve Jobs (Apple) or Xavier Niel (Free) was hiding somewhere among the students in the lecture theatres of Université Paris-Saclay? What if he only needed one thing to write his own success story like those "entrepreneurs before Bachelor's degree" - the confidence to take the plunge?
It is for this reason that Université Paris-Saclay has set itself the objective of unleashing a spirit of initiative, breaking down barriers between career paths and removing students’ inhibitions around entrepreneurship and their academic credentials. It begins as early as the bachelor's degree, whether their project is deep tech or not. “If you have an idea, a concept, a desire or a project that is close to your heart or which you have a gut feeling about, then go for it! There is not just one path in life and not just one model for success. Anything is possible,” exclaims Michel Mariton, Vice-President for Economic Development at Université Paris-Saclay.
This willingness shown by the University to boost the drive for exchanging knowledge and promoting entrepreneurship in the region is evident in several different ways, for example in the coaching and training programmes that the Department of Education and Success at Université Paris-Saclay, its component institutions and its associate member universities have set up for Bachelor's and Master's students, Doctoral students and student-engineers, as well as in its involvement at the heart of the Paris-Saclay cluster's innovation community.
The University becomes a shareholder of SATT Paris-Saclay
Since September 2020, and following the dissolution of the Fédération de coopération scientifique (Federation for Scientific Cooperation - FCS), the shareholding of SATT Paris-Saclay has changed. Université Paris-Saclay has emerged as SATT's leading higher education and research institution shareholder, with a 33% stake and four out of the twelve directors on its board of directors. These figures reflect the flow of maturation projects coming from the University's laboratories, supported by SATT. Another shareholder Bpifrance holds one third of the shares and four seats on the Board of Directors. CNRS and the Institut polytechnique de Paris (Polytechnic Institute of Paris) share the remaining one-third of shares and seats equally.
The Government has renewed a third tranche of funding for SATT Paris-Saclay of €18.2 million over the period 2020-2022. SATT is a tool for stimulating, initiating and developing deep tech projects in the Paris-Saclay area. It pools the strengths of the community and funding, and promotes the creation of new companies whose technologies come from the Paris-Saclay laboratories and connects industrialists to these laboratories. It also has a knowledge transfer rate of 80%.
“Université Paris-Saclay is pleased to note that SATT Paris-Saclay has been provided with more capital. This is recognition of the work which has been carried out together across the region,” points out Michel Mariton. For the Vice-President for Economic Development at Université Paris-Saclay, “This perhaps poses the strategic question in the medium term of how to increase the use of this development tool by the University, following the model of large, international research universities which generally have their own knowledge transfer subsidiary.”
The DeepTech Alliance Paris-Saclay,
a consortium of stakeholders moving things up a gear
Led by the IncubAlliance incubator, the Allègre incubator (of which Université Paris-Saclay is a founding member), French Tech Paris-Saclay, SATT Paris-Saclay and Université Paris-Saclay, the DeepTech Alliance Paris-Saclay consortium is one of the ten winners of the 2nd call for projects “SATT, incubators and accelerators” (SIA) from the “Programme d'investissements d'avenir” (Investment programme for the future - PIA) launched by Bpifrance, the results of which were announced in mid-November. This consortium aims to boost the creation of deep tech start-ups in the Paris-Saclay area, particularly those resulting from the outcomes of academic research. Université Paris-Saclay, with its 48,000 students and 9,000 academic staff, is ready to play its part.
“We are increasing the acceleration of projects within this consortium with a ‘Health tech’ branch, which relies on partners such as the Servier laboratory currently being built on the campus, and a ‘Green tech’ branch resulting from the partnership being forged with Air Liquide, which is already present in Les Loges-en-Josas,” points out Michel Mariton.
Playing as a team to become more involved in the community is the key focus of this consortium, whose members have decided to join forces to ensure continuity from the idea to the creation of a company when supporting projects.
A wide range of incubators across the region
Led by the “établissement public d’aménagement Paris-Saclay” (EPAPS - Paris-Saclay public development institution), with the support of the Essonne department, the Île-de-France region, the Paris-Saclay conurbation community, the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI) and in partnership with Université Paris-Saclay and the town of Palaiseau, the Paris-Saclay business incubator (IPHE) will be a unique hub for the region. Currently under construction on the AgroParisTech – Corbeville campus in Palaiseau, it will open its doors to students, entrepreneurs and start-ups in Autumn 2021 and provide access to the technological prowess present at Paris-Saclay.
Offering real estate and services dedicated to start-ups and entrepreneurship, the IPHE will provide a range of tools and platforms (Hub Creative Center, OpenLab, OpenSpace), co-working and event spaces, shops and a showroom. It will also house a Living Lab which will bring together major corporations and start-ups, as well as students and residents. “It will be a place for living, exchanging ideas, mixing and working. It will add to the development and attractiveness of the region,” explains Michel Mariton. EPAPS is also planning in the next few years to install a residence for entrepreneurs in front of the building.
IPHE will be operated by a consortium led by SATT Paris-Saclay, with French Tech Paris-Saclay, IncubAlliance (who will be moving in) and Creative Valley. This consortium will be responsible for running the incubator and business incubator section, which will be located on the ground floor and first floor of the building. Accommodation for companies will be on the four upper floors.
As a result, IPHE will complement and diversify the reception facilities already offered by 503, the centre for entrepreneurship and innovation of the Institut d’Optique Graduate School, the Incubator of CentraleSupélec and Food’Inn Lab, the incubator of AgroParisTech. “As well as the important innovation centre that will be created in the Bréguet building at CentraleSupélec by 2023,” adds Michel Mariton. This is all in the hope of being able to go even further in supporting business creation projects and help create the champions of tomorrow.