Why should you be interested in setting up your own business? Because it's a way of revealing your potential, realising a dream, or solving a problem that has no solution. Setting up a business involves a phase of questioning and exploration. The potential entrepreneur starts with an idea that is more or less precise, but:
- Are there really interested customers?
- What characteristics should the product or service have?
- How do we position ourselves in relation to the competition?
- How can the necessary technical, financial and human resources resources?
- Who are the partners?
The Fondation ISAE-SUPAERO's Young Start-up Grants, funded by Jean L. Lamy, help finance this upstream phase!
Who can Apply?
All engineering students (including work-study students), Masters, Advanced Masters® and PhD students. Team applications are also welcome.
Preference will be given to projects in the fields of Aeronautics, Space, Defence and Impact.
Grant Amount
In 2025, there will be 6 grants (maximum 4 per session) of €3,500 each, paid as follows:
- 2,000€ at the end of the selection panel, after signing a letter of commitment
- 1,500 at the end of the project, after submission and acceptance of the final report
More information on how to apply for the Jeunes Pousses Grants.
Are you an innovative company based in Occitanie? Are you setting up a new business or have you been in business for less than three years? Are you looking to finance your project?
Finance your innovation and strengthen your equity capital in Occitanie!
The Créalia innovation loan is a zero-interest loan.
For innovative startups, a zero-interest innovation loan can be particularly useful, as it helps to finance high-risk projects and innovative ideas that may not be eligible for traditional loans.
It can also help innovative startups raise additional funds from investors.
Important! It is a loan granted to the individual (i.e. 'you'), which ultimately strengthens the company's equity capital.
Eligibility Criteria
- You have a business project with potential based in the Occitanie region.
- Your company is less than
3 years* old (5 years for deeptech). - Your project has been pre-validated by a support structure.
- Your project is genuinely innovative.
Find out more about the Créalia innovation loan!
Each year, the Jean-Jacques and Felicia Lopez-Loreta Foundation encourages students from four European public higher education institutions, including ISAE-SUPAERO, to carry out an innovative and highly promising project. The project can be either academic or entrepreneurial. The prize is one million euros!
The schools are:
- ISAE-SUPAERO
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Zurich
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- École Polytechnique Paris-Saclay
Application Criteria
Hold an ISAE-SUPAERO degree (Bachelor, Engineer, Master, Doctor) less than 2 years old, as of May 13, 2024.
Applications are personal and must be sent to: prix.lopez-loreta@isae-supaero.fr with a copy to charlotte.sartor@isae-supaero.fr and the subject line 'Application for the Lopez-Loreta Foundation Prize 2025 edition'. A pre-file must be attached and sent as a single PDF file before Thursday September 26, 2024.
Timetable
- Thursday September 26, 2024: deadline for sending applications to ISAE-SUPAERO.
- Wednesday October 30, 2024: pre-selected applications sent by ISAE-SUPAERO to the Jean-Jacques and Félicia Lopez-Loreta Foundation.
- December 2024: communication by the Jean-Jacques and Félicia Lopez-Loreta Foundation of the pre-files considered eligible.
- Thursday January 16, 2025: in the event of selection by the Jean-Jacques and Félicia Lopez-Loreta Foundation, a complete dossier of the final project must be prepared for transmission to ISAE-SUPARO by January 16, 2025. This dossier will then be finalised with the support of ISAE-SUPAERO, the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation and the ISAE SUPAERO ENSICA Alumni Association before the final dossier is sent to the Jean-Jacques and Félicia Lopez-Loreta Foundation.
- Friday February 14, 2025: submission of the final projects by ISAE-SUPAERO to the Jean-Jacques and Félicia Lopez-Loreta Foundation.
- By April 25, 2025 at the latest: invitation to oral hearings.
- May 2025: proposal of oral training session to candidates selected by ISAE-SUPAERO.
- No later than May 31, 2025: interview of successful candidates.
- No later than June 30, 2025: decision by the Laureates 2025 Foundation Board.
Pre-Application Format
This pre-file should:
- contain a description of the project, together with the candidate's CV and a copy of university diplomas
- be written in French or English (but if it is written in English, a French translation must be attached), and submitted in PDF format only
- include a cover page with the applicant's contact details, the name of the University, the name of the project and the name of the host institution for each pre-file and final file
- The applicant must be the initiator of the project
- The project must have been initiated within the submitting University. In practice, however, it may be carried out and developed at a university of the applicant's choice in the interests of the project, regardless of its geographical location
- Parallel degrees such as 'Executive Masters' or equivalent are not accepted.
- Applicants are not permitted to submit a project more than once.
- Preference for translational research.
- Entrepreneurial projects must be in 'genesis'. This means that the Foundation, in accordance with the Articles of Association, does not aim to reward advanced projects for which the applicant (or the structure they have created to carry out their project, such as a startup) would need financing, support and/or fundraising in order to relaunch their project.
As a reminder, the Foundation's Articles of Association stipulate that projects must be of an entrepreneurial, scientific, academic, ecological, or humanitarian nature.
The Foundation Board will not provide any justification for rejected applications.
Regulations
The rules of the Lopez-Loreta Foundation are available on its website.
Would you like to launch a deeptech innovation project requiring a maturation phase and technical and economic validation?
The French Tech Emergence Grant enables you to finance part of the internal and external costs associated with your deeptech project.
To qualify, you must present a project with a high technological content, qualified according to the current Bpifrance Deeptech guidelines.
Who is Eligible?
Small businesses registered in France for less than a year.
Terms and Conditions
Please note: no expenditure incurred prior to the date on which the application for assistance is submitted may be accepted.
This aid can cover up to 50% of eligible expenditure and, depending on the category of business, up to 70%.
The aid is paid in two installments: the first on signature of the contract and after any suspensive clauses have been lifted, and the balance on completion of the work after Bpifranc has been provided with an end-of-programme report and a summary statement of expenses paid.
Amount
Aid in the form of a grant of up to €90,000 subject to conditions.
Duration
Programme lasting a maximum of 12 months, which may be extended to 18 months subject to conditions.
Find out more about BPI France's French Tech Emergence grants.
The Region supports the first market access of innovation projects serving transformations, led by young innovative companies.
The projects submitted must meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Bring about a real technological leap for the company
- Enable the development of a new product, solution, service, new process or new organisation, leading the company to develop and integrate new technological skills and know-how, develop its fixed assets or significantly transform its production processes
- Fall within strategic areas and present technological or usage barriers
- Take an innovative approach that incorporates the challenges of the circular economy, eco-design, adaptation to climate change, protection of biodiversity, low tech, etc. into their products, processes, and services
- Develop innovative responses to social and environmental needs by bringing together the players involved (in the fields of energy, the environment, health, food, mobility, housing, local industries, etc.)
Who Should Apply?
Young companies less than 8 years old carrying out technological innovation projects:
- Have received public funding for innovation or are being supported by an incubator or SATT
- AND working regularly with a regional research laboratory
- AND fall within the structured or emerging sectors identified by the SRI
Find out more about the Region's financial aid.
As part of its new regional strategy for higher education, research, and innovation (SRESRI 2022-2028), the Region has decided to provide particularly strong support for the higher education - research - innovation continuum. This continuum is essential to the dynamic development of businesses in our region by promoting regional scientific excellence.
The aim of the 'Proof of Concept' project is to accelerate innovation and encourage its transfer to the socioeconomic world by raising the level of maturity of the results of research.
Public scientific and technological establishments, research bodies, universities, private establishments responsible for public service missions under agreement with the State and whose research is evaluated by the HCERES, public industrial or commercial establishments, and Technology Transfer Acceleration Companies (SATT) are eligible under this call for projects.
Amount
- The Region's grant will be capped at 75% of eligible expenditure.
- The maximum amount of the regional grant is €120,000.
Eligibility Criteria
The eligibility criteria are as follows
- Innovative and strategic nature of the project on a regional and national scale, validated by an Occitanie player in technology transfer (such as the SATT) and/or an Occitanie University Innovation Cluster.
- The scientific leader belongs to a research unit established/located in Occitanie
- Projects based on existing experimental results with a maturity level of at least 4 (TRL or SRL scale).
- Presence of partnerships and/or prospects for applications: protection of results/formalised IP agreement, economic potential/industrial application of the technology via a technology transfer to an existing company or via the creation of a JEI or start-up.
- 18-month project duration
- Identification of technological locks and unlocking keys during the maturation programme
Application Procedures
On an ongoing basis.
Applications for support must be submitted online via the Mes aides en ligne web platform at least 3 months before the start date of the proof-of-concept programme. The start date of the operation will be indicated by the scientific sponsor in the final application.
Find out more about the Region's financial aid.
PÉPITE ÉCRIN, the regional centre for promoting and supporting student entrepreneurship, is here to help you.
Are you a student or higher education graduate with an entrepreneurial project?
Pépite ÉCRIN offers support through two pathways to help you discover new opportunities, satisfy your curiosity, and enable you to discover, train, and turn your entrepreneurship ideas and projects into reality!
The 27th i-Lab Innovation Contest, part of the France 2030 plan and run by Bpifrance, aims to identify projects to set up innovative technology companies and support the best of them with financial assistance and tailored support.
Who Can Enter?
Any individual who has set up their own business within the last two years, or who is planning to set up an innovative technology company in France, regardless of their nationality, status, or professional situation, provided they meet the legal and regulatory requirements for setting up a company, may enter the competition.
What Type of Project Should be Submitted?
Creation-development projects can be submitted if they are technically, economically, and legally feasible and can lead, in the short term, to the creation of a company, or innovation projects carried out by companies that are less than two years old.
Selection Criteria
Projects submitted for the competition are assessed on the basis of their societal, technological, legal, intellectual property, financial, and commercial potential.
Projects are selected on the basis of the following main criteria:
- Innovative nature of the technology and established proof of concept
- Economic viability of the project
- Significant potential for development and value creation, including internationally
- Motivation, availability and ability of the applicant to create and develop a company, lead a team and forge partnerships
- The candidate's ability to get involved in the project
- Quality and complementarity of the team
- Control of intellectual property and third-party rights (particularly freedom to operate)
- Environmental impact of the project
- Societal impact of the project
- Integration of sustainability criteria into the design and implementation of the project
Financing
Eligible expenses, up to a maximum of €1M, are personnel, operating, or equipment expenses (depreciable value of the equipment over the duration of the financial support) directly linked to the research and development programme of the company created: project design and definition, intellectual property, market studies, feasibility studies, partner search, experimentation, development of new or improved products, processes or services, production and development of prototypes, mock-ups or pilots, consultancy, training and support services.
Funding takes the form of a grant of up to €600k.
How Do I Apply?
The rules of the competition and the application form, a model of which is compulsory, can be downloaded from the 'Documents to download' section at the top right-hand corner of this website. Documents must be submitted exclusively online via the Bpifrance submission platform: Picxel.
Deadline for submission: March 11, 2025 at 12 noon (Paris time).
i-PhD is a government innovation competition run by Bpifrance aimed at young researchers with a project to set up a company based on their research work.
Who Can Enter and What Kind of Project?
The competition is a precursor to the i-Lab and i-Nov innovation competitions, and is reserved for young doctors who wish to study a project to create a deeptech startup based on their research work.
- The 'Young Doctor' category is open to all doctoral students in the second year of their thesis or those who have completed their thesis within the last five years,
- 'Startup deeptech' is for projects to create companies based on research work. The expected projects are supported in their development by OTTs (Technology Transfer Organisations) or public research incubators (list available here). OTTs include organisations such as SATT (Sociétés d'Accélération du Transfert de Technologies) and national research bodies. Any young researcher wishing to apply to the i-PhD competition can contact Bpifrance if they need help in identifying the OTT to which they belong (at the following address i-phd@bpifrance.fr ).
How are the Winners Selected?
An initial eligibility review is carried out after the call for applications closes.
Eligible applications are then forwarded to the members of the i-PhD competition jury, made up of entrepreneurs, startup investment and support professionals, and people from the world of research.
The members of the jury can then discuss their ideas with the candidates during the oral phase of the i-PhD competition.
The assessment of the candidates will take into account the doctor's entrepreneurial motivation, the deeptech startup potential and the environmental impact of the project.
What are the Prizes?
The winners of the i-PhD competition receive a support programme combining individual and group coaching sessions, Learning Expeditions, and an insight into the deeptech ecosystem.
They also benefit from visibility for their projects and integration into the national network of winners of innovation competitions.
There is no cash component to the prize, or even financial compensation if the winner does not wish to benefit from the prize.
How Do I Apply?
Applications are accepted until May 16, 2025, 23:59, on the dedicated application platform on the Démarches Simplifiées website.
The aim of IDEA3 is to federate and encourage innovation through close links between DGA, the armed forces, and the local economic environment - SMEs, start-ups, laboratories, and major groups.
The 11th Parachute Brigade and ISAE-SUPAERO have signed a framework agreement for the development of innovative field UAVs. This charter will be broken down into specific agreements based on future research themes in the field of UAVs.
Student entrepreneurship is also supported within the Institute by the ISAE-SUPAERO ENTREPRENEURS student association.
