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Two ISAE-SUPAERO start-ups honoured at the GALAXIE 2025 Awards

Publication Date

26 November 2025

Category

Innovation

Tag

Award

InnovSpace

Startup

ISAE-SUPAERO shone at the 17ᵉ edition of the GALAXIE Awards, held on Monday 24 November at the Cité de l'espace, with a double distinction for two startups supported within InnovSpace. This major recognition illustrates the excellence and dynamism of our Institute's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

ELDA Technology - Public Prize 2025

The young start-up ELDA Technology has won the 2025 Public Prize for its innovative solution for managing ski areas. Using LiDAR data collected by drone, it produces environmental maps of unrivalled accuracy.
Congratulations to Charlotte Brenac, Julie Aubert and Nicolas Guibal on this promising achievement.

Zero Industries - Graine d'Étoile 2025 prize

The Graine d'Étoile 2025 prize was awarded to Zero Industries, which is developing a vision-based navigation algorithm that enables military drones to maintain their trajectory even when conventional systems are jammed.
Congratulations to Frederico Baptista, João Gonçalo Silva and Alvaro Patricio for this strategic technological advance.

A source of pride for our Institute

What a source of pride! At ISAE-SUPAERO we have some truly golden talents and unrivalled support. These awards testify to the quality of our entrepreneurial ecosystem and our ability to transform technological innovation into industrial success.

Marie-Hélène Baroux President of ISAE-SUPAERO

The Institute would also like to thank Agnès Plagneux-Bertrand, Vice-President of Toulouse Métropole, for her support during the ceremony.

About Club GALAXIE

Founded in 2001, the GALAXIE Club brings together around a hundred leaders in the space industry in the Occitanie region, representing over 35,000 jobs. A key player in the French space ecosystem, it supports innovation, promotes synergies between sectors and supports the development of space entrepreneurship.

These two awards testify to the vitality of the Toulouse ecosystem and confirm ISAE-SUPAERO's role as a driving force in the creation and support of high-impact deeptech start-ups.

Congratulations to the winners and every success in their entrepreneurial adventures! 🚀

Interview with Frederico Baptista, co-founder of Zéro, a startup recently incubated by ISAE-SUPAERO

Publication Date

17 October 2025

Category

Innovation

Tag

Aerospace

Incubator

Innovation

Startup

Zero, a startup created by three aerospace engineers and recently incubated by ISAE-SUPAERO, offers a visual positioning system for drones designed to operate in environments without GPS.

Could you tell us about the genesis of Zéro?

We are three aerospace engineers who met and became best friends in Lisbon, during our degree studies (degree in aerospace engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico de Lisboa). We soon realised that we formed an extremely complementary and efficient team, to the extent that we always worked together on all our group projects.

It even led us to create a popular science and technology podcast – Zero Absoluto – which met with some success in Portugal. That’s where the name of our start-up comes from.

After graduating, each of them went on to do a Masters at a different university: João Silva went to TU Delft, Álvaro Patrício to Sapienza Università di Roma, and I to ISAE-SUPAERO. Once we had finished our studies, we got together to work on a project that was to become Zero Industries: a visual positioning system (VPS) for drones, designed to operate in environments without GPS, particularly in the context of modern conflicts.

We had the opportunity to present our first concept prototype in Warsaw to military players and the response was extremely positive. It was a turning point: we understood the urgency and the real need for this technology. It was at that point that we decided to seek funding to turn our vision into reality.

Today, we are proud to be backed by two major European venture capital funds – Project Europe and Heartfelt_ – while being incubated at ISAE-SUPAERO.

Could you tell us about your innovation?

Our innovation is a Visual Positioning System (VPS) that allows a drone to navigate completely autonomously without relying on GPS.

In today’s conflict zones, GPS signals are often scrambled or falsified, leaving drones vulnerable and unable to navigate properly. Our solution uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to enable the drone to determine its exact position in real time, even in the most complex and contested environments.

What makes our technology unique is that it is lightweight, fast and designed to run directly on embedded systems, without any external infrastructure. As a result, it offers reliable navigation for critical defence and security missions, directly in the field.

What are your short- and long-term development plans?

In the short term (next 18 months):

Our aim is to move from TRL 5 (Technology validated in a relevant environment) to TRL 9 (Real system proven in an operational environment), by developing a complete product ready for use in real-life conditions.

This involves

Integrating our VPS on several UAV platforms, to demonstrate its compatibility and versatility.
Carrying out field tests with our partners in the defence sector to validate operational performance.
Optimising our algorithms to make them faster, more accurate and more robust, while guaranteeing that they operate in real time on embedded systems.

Long term (3 to 5 years):

Our vision is to become the benchmark supplier of intelligent systems for defence, offering plug-and-play solutions that bring intelligence to UAVs and other military assets.

In concrete terms, our technology does not consist in manufacturing the drone or the platform itself, but in providing what makes them intelligent:

Real-time target identification and tracking,
Precision last-mile targeting and guidance,
Autonomous navigation without GPS, even in highly contested environments.

Our approach can be compared to that of Waymo in relation to Tesla in the field of autonomous vehicles: Tesla designs the vehicle in its entirety, whereas Waymo only provides the system that makes a vehicle autonomous.

In the same way, Zero focuses on the intelligence layer, so that any drone or military asset can become an autonomous and effective tool without relying on GPS.

Eventually, we will be able to extend our scope to other sectors, such as ground robotics, logistics, urban mobility and search and rescue operations, where autonomous navigation and advanced perception are also crucial.

Why did you set up the company in Toulouse and not in Portugal?

Toulouse is one of the world’s centres of innovation in aeronautics and defence. By locating here, we benefit from a rich ecosystem of major manufacturers, cutting-edge research laboratories and specialist talent.

What’s more, France offers a highly favourable environment for deeptech and defence start-ups, with public and private schemes that actively support innovation and the development of strategic technologies.

Portugal remains very important to us personally and professionally, but Toulouse offers the ideal conditions to accelerate the development and industrialisation of our solution.

What does the ISAE-SUPAERO incubator offer you? How are you supported?

The ISAE-SUPAERO incubator plays a key role in our development. It provides us with: Access to infrastructure and research laboratories to test and improve our technology.
Contacts with experts, mentors and decision-makers in the aerospace and defence industry.
A network of partners and potential customers in France and abroad.
Support with the strategic, legal and financial aspects of setting up a deeptech start-up.

Over and above the material resources, this incubator enables us to be at the heart of innovation, to make rapid progress and to be anchored in an ecosystem that shares our ambitions.

New start-up arrivals on campus :

IRIS Lab: IRIS LAB is developing a wireless laser power transmission technology.
Orbsync : Development of a docking system for assembling large systems and setting up energy supply stations (fuel and electricity) in space. OrbSync is a young start-up created by Msc MAE students of Indian origin, and a prototype is currently being developed.
Flyte : Flyte is an Android and iOS application offering a car-sharing service based on trust. Flyte breaks with the codes of traditional car-sharing by offering journeys and proximity between members of the same community, within a framework of trust, comfort and spontaneity. Created by two 3A students at ISAE-SUPAERO (year 2025-26), Flyte has already achieved convincing results(https://www.appflyte.fr/) and was successfully implemented for the Raid ISAE and the AirExpo 2025 exhibition.
Tilt-Wing: Design of a VTOL using a tandem tilt-wing configuration and a blown flap mechanism.
RavenGuard: The start-up RAVENGUARD was set up by two MS IEM 2025 graduates in response to the need to preserve human lives on the battlefield. It is developing a portable short-range drone detection system. Technical support is provided by a teacher-researcher from ISAE-SUPAERO and a prototype is currently being produced at InnovSpace, with initial results encouraging. The defence and security markets are being targeted.
Convergence AI: Companies are facing a major challenge: transforming data into useful insights for making business decisions. Convergence AI, a start-up created by an ISAE-SUPAERO 2016 alumnus, offers an LLM-based product that enables companies to interact with their databases in natural language without having to go through data analysts or write SQL queries.
Mantha: Mantha is a young start-up created in 2023 by a graduate of ISAE SUPAERO's Specialised Masters in Systems Engineering, with more than 20 years' experience in the aeronautical industry. The company is developing a new fuel cell architecture for on-board applications that saves space, weight and power.
Oxyvidia: The result of a partnership between a research laboratory at ISAE-SUPAERO and the CNRS, Oxyvidia offers a digital twin of cells for measuring oxidative stress in the body. This technology, developed by a teacher-researcher from ISAE-SUPAERO, a teacher-researcher from the CNRS and a doctor in neuroscience from ISAE-SUPAERO, is aimed at health professionals, academic institutions, the pharmaceutical industry and professional sports.

First edition of the Occitanie Talent Marketplace fair

Publication Date

22 July 2025

Category

Innovation

Tag

Entrepreneurship

Fair

Innovation

Promoting multidisciplinarity and the growth of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem

Organised in partnership with IMT Mines Albi-Carmaux, TBS Education, Toulouse INP-ENSEEIHT, theUniversityof Toulouse, the Pôle Universitaire d’Innovation (UT-PUI), as well as the Occitanie Region and Toulouse Tech Transfer, this event aims to meet the growing recruitment needs of startups, while promoting multidisciplinarity and the growth of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The concept? To provide a unique platform for start-ups incubated in the region’s higher education establishments to meet and recruit talent from other Toulouse schools.

The aim is to match the human resources of higher education institutions with the needs of startups.

One day / Two programmes

Exhibitor/startup programme

A rich and varied series of conferences

9.10am – 9.30am: Legal and contractual issues, with Catherine Youssoupov – NUBBO ;
9.30am – 9.50am: recruitment processes/skills assessments, with Hervé Simonot, CEO, co-founder – Cabinet Lapérouse;
9h50 – 10h10 : how to define your “boardadvisor”- BPI’s recruitment tools (Tandem/ Tango), with Valentin POUX, Innovation Business Manager – Aveyron Lot Tarn Delegation – BPI France;
10.10am – 10.30am: “APEC actions and the Start-up shaker programme”, with Corinne SAURAT, Business Consultant, Occitanie Regional Office – APEC;
10.30am – 10.50am: HR in startups, with Frank Barrault, Corporate Relations Officer – France Travail.

Programme for the general public

Open from 1pm to 5pm, the Occitanie Talent Marketplace will be an opportunity for the public to find out about local start-up projects and job opportunities.

A lever for innovation and collaboration

The event has a number of strategic objectives for the regional ecosystem:

Promoting multidisciplinarity among start-ups: By bringing together start-ups with talent from a variety of academic backgrounds, the event encourages a more comprehensive and varied approach to solving entrepreneurial challenges.
Improving mutual knowledge of skills and talents: Toulouse schools will have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the expertise and talent available in other establishments, facilitating smoother and more effective collaboration.
Strengthening the regional roots of start-ups: By promoting links between start-ups and local resources, the Occitanie Talent Marketplace aims to consolidate the position of companies in the economic fabric of the Occitanie region, thereby stimulating growth and innovation.

Startups: recruit the talent of tomorrow!

Are you a start-up coming out of a regional higher education incubator and looking to enrich your teams with top-level talent? Don't miss the opportunity to take part in the Occitanie Talent Marketplace! It's the perfect opportunity to meet students and recent graduates from a range of institutions in Toulouse, ready to help your project succeed. Join us to discuss your recruitment needs and discover the skills that will make the difference to your growth.

Contact: innov-up@isae-supaero.fr

Information and registration

Star Launcher programme: a new defence boot camp organised at ISAE-SUPAERO

Publication Date

10 October 2024

Category

Innovation

Tag

Defence

Entrepreneurship

Incubator

InnovSpace

Startup

Last week’s event attracted almost 80 participants over the course of the day!

2024 Star Launcher Bootcamps

The event began with a number of conferences on the theme of defence, featuring some of the biggest names in the sector:

“Defence innovation”, by EUROGROUP Consulting with Michael Agbohouto and Adeline TARAVELLA
“Presentation of the DGA” by Olivier Trelcat
“Financing mechanisms for defence innovation”, by the Defence Innovation Agency with Xavier Itard
“NATO funding mechanisms” by Hervé Skenderoff from AID
“Defense Angels presentation by Eric Marti

A speed-meeting with speakers from the defence sector and start-ups supported by the Star Launcher programme was then held in the Institute’s Innovspace. It was a day packed with presentations and discussions on the ways in which defence innovation can be supported, enabling the Institute to make a tangible contribution to stimulating defence innovation in the aerospace sector.

2024 Star Launcher Bootcamps – MHB

Marie-Hélène Baroux, Managing Director, was present to support the role of the Institute, now recognised as a key player in the innovation ecosystem:

The Innovspace is now a regional incubator, and ISAE-SUPAERO’s involvement in the “Lanceur d’étoiles” consortium is encouraging the development of deeptech start-ups in the ASD sector in Toulouse!

The “Lanceur d’étoiles” start-up support scheme
Launcher d’étoiles is a consortium of thirteen national and regional partners with expertise in ASD and the creation of deep-tech start-ups (universities, national organisations, SATTs, regional incubators and accelerators). Its mission is to guide and help project leaders to develop their innovative technologies into value-creating start-ups.

This programme is run and coordinated by Toulouse Tech Transfer on behalf of its partners, under the impetus of the University of Toulouse. It is supported by the PUI UT Innovation, one of the key actions of which is to stimulate the creation of deeptech start-ups by providing tailor-made support for project leaders.

To find out more about the Star Launcher support scheme and the start-ups it hosts, see the press kit.

At ISAE-SUPAERO, innovation is :

At the heart of our strategy
One of the three fundamental pillars of our COP 2022-2026, alongside education and research

ISAE-SUPAERO and Safran inaugurate an innovation chair to train the engineers of tomorrow

Publication Date

02 October 2024

Category

Innovation

Tag

Chair

Company

Ingénieur généraliste (MSc)

Partnership

Safran, an international high-technology group operating in the aerospace and defence sectors, is strengthening its partnership with ISAE-SUPAERO by creating, with the support of the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation, a sponsorship chair focusing on innovation: “Innovating in a world in transition”. The aim of this three-year chair is to support the training of engineers capable of innovating in a world in transition.

Safran shares with ISAE-SUPAERO and its Foundation the desire to promote academic excellence and industrial innovation in the aerospace sector. This partnership enables us to strengthen our ties, contribute to the emergence of new skills, and support ambitious projects that meet the challenges of the future. Safran is proud to have supported the creation of this Chair, thereby helping to train the talent of tomorrow and drive forward key innovations for the future of the sector.
Eric Dalbiès – Group Executive Vice President, Strategy, Technology and Innovation, Safran

A Chair to meet the challenges facing the sector

The challenges facing the aeronautics and space sectors, such as the energy transition, New Space and digitalisation, mean that there is a growing need for accomplished professionals with the capacity to innovate. The aim is to combine the technical and methodological skills of engineers with the know-how that is essential for innovation (creativity, teamwork, customer approach, etc.) to enable them to become genuine agents of change.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are strategic pillars of ISAE-SUPAERO. On campus, students, doctoral candidates and teacher-researchers can take advantage of InnovSpace, an open, well-equipped space to create, develop and support their projects. In partnership with Safran and our Foundation, the Innovation Chair is a real springboard for taking this dynamic further.
Romain Buquet and François du Cluzel – ISAE-SUPAERO referents for this collaboration

The chair has three main focuses

Training

The Chair will provide financial support by awarding two excellence scholarships each year to promising young professionals so that they can join the Advanced Masters® in Innovation Entrepreneurship & Management (MS IEM). It will provide support for teaching experiments, study trips for students and support for the hosting and international mobility of professors, researchers and innovation experts.

The Foundation is delighted that this agreement marks the start of a new collaboration with Safran, based on a shared vision of training the innovative engineers of tomorrow. In addition to accelerating ISAE-SUPAERO’s innovation drive, the Chair has a strong social dimension, notably through scholarships that support young people embarking on their entrepreneurial adventure by covering part of their living expenses.
Agnès Trincal – Director of the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation

Support

This involves putting young entrepreneurs in touch with renowned experts through a series of conferences and workshops.

Start-up

The Chair also provides two start-up and life grants to young graduates of one of the ISAE-SUPAERO courses. Thanks to these grants, project leaders incubated in the Institute’s InnovSpace will be able to mature their project and give it a new dimension by joining the Advanced Masters® in Innovation Entrepreneurship & Management.

Projects relating to aeronautics, space, decarbonisation and sovereignty, as well as the behavioural skills of candidates and the maturity of existing projects, are all assets in the selection of candidates.

This new chair is an opportunity to perpetuate the relationship between Safran and ISAE-SUPAERO, which is already linked by technical partnerships and previously by the AEGIS chair dedicated to innovative propulsion systems for the next generation of aircraft!

Training innovative engineers: entrepreneurial spirit blows through ISAE-SUPAERO courses

Publication Date

22 July 2024

Category

Innovation

Tag

Entrepreneurship

Incubator

Programme

Startup

Eight weeks immersed in an ecosystem of start-ups and a project to pitch at the end to convince investors.

No, we’re not talking about a business school course, but an optional module that can be taken in the 2nd year of the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering course. This year, ten students set their sights on this business creation course. They had two months to set up an entrepreneurial project in the field of data, at IoT Valley. With the possibility of transforming it into a start-up within InnovSpace, the Institute’s incubator.

As a research and training institute, two years ago ISAE-SUPAERO made innovation one of its third pillars. InnovSpace, the Institute’s fablab, has been transformed into an incubator for entrepreneurial projects led by its community. At the same time, ISAE-SUPAERO has incorporated training modules devoted to innovation and entrepreneurship into its curricula. This includes the elective module “Setting up a business creation project”.

An evolution in line with market aspirations

“Companies in our ecosystem are looking to recruit engineers who are committed, creative, autonomous and have a ‘market’ approach,” explains Romain Buquet, professor in charge of innovation and entrepreneurship at ISAE-SUPAERO. “As for our students, they have a real appetite for innovation.”

Born into a family of engineers, but with a background in business, this former creator of high-impact start-ups has been in charge of the entrepreneurship and innovation courses for the past two years. His credo is an innovative approach to teaching. A simulation of “Who wants to be my partner?” with a real coach and a panel of judges from the M6 programme, pitches to (fake) investors with (fake) money… any idea is good enough to pass on to engineering students his taste for entrepreneurship.

A mini-entrepreneurial adventure in 1A

This year marked a new stage, with the integration of an entrepreneurial challenge called Problem Solvers into the core curriculum of the engineering course, starting in the first year. In groups of four, the 217 engineering students had four weeks to create a business project based on a problem raised by an alumni. “The problems were not necessarily related to aerospace and they had to go and interview professionals to put together a credible project”, explains Romain Buquet.

Throughout their mini-entrepreneurial adventure, the students received coaching and met inspiring speakers. To achieve this, Romain Buquet mobilised both the Institute’s alumni community and speakers from a wide range of backgrounds. “No fewer than 105 different professionals took part in this challenge”, he notes. His aim? For the students to have fun! And they did. The winners received a trip to Paris to meet investors and, why not, continue their entrepreneurial adventure.

An MS to “train transformative leaders”

From the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, Romain Buquet will also be in charge of the new Specialised Masters® IEM (Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Management)*. This course is accessible after a Master’s degree and is open to profiles other than engineers, even though it has a strong technological dimension. “The unique proposition of this course is to train transformative leaders capable of understanding both the market and the technology”, he explains. “In other words, they must master the technology and know the industry like an engineer, while at the same time demonstrating the business acumen and capacity for innovation of an entrepreneur.”

And Romain Buquet recalls the expertise and specificity of ISAE-SUPAERO in this area: “Among the four French industrial start-ups with unicorn status – those valued at more than 1 billion dollars – three were created by alumni of the Institute”.

* The MS IEM replaces the MS MGPIE (Management of Innovative Projects & Entrepreneurship).

In 2022, innovation, the Institute’s third pillar, has taken on a new dimension at ISAE-SUPAERO. My arrival as a permanent teacher in charge of innovation and entrepreneurship is concrete proof of this. I’ve been able to start drawing on my dual experience as an entrepreneur (INCO, Impact Campus, Virvolt) and as a teacher-researcher (ESCP Business School doctorate, teaching at the École Polytechnique, etc.) to design and run top-quality training courses on these subjects, drawing on inspiring speakers and cutting-edge partners such as IoT Valley.
Romain Buquet – Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at ISAE-SUPAERO

Bastien Fabre, from Iris Lab: “Thanks to the innovative ecosystem at ISAE-SUPAERO, we realised that creating a start-up was possible!”

Publication Date

16 July 2024

Category

Innovation

Tag

Entrepreneurship

Incubator

Startup

Meeting with Bastien Fabre

You set up Iris Lab while you were still students on the engineering course at ISAE-SUPAERO. What role did the Institute play in your desire to set up your own business?

As students, we already had the idea of becoming entrepreneurs. But at first, we didn’t see ourselves doing it straight after school… And then, being immersed in the ISAE-SUPAERO innovation ecosystem, we said to ourselves that it was possible! We started thinking seriously about it during our Final Year Project (PIE). There were three of us on the project at the time. Nicolas and I were able to bring it to fruition by creating our start-up, which was initially housed at ISAE-SUPAERO’s InnovSpace. We also benefited from the Lanceur d’Étoiles scheme [see box]. Finally, we received financial support from the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation, the Alumni Association and extracurricular grants. The Institute and its ecosystems really helped us to create our start-up, and we’d like to thank them for that!

The technology you have developed is directly inspired by the knowledge you acquired at ISAE-SUPAERO. Can you explain how?

Our starting point was the observation that autonomous systems, such as logistics robots or drones, currently have very limited autonomy, and we set out to develop a wireless recharging technology. The idea came to us during our space studies at ISAE-SUPAERO, because space requires autonomous systems. We were fascinated by Space Based Solar Power, a technology that is currently the stuff of science fiction, but would enable us to harvest energy in space. Iris Lab’s project is to develop a technology for the wireless transmission of power by optical flow.

2024 seems to be the year for Iris Lab, which has been named one of Challenges magazine's "100 start-ups to invest in". How far has the start-up got in its development?

We’ve joined Agoranov, a Paris-based incubator specialising in deep tech, and are in the process of developing our second prototype. At the same time, we’re part of the Entrepreneur First S24 cohort at Station F. We want to start raising €3 million to launch pre-production with an industrial partner and finance the recruitment of engineers. The idea is to bring this pre-production model to market by 2025-2026. We have also recruited a CTO (Chief Technical Officer), Lakshman Srinivasan, who has a background in photovoltaic research, and interns. As for the award in Challenges, it was a great boost. Thanks to it, Iris Lab has gained both visibility and credibility.

What advice would you give to students who want to become entrepreneurs?

Let them try! And talk to entrepreneurs. When we were students, we got a lot of help from David Henri, the founder of Exotrail. Having the support and advice of someone who has been through the same thing and faced similar problems makes things easier!

The founders of Iris Lab

Nicolas Bourliatoux, 25: CEO (Chief Executive Officer), a graduate of the ISAE-SUPAERO 2023 engineering programme specialising in Automation; internship at Exotrail and ArianeGroup.
Bastien Fabre, 26: COO (Chief Operating Officer), a graduate of the ISAE-SUPAERO 2023 engineering programme specialising in Fluid Mechanics, with a double degree from HEC specialising in Finance.

Star Launcher, an initiative of ISAE-SUPAERO

The Lanceur d’étoiles (Star Launcher) scheme, which ISAE-SUPAERO helped to create, was publicly launched in March 2023. The aim of this consortium is to encourage the emergence and development of deep-tech start-ups in the aeronautics, space and defence sectors in the Toulouse Academy. It offers free, tailor-made support to beneficiary start-ups for a period of 3 to 18 months to boost their projects. ISAE-SUPAERO plays a major role in this, with six of the seven start-ups supported from 2022 coming from its ranks.

Meeting with Joseph Risson, engineering student and winner of a scholarship for his Viraj H2 project

Publication Date

18 December 2023

Category

Innovation

Tag

Entrepreneurship

InnovSpace

Startup

Testimonial

Meeting with Joseph Risson

Joseph Risson is in his 3rd year of the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering programme, specialising in Fluid Dynamics and Aircraft Design and Operation. And he’s already at the head of an innovative start-up. A keen aeromodeller and concerned by the challenges of tomorrow’s world, he has already led a number of innovative projects during his studies aimed at decarbonising aviation. Viraj H2 is the latest. Spotted by the Lopez-Loreta Foundation in Switzerland, Joseph and his partner Paul de Goÿs have been awarded €1m to continue their research into this innovative propulsion system. We met Joseph Risson at InnovSpace, where he “spends his time” and where the start-up Viraj H2 is based.

What added value is Viraj H2 seeking to bring to the carbon-free propulsion systems already being studied in the aviation sector?

There are two main hydrogen propulsion technologies: direct combustion (turboprop/turbofan) and the fuel cell. Our aim is to combine the advantages of each of the two technologies: the power density of the turboprop and the efficiency of the fuel cell, so as to optimise the propulsion system according to the phase of flight and the mission. The second added value of this hybridisation consists in recovering the steam from the battery and injecting it into the turbine. This will reduce NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions from the turboprop and increase the efficiency and power density of the powertrain.

What did ISAE-SUPAERO offer you in terms of training and support in developing this project?

During my studies, the theoretical courses enabled me to acquire a lot of knowledge and the technical clubs to carry out technical projects, which is a real plus! For these various projects, which led to Viraj H2, we benefited from the Institute’s research facilities. For the purchase of components, we received financial support from the BDE and the Fondation ISAE-SUPAERO. And now that we’re developing our start-up, we’re being looked after by InnovSpace, the Institute’s incubator, which provides us with accommodation and support for our development.

How will the Lopez-Loreta grant help you to bring your innovation to fruition?

It gives us the means to move from a low-power prototype to a structured research and development phase within three partner laboratories: the Laplace laboratory (Plasma and Energy Conversion Laboratory), the IMFT (Toulouse Institute of Fluid Mechanics) and ISAE-SUPAERO. We estimate that this maturation phase will take around four years. Engineers will be recruited and two theses will be prepared. The aim is to evaluate the benefits of this propulsion system and to develop the first prototypes.

ISAE-SUPAERO officially becomes an incubator

Publication Date

11 December 2023

Category

Innovation

Tag

Entrepreneurship

Startup

Presentation

Over the last few years, ISAE-SUPAERO has developed a range of services and comprehensive support for its project leaders (students, doctoral students, lecturers and alumni), which has earned it the title of incubator.

From now on, the Institute will have privileged access to all the RéSO IP+ events, to the sharing of best practices and to the expertise needed to support start-ups.

ISAE-SUPAERO will also be able to benefit from direct access to Créalia (business financing assistance), as well as its financing (without a probationary period). ISAE-SUPAERO is officially a promoter of honorary loans for its start-ups, which will accelerate their development. Créalia thus gives the Institute the authority to select, identify and direct candidates for loans of honour without further ado. Honorary loans enable start-ups to be financed under particularly advantageous conditions (zero-interest personal loan/no equity stake, etc.).

"spark the future": a new label for ISAE-SUPAERO start-ups

A guarantee of excellence and passion, the “We spark the future” label’s primary aim is to create a common identity and unite all the companies founded by the ISAE-SUPAERO community: alumni, students, teacher-researchers and staff.
It also reflects the Institute’s values of excellence and passion.

This label is officially awarded to each new company that emerges from ISAE-SUPAERO and meets the Institute’s own entrepreneurial criteria: it must be in the field of impact deep tech and concern the Aeronautics / Space / Defence domains.

“We spark the future”: a new label for ISAE-SUPAERO startups

Publication Date

02 October 2023

Category

Innovation

Tag

Entrepreneurship

Startup

Enhancing the innovation dynamic

ISAE-SUPAERO aims to develop a spirit of innovation, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship among its students, and to support the creation of businesses within its community.

A department is mainly dedicated to this activity and is involved in several areas:

Identifying problems to be solved, providing students and lecturers with ideas and identifying potential solutions;
Selecting projects with the potential to create value;
Supporting project leaders from the training stage through to the transformation of the idea into a business, by providing personalised advice, organising visits by technical and business experts, and encouraging local networking with investors, partners, customers, beta testers, etc.
Planning, by teaching innovators to develop a strategic vision for the development of their business.

A few figures:

24 entrepreneurial projects supported per year
10 or so deep-tech start-ups hosted on campus
More than 200 training courses given each year to innovative project leaders
Nearly 1,400 hours/year of “innovation and entrepreneurship” courses in engineering, masters and Specialised Masters® programmes
More than 400 active members in our fablab, InnovSpace
+170 start-ups created by alumni

We spark the future" label

The “We spark the future” label, a guarantee of excellence and passion

The primary purpose of the “We spark the future” label is to create a common identity and unite all the companies founded by the ISAE-SUPAERO community: alumni, students, teachers-researchers and staff.

It also reflects the Institute’s values of excellence and passion.

They have been awarded the “WE SPARK THE FUTURE” label:

ALPHA Impulsion
Hybrid self-destructing launcher capable of destroying 95% of the rocket at its destination.
DYCSYT
Software for modelling/controlling vibrations/oscillations of flexible panels deployed on satellites
ELDA Technology
GIS web platform for processing drone data to optimise snowmaking in ski areas
SNAPACCESS
Software and hardware solution that facilitates infrastructure access management for professionals
SPACEFLIGHT INSTITUTE
Training centre for future commercial astronauts
TACITA Dynamics
Vibration and shock damping strategy
Viraj H2
Development of a hybrid powertrain using fuel cells

Testimonials from our start-ups

The 'We Spark the Future' label gives us much more than just a label; it provides us with valuable support, visibility, networking opportunities and expertise that light our way to success.

Charlotte Brenac COO - ELDA TECHNOLOGY

We Spark the Future' enables us to benefit from ISAE-SUPAERO's reputation for excellence, while making it easier to find partners and integrate into the start-up ecosystem.

Anne-Alice Faure SNAPACCESS

As "new entrants to a market", start-ups sometimes suffer from an image deficit and find it difficult to promote their expertise in the face of competition. For a DeepTech start-up like TACITA Dynamics, the image of ISAE-SUPAERO and its 'We spark the future' start-up label brings a measure of credibility that helps us to convince our contacts: partners, customers or even financial backers.

François Dorgeret CEO - Tacita Dynamics

Alumni & entrepreneurship: a few success stories

Exotec, France’s first industrial unicorn, Verkor, which has just raised a record €2 billion for its electric battery gigafactory, and Beyond Aero, Ascendence Flight and Blue Spirit Aero, which have just been selected as among the first 9 winners of the France 2030 call for projects “Producing low-carbon aircraft in France”.

Two ISAE-SUPAERO start-ups honoured at the GALAXIE 2025 Awards

ELDA Technology - Public Prize 2025

Zero Industries - Graine d'Étoile 2025 prize

A source of pride for our Institute

About Club GALAXIE

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Could you tell us about the genesis of Zéro?

Could you tell us about your innovation?

What are your short- and long-term development plans?

Why did you set up the company in Toulouse and not in Portugal?

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New start-up arrivals on campus :

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Last week’s event attracted almost 80 participants over the course of the day!

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The chair has three main focuses

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* The MS IEM replaces the MS MGPIE (Management of Innovative Projects & Entrepreneurship).

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Bastien Fabre, from Iris Lab: “Thanks to the innovative ecosystem at ISAE-SUPAERO, we realised that creating a start-up was possible!”

Meeting with Bastien Fabre

You set up Iris Lab while you were still students on the engineering course at ISAE-SUPAERO. What role did the Institute play in your desire to set up your own business?

The technology you have developed is directly inspired by the knowledge you acquired at ISAE-SUPAERO. Can you explain how?

2024 seems to be the year for Iris Lab, which has been named one of Challenges magazine's "100 start-ups to invest in". How far has the start-up got in its development?

What advice would you give to students who want to become entrepreneurs?

The founders of Iris Lab

Star Launcher, an initiative of ISAE-SUPAERO

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Meeting with Joseph Risson, engineering student and winner of a scholarship for his Viraj H2 project

Meeting with Joseph Risson

What added value is Viraj H2 seeking to bring to the carbon-free propulsion systems already being studied in the aviation sector?

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How will the Lopez-Loreta grant help you to bring your innovation to fruition?

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ISAE-SUPAERO officially becomes an incubator

Presentation

"spark the future": a new label for ISAE-SUPAERO start-ups

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“We spark the future”: a new label for ISAE-SUPAERO startups

Enhancing the innovation dynamic

We spark the future" label

Testimonials from our start-ups

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