Audencia’s incubator: a catalyst for competences

Created in July 2003, the incubator offers its services to any Audencia student or alumnus wishing to start a company regardless of the sector of activity. Since its creation, the incubator has helped give life to 15 firms that are still in existence.

Mission

The incubator is a teaching tool that serves both students and alumni in order to:

• test an idea
• put theory into pratice
• ‘learn the profession’ of entrepreneur
• be enriched by the experiences of other entrepreneurs
• profit from the know-how of the incubator and its partners
• create entrepreneurial dynamics

The incubator allows user to benefit from a high-level of expertise thanks to:

• a specialist responsible for the incubator
• the mobilisation of several of the school’s members of faculty within this entrepreneurship and innovation activity
• the incubator’s partners (Atlanpôle, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nantes Métropole, investors, etc)

Up until now, around 50 projects have been examined, of which 30 have been presented before a committee and 28 accepted. 

The committee that opens the incubator’s doors

A committee evaluates the project’s professional and pedagogical aspects. Its recommendation is essential if a project is to access the incubator.

How to benefit from the incubator’s expertise

• Initial meetings with the specialist responsible for the incubator. The number of meetings is defined by the project’s level of maturity 
• Presentation of the project before the committee consisting of, amongst others, the dean, the director of company relations, the director of the student’s academic programme, a specialised member of faculty and one or more figures from outside the school who are active in the teaching of company creation and innovation.

If the project is accepted, it benefits from an 18-month coaching period.
The incubator offers these young entrepreneurs well-equipped offices on campus, the advice of an expert in the subject and access to the local networks involved in setting up a business. If not accepted the first time, the proposal can be revised and presented before the committee a second time. 

Amongst the incubator‘s successes are:

• Intuiti: agency for ‘natural’ referencing (SEO)
• touteaide.com employing 26 people in 19 locations
• Decami, an internet leisure platform resold by its creator at 400 times the level of initial investment.