Atlanpole initiative consolidates regional Deeptech support

As a leader of the Pays de la Loire network of technology hubs, Atlanpole has established a new joint consortium with Ouest Valorisation, the Technology Transfer Acceleration Company (SATT) to support deeptech startups in France’s Pays de la Loire region.

The new consortium was selected from all the national applications to the Bpifrance call for SIA [SATT – Incubator – Accelerator] projects, confirming the region’s leading role in Deeptech.

As well as supporting the creation and development of startups based on highly innovative Deeptech technologies, the aim of the SIA initiative is to encourage existing stakeholders within the regions to provide their own support for Deeptech companies. To this end, the state will provide financial support to the winners of the call for projects to help drive the creation and growth of Deeptech businesses and reinforce the support already on offer.

For over 20 years, innovative entrepreneurs have benefited from the expertise of Atlanpole and other regional technology hubs from the startup phase to the acceleration and growth phases. For example, the consortium is piloting the Ouest Valorisation post-seed fund and an intermediary for the French Tech Seed fund, and is the beneficiary of the French Ministry of Research, Higher Education and Innovation’s iLab schemes, as well as this same Ministry’s Regional Incubator label. With these new tools, which focus on the people at the heart of innovative projects, Deeptech entrepreneurs now have a complete range of tools at their disposal for safeguarding their innovative projects, from their inception to their growth.

Too few start-ups are growing beyond mid-cap companies despite the range of services proposed and increased funding from the public and private sectors. The identification of a project owner or pair (CEO/researcher), as well as structuring a mid-cap company management team, is still the weak point for many startups, and the leadership qualities of senior management are central to the success of a company. The challenge thus lies in establishing researcher/entrepreneur pairs, as well as improving the entrepreneur’s level of training, to enable them to manage the growth of their business.

The new Pays de la Loire consortium includes a dedicated team of experts focused on sourcing and identifying projects with researchers, and expertise based on over 30 years’ experience in providing certified support services internationally. It also offers access to advisors skilled in supporting business establishment, scale up and development, with dual expertise in science/technology and entrepreneurship and a corporate background. With region-wide links to all stakeholders in the academic research sector, a network of over 1,000 innovative companies based in innovation ecosystems and strong relationships with industrial networks and competitiveness clusters, the consortium is well equipped to grow the next generation of Deeptech startups. 

To find out more about how Atlanpole is supporting innovative regional companies, visit https://www.atlanpole.com/.