From Research to Start-Up: Just One Step Away

In January 2019, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) launched RISE, a support programme managed by its Innovation department to assist start-ups making use of innovations and technologies developed in its laboratories. This programme, designed to help researchers with their entrepreneurial projects, is a perfect example of the increasingly close links between the worlds of research and start-ups. More and more researchers are turning to entrepreneurship with the aim of using their knowledge and skills to support concrete causes and projects.

Building stronger links between research and start-ups

The 1999 Allègre Law on innovation and research initiated this movement to bring public research and the private sector closer together. Since then, public policies have sought to create and strengthen bridges between universities, the research community and businesses, particularly start-ups. The objective is to encourage researchers to become entrepreneurs and help bring French research to market.

To achieve this, an entire ecosystem of organisations has developed across the country, supported and encouraged by public authorities. Universities in particular have invested significantly to enable students to launch projects while still studying. Numerous networks and platforms, such as the CNRS RISE programme, have also been developed in France to help young researchers develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

This is notably the case with Technology Transfer Acceleration Companies, known as SATTs, which are part of this movement. The SATT network, supported by Bpifrance, promotes the transfer of technologies between public research and the private sector. These organisations make it easier for companies and start-ups to access innovations resulting from French research. SATTs also allow entrepreneurs to work with a single point of contact when looking for a technology or negotiating the use of intellectual property rights.

Incubators have also become essential platforms for entrepreneurs. Whether public or private, they help start-ups grow and develop by facilitating access to public research, providing funding for market studies or sharing networks of contacts that can support their development.

However, a distinction must be made between public, non-profit incubators, whose legal framework was introduced in 1999 through the law mentioned above, and private incubators, which aim to generate a financial return.

The French government, Bpifrance, universities, incubators and many other organisations are all working to support technological innovation by giving entrepreneurs better access to public research. The objective is to make France a pioneering country in scientific entrepreneurship.

New types of entrepreneurs

As enthusiasm grows and more bridges are built between research and entrepreneurship, new types of entrepreneurs are beginning to emerge: young people from academic backgrounds who choose entrepreneurship rather than a traditional research career.

A change in mindset is taking place among researchers. Previous generations were often more focused on pursuing careers in pure research, with the ambition of publishing in the most prestigious journals and gaining recognition from their peers. Newer generations place greater importance on finding meaning in their careers.

Whereas researchers once tended to wait until the age of 40 or 50 before embarking on a practical project, the new generation is turning to entrepreneurship much earlier. Some postdoctoral researchers are launching tangible projects almost immediately after completing their academic training.

Aware of today’s social and environmental challenges, this new generation wants its innovations and projects to have a genuine impact on the world around them. This is one of the core principles of deep tech, which is attracting more and more young people.

However, developing a start-up remains complex, particularly in the case of a deep-tech start-up with its own specific characteristics: longer development timelines and a significant need for funding due to R&D phases that are often much longer than average.

Although these new entrepreneur profiles are experts in research and development, they do not always have all the skills required to structure a business project. Commercialisation, go-to-market strategy and other business-related issues are crucial for start-ups.

They therefore have two main options: recruit and partner with people who have commercial expertise, or join incubators and accelerators that can support them in areas that may be outside their field of expertise.

This is why many scientific entrepreneurs choose to partner with people from business schools or with MBA graduates, helping ensure that they do not become so absorbed in the technical project that they lose sight of the ultimate goal: building a viable business.

Conversely, entrepreneurs who do not have sufficient scientific expertise may choose to partner with a scientific profile capable of establishing a coherent R&D roadmap and acting as a link with scientific teams.

France has chosen to invest in scientific entrepreneurship. Aware of the strength of its academic and university ecosystem, the country aims to become a leader in this field. It is therefore encouraging young researchers to take action and become entrepreneurs by making the transition from university and research to start-ups and entrepreneurship easier.