Do you have an innovative project idea

or a start-up incorporated after November 1st, 2017?

If you  wish to work on the  French market and establish your  business  East of Paris, 'Cite Descartes' sustainable city cluster don't hesitate to submit an application to our 

8^th call for projects to join Incubateur Descartes!

Timeline:

• 14/10/2019: launch of the call for projects
• 18/11/2019: deadline for application online
• 25/11/2019: preselection
• 05/12/2019: pitch for the finalists.

3 topics of interest:

The competition will reward, as a priority, any innovative project falling under one of our topics of interest, namely:

• Cities of tomorrow: all projects having an application field in the urban area on themes such as, environmentally friendly construction (innovative materials and construction methods for innovative rehabilitation, innovative eco-design approaches, sustainable renovation, etc.), better use of resources (energy co-generation, smart grid and renewable energy, circular economy, recycling economy, water management, waste recycling, urban agriculture, ...), transportation and smart mobility (soft mobility, inter-modal travel, smart parking and smart road, solution for the logistics of the last kilometre, access to heritage and tourism resources, ...), smart city (urban monitoring, connected buildings, intelligent street furniture, risk management, ...).

• New digital services: all innovative projects based on the use of emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence approaches - including AI PaaS solutions - Artificial Intelligence Platform As A Service -, immersive realities, blockchain, the Internet of Things, big data processing, robotics and cobotics, cybersecurity, network infrastructure, cloud computing etc.), that can contribute to the creation of new digital uses.

• Health and Society : all innovative projects aimed at improving the quality of life, enabling older people to age in the best possible conditions (digital prevention tools, robotics and cobotics applied to medicine, new generation prostheses and implants, simplified diagnostic solutions and optimised medical monitoring, creation of connected medical devices, digital technologies for the training of health professionals, etc.).

Prizes

• Financial support up to € 60,000 in the form of an interest-free loan, with a limit of € 20,000 per project partner. This support can be granted upon approval by the financing committee of the FUTURE pre-seed fund, “Initiative Grandes Ecoles Universites” (IGEU). A pre-incubation or incubation period of a few months is necessary before being able to apply for this funding;
• ERDF grants, awarded after an ad hoc funding application, to cover the costs of non-technical external intellectual services;
• Hosting in a 3000 sq meters brand new building, “Maison de l'Entreprise Innovante”, where some 70 startups of various maturity levels are based;
• A personalised coaching at each stage of your project development by a team of professionals and mentors;
• An intensive integration bootcamp animated both by incubator staff and external experts, plus a regular workshop programme to enhance your entrepreneurial competencies;
• Free access to Fablab Descartes for prototyping;
• Partnership opportunities with the partners of our innovation ecosystem including technology platforms, experimentation facilities, see https://www.dcube-paris.com/en/ for the cluster portal, or with public financiers, service providers at negotiated rates and access to market opportunities with local cluster companies.

Visit our website for your online application platform:

https://www.incubateur-descartes.com/contest/

The full CFP regulation is only available in French, though your application can be submitted in English and you can pitch in English. You will have to speak French at some point to access the French market.

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Pre-selection criteria:

• Legitimacy, the idea has a solid foundation
• Desirability, the market expresses strong needs
• Acceptability, innovation will be able to fit in the existing ecosystem
• Feasibility, the offer meets the needs and expectations of the market
• Viability, the business model is viable, the value proposition is strong.

Pitch evaluation criteria:

• Human dimension: involvement and founders’ profiles, skills of the team and motivation for the creation and development of the company
• Technical and intellectual property dimension: innovation protection strategy, RDI programme
• Market dimension: economic impact and monetization perspective
• Territorial dimension and job creation: desire to set up your startup “Maison de l'Entreprise Innovante” located “Cite Descartes”, sustainable city cluster East of Paris, cooperation perspective with cluster stakeholders, job creation in the medium term;
• Administrative dimension: quality of the online application file and of the presentation to the jury, consistency of resources vs expenses (financials).