EPF Engineering School upholds its entrepreneurial core and inaugurates its incubator
Presentation.
Learning through experience. This philosophy alone encapsulates the approach and the core beliefs of EPF Engineering School. For almost a century, the school has promoted active learning and practical experimentation, fostering a strong entrepreneurial culture. This attracts student entrepreneurs and encourages the creation of businesses during or after studies.
A Place to Nurture the Ecosystem
To foster and support this ecosystem, EPF is inaugurating an incubator, a place that materializes the approach and catalyzes innovations and ideas. Located in Cachan, in the Île-de-France region, it accommodates alumni entrepreneurs on the ground floor. These graduates can stay, or return to the school, and benefit from the infrastructure to develop their projects: laboratories, technical platforms, prototyping workshops, etc. They will be supported by teachers, research professors, partners to assist them in financing, recruitment, accounting management, and legal affairs (BPI, Île-de-France Region, etc.), acceleration networks, and commercial and industrial contacts.
The first floor will be dedicated to student entrepreneurs. They will have a dedicated space to explore and challenge their ideas but also to welcome their first interns, employees, and clients.
"This sharing of space aims to encourage exchanges and collaborations. We are thus creating a virtuous ecosystem," summarizes Frédérick Baby Marinpouy, Director of the incubator but also an entrepreneur and EPF graduate. He himself was the first student entrepreneur of the school in 2018. "The status and support provided by the school allowed me to spend time on my company during internships and gap years. It was a real opportunity and decisive support. I also gained a lot of skills through these experiences, and I am convinced of the value of an incubator to save time and immediately head in the right direction," he adds.
Entrepreneurship and Empowerment of Women
In line with its history but also with the identified needs in the field, alongside business leaders, EPF has chosen to focus its support on female entrepreneurship. Thus, the incubator is accessible to companies led or co-led by women. "I met with alumni who started their own businesses. Through their stories, I understood the core values of the school and confirmed that the place of women is central. I also identified the difficulties related to female entrepreneurship: access to financing and the lack of credibility agreements. With Emmanuel Duflos, Director of EPF, we wanted to propose an incubator focused on female entrepreneurship. We consider business creation as a lever for empowerment and success in decision-making positions," details Frédérick Baby Marinpouy. This stance helps to shift paradigms and encourages project leaders to include women among their shareholders from the outset.
Other criteria are also considered, notably: the positive impact of the activity under development, the technical and economic viability of the project, and, for student entrepreneurs, the integration of academic skills and knowledge into the project.
Admissions are still being finalized. About ten applications from student entrepreneurs have been received, from both the bachelor and general engineering programs. Three alumni companies are expected to join the incubator, including We Dough, a company that offers raw cookie dough and American-style half-baked cookies, led by Emma Pinon, an EPF graduate.
