NEOMA BS has three incubators located on its three campuses (Rouen, Reims, Paris). Its primary objective is to support project leaders and provide them with all the necessary resources to get started with peace of mind. Business Cool takes you behind the scenes of this essential system for entrepreneurs from NEOMA.
Everything you need to know about the NEOMA BS Parisian incubator
NEOMA BS Incubator supports project leaders from the moment they find their idea until their first fundraising. In order to be incubated, one of the founders must be a student or graduate of the school.
The business school supports its students on three campuses (Rouen, Reims, Paris). The Paris branch has just moved into NEOMA’s new premises, rue Vandrezanne. It is a structure of more than 100m² dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovation. Its role is to encourage students to follow this vocation and to support them in carrying out their projects.
“At NEOMA Business School, innovation is more than just one word. It is a true state of mind that we share with our students, our graduates and our entire community. Our Incubators clearly reflect this desire to be part of this movement, to explore the ocean of possibilities and bring our ambitions to life. It’s a great adventure in which we are happy to support young companies to guide them towards success”underlines Denis Gallot, director of the NEOMA BS Startup Lab.
Big names have come out of the NEOMA incubator, such as:
- Quitoque (150,000 meal baskets delivered each week)
- Ollca (2.3 million euros raised since 2011)
- Nachos (3.3 million turnover in 2018)
- La Minut’rit (more than 17 franchises in France)
- CleverConnect (more than 120 employees)
- Ulysse (1.3 million euros raised in 2019)
The main stages of the entrepreneur at NEOMA
Step #1: First contact. If you are a student or graduate of the school, you can at any time take contact with the school’s incubator to present your idea, whether you are at the market research stage or simply at the very beginning of your thinking.
Step #2: Pre-incubation. Following contact with the NEOMA incubator, you will have access to pre-incubation. At this stage of the process, you will have to validate your offer and compare it to the market. This involves carrying out studies on the market potential to arrive at a more or less refined project. You will have access to the following different services: personalized coaching, events, competitions, network, etc.
Step #3: Incubation. At this level, the project generally transforms into a real startup. At this stage, the project leader has studied all the strategic aspects, HR, marketing, technical, web, legal, etc. A model or product is already developed and is ready to be launched.
The services associated with this step are as follows:
- Equipped premises
- Personalized coaching
- Support program composed of relevant training alongside professionals
- “Experts-in-residence”: meetings with business experts
- Web Lab: Web development unit involving engineering students from partner establishments to develop websites and applications
- Mentoring with experienced graduate business leaders
- Events dedicated to meeting local partners from the world of entrepreneurship and innovation
- DEMO DAY: pitches and meetings with investors
- International study trips to the heart of the cradles of innovation
How are the selections made to access the NEOMA incubator?
The selection of entrepreneurs is made by a jury made up of experienced entrepreneurs and former graduates of the school who have had entrepreneurial experience. Startups are required to pitch their idea in five minutes (not a second more), followed by ten minutes of questions. The members of the jury take 10 minutes to deliberate and decide whether they accept the project or not.
The selected projects will be able to benefit from a network of experts to facilitate their financing and fundraising. They will also be able to have access to quality legal, technical and financial services.
Before the final appearance before the members of the jury, the managers of the Paris and Rouen incubators, Jean-Maxime Guedel and Safir Hanafi (both graduates and incubated by the school), dedicated an entire morning to attend the pitches of the entrepreneurs and give them the latest advice to put all the chances on their side during the final presentation. It is mainly about training in advance, to prepare yourself and learn from your mistakes. It is also an exercise that calls on collective intelligence to perform as well as possible in front of the jury in the afternoon.
Projects aiming to be hosted by the NEOMA incubator
There are two categories of support once the startup is incubated:
START : the project is still in the ideation phase. Entrepreneurs therefore need in-depth support on issues such as turnover growth.
SCALE : project leaders need more in-depth support focused on strategic issues.
Below, you will find the list of startups present this November 3 for the major selections by the jury of the NEOMA BS incubator in Paris:
| START | Obydo | Allows companies to easily give a second life to their unsold items through auctions or donations to associations. “Our unsold goods of today are our resources of tomorrow. » |
| START | Charlinès Cosmetics | Startup dedicated to organic, vegan and upcycled cosmetics. The products are designed by recovering unused fruits and vegetables in order to combat waste. |
| START | Train’Box | Recycling of containers in fitness rooms. |
| SCALE | Deliverone | Innovative system for delivering defibrillators by drone during life-threatening emergencies. |
| SCALE | ESCOCAFÉ | Grand cru coffee from Colombia. |
| SCALE | Sail&Cook | Cruises that combine the pleasures of navigation with culinary discoveries. Sports and sensory experience: “gastronomic” |
| SCALE | EAT’Z | Digital and dynamic cards for restaurateurs. |
| START | GiveABet | The future “Twitch” of sports bettors. A platform based on mutual aid and kindness. |
Advice from the NEOMA incubator coaches
Jean-Maxime Guedel and Safir Hanafi had the role of challenging the entrepreneurs and asking them questions that they would not necessarily have thought of, but also giving them advice on the structure of their pitch or their presentation. Above all, they alerted certain entrepreneurs to the fact that they had to focus on the product and its operation, much more than on the theoretical part. “You must sell the dream to the members of the jury and show them who will carry out this project by adding flavor to it. credibility“, underlines one of the two managers.
They also insisted that entrepreneurs should not neglect the “price” part: “We are in a capitalist world, the members of the jury will want to position themselves in relation to the competition and have a clear idea of the budgets. »
Entrepreneurs were full of good ideas, they were simply required to highlight the properties of their services and products, without getting lost in too theoretical or quantitative details. Their biggest challenge remains making the project practical in order to make the jury dream while immersing them in the world of business.
