A new ESA Business Incubation Centre opened last Thursday in northern France to help entrepreneurs to start 75 new companies developing non-space services and applications from space technology and satellite data
“We are happy to welcome this new ESA business incubation centre – ESA BIC Nord France – to our Europe-wide network of incubators supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups to create new jobs and businesses by spinning off Europe’s investments in space research and development,” said ESA Director General Jan Woerner at the opening of the centre 28 June, at the Toulouse Space Show.
“One of the central roles of Europe’s space programmes is to improve the quality of life on Earth”.
“By making our knowledge and technology available to innovative entrepreneurs through our Technology Transfer Programme and its business incubation centres we have already fostered over 600 new companies in Europe, creating thousands of new high-tech jobs throughout Europe.”
At the opening the Ouest BIC Technopole President Jean-François Balducchi said, “12 years ago as EBN President I had the pleasure to sign an agreement with ESA giving birth to the concept of ESA BICs.
“Thanks to ESA, and to Bruno Naulais here today from ESA, for deciding for a network-based incubation process rather than a single incubator. Since then, the skills capitalized in the EBN network among more than 200 professional BICs have definitely proved to be a major asset with respect to ESA objectives in terms of valorization and applications of space-born technologies to several different other fields. That’s is why I am honored to represent today the latest ESA BIC: ESA BIC Nord France, which will consistently complement an already impressive series of successful ESA BICs all over Europe.”
The new ESA BIC Nord France is managed by Ouest BIC Technopoles, in association with ASTech Paris Region Cluster and CNES. Ouest BIC Technopoles is an association of Technopoles and the business innovation centres in the Brittany and Pays de la Loire regions.
It will provide assistance to 15 start-ups each year over the coming five years.
Partners across six regions in northern France will provide incubation facilities in Brest at Technopôle Brest Iroise (Brittany), in Caen at Normandie Incubation (Normandy), in Lille at eurotechnologies (Hauts-de-France), at Nantes with Atlanpole (Pays de la Loire), in Paris with Val d’Oise Technopole (Île-de-France) and at Troyes with Technopole de l`Aube en Champagne (Grand Est).
The start-ups selected will be hosted at the existing business incubators in six regions. In addition to receiving financial support they will both get technical and business assistance to help turn their ideas into viable companies.
Watch the following video for the presentations by some of ESA BIC Nord France partners