French government's Innovation Contest: a ceremony under the sign of acceleration

The Innovation Contests were created a few years ago to boost the development of innovative and tech companies born from the progress of cutting-edge French research. These contests focus on three complementary sections: i-PhD, i-Lab and i-Nov, which offer a funding continuum for innovative researchers and entrepreneurs, from the lab to business creation.

Improved communication for laureates and their projects

“A ceremony marked by acceleration.” This is the motto of the press kit presenting the event, which symbolised the actions of the French government to “turn France into a leading country in terms of innovative business creation and development with high tech content” by fostering, among others, eco, energy and food transition, and economy decarbonation.

To boost the emergence of major French champions abroad and foster entrepreneur spirit, the government’s Innovation Contests are now part of the France 2030 plan recompensing researchers and entrepreneurs over all the territory. The support from the government takes the form of a triple commitment: adapted funding, recognised certification and reinforced communication. This reinforced communication was the main objective of this laureates’ award ceremony for the different Innovation Contests.

237 laureates awarded in each category

Laureates were chosen in each of the three sections of the contest, and some of them even had the chance to see their project presented:

• in the i-PhD section launched in 2019 for young researchers, 50 projects (including 10 Grand Prizes) out of 113 files submitted were awarded this year. Each laureate will benefit from “visibility”, as well as a support programme to help them “accelerate their project”;
• in the i-Lab section, the competition which for 25 years has been promoting the results of public research through the creation of innovative technology companies, the panel of experts selected 79 laureates, including 10 Grand Prizes and a special mention from the jury, out of the 400 applications received;
• in the i-Nov section, which supports “innovation projects with particularly strong potential for the French economy, carried out by start-ups and SMEs, to encourage the emergence of leading companies with global reach”, 108 laureates were selected in areas such as the digital revolution, the ecological transition and health, for a total of €80m in funding.

Four themes defined for the new i-Nov competition

The ceremony also saw the announcement of wave 12 of the i-Nov competition, a continuation of previous waves. According to the website of BpiFrance, the public investment bank that manages these competitions, applications for the new wave of i-Nov are open until 27 September.

This competition of excellence, dedicated to single-partner innovative projects led by start-ups and SMEs registered in France, provides co-financing for research, development and innovation projects with a total cost of between €1m and €5m, and a duration of between 12 and 36 months. Winners of the i-Nov innovation competition can receive up to 45% of eligible expenditure. Subsidies are awarded on a flat-rate basis, broken down as follows: 75% grants and 25% repayable advances.

BpiFrance specifies that the project must fall within one of the following four themes:

• digital;
• health;
• transport, mobility, sustainable cities and buildings; and
• energy, resources and natural environments.

Explore more

- the award ceremony 

- Press release 

- the launch of the next i-Nov Contest