Impact of Pépite: what effects on students-entrepreneurs?

Pépite France is network bringing together the Pépite (Pôles étudiants pour l’innovation, le transfert et l’entrepreneuriat, Student centres for innovation, transfer and entrepreneurship) present on all the French network, and was created in 2014 by the ministry of higher education and research. In 10 years, the network has supported over 40,000 students in training or young graduates in their entrepreneurship project. For the 10th anniversary, the network has led a study to hundreds of students it had supported throughout their entrepreneurship project.

Highlight on a pool of talents

The Pépite poll, exclusively in French so far, is entitled “Les effets du dispositif d’accompagnement du réseau Pépite France sur les Étudiants-Entrepreneurs” (Impacts of the Pépite France network support mechanism on Students-Entrepreneurs), the Pépite poll is a national-wide study achieved in 2023 by four teachers-researchers. This is the first national-wide study of its kind about the concrete effects of support granted to students-entrepreneurs as part of the Statut national d’étudiant-entrepreneur mechanism (SNEE, National Status of Student-Entrepreneur). The SNEE is designed for students in training course or young graduates. It’s a “mechanism of learning through action” aiming at a double objective: developing the entrepreneurship skills of students and support the construction of their entrepreneurship project. The offer of services offered to students-entrepreneurs “links together coworking and personal support, workshops and networking with experts and stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem”.

The study also has an “exploratory dimension” providing a first image of the impacts from the mechanism, both in terms of business creation than in development of entrepreneurship skills and/or intention to learn. It also brings “a highlight on the pool of talents, skills and projects improving the entrepreneurship capital on our territories”.

Encouraging teachings

The poll starts with an observation: participants to the poll are in majority “men at master and engineer level”. Most of students-entrepreneurs are indeed students or graduates in master’s course in universities, engineering schools and business schools. But there is an overrepresentation of engineers. Conversely, though women stand for 56% of students in higher education, they are underrepresented among participants (42%).

Beyond this representativity, several major teachings may be drawn from the summary of the Pépite poll:

• strong satisfaction from students-entrepreneurs for the work achieved by Pépite networks, which sharply increased: the number of students-entrepreneurs increased from 76% (in 2016) to 94% this year. Reasons for satisfaction include “the construction, analysis and transformation of projects, but also the implementation, development of entrepreneurial skills and improvement of the credibility of the project”;
• a true booster for company creation: 30% of participants have created an active company at the time of the poll (almost as many women as men), with an average 2.4 jobs per company. Participants create their business mainly during the time when they are supported and just after.
• commitment for participants in their business project (for 70%). And support through the Pépite mechanism continues beyond a first university year for 20% of respondents, “because of the complexity, the time necessary to their development, and the determination of students-entrepreneurs to receive support on the long term”;
• an inclusion of social and environmental stakes. The study also shows that students-entrepreneurs are the starting point of a significant number of company creations that have weight because of the jobs created, but also “through their innovative nature and their social and environmental impact”. More precisely, 69% of all companies created have a social and environmental goal;
• a deep desire to create more businesses in the future for 92% of students-entrepreneurs. Because, as the study says, the “support mechanism doesn’t focus exclusively on projects, it is first and foremost a support mechanism for the student”.

Examples of successful entrepreneurship adventures

In addition to the results of the poll, the Pépite network presents five winners of the Pépite des Pépite prize. According to organisers, this challenge “put the highlights on entrepreneurship through five amazing stories of innovation and inspiration” from the Pépite France network. At the heart of this initiative, “a critical mission: to show that students-entrepreneurs adventures are not limited to the Pépite programme, but grows over time”.

Participants to the challenge are former students-entrepreneurs who embody “the vitality and singularity” of their company. The five winners of the Pépites des Pépite prize 2024 are a proof of “innovation and social transformation through their projects”. They are:

• Lucile Derly, President and co-founder of Arterya, developing Blood’Up, revolutionary medical equipment of instant artery detection;
• Thaddée Caron, co-founder of Athana, offering a portable cryotherapy solution “to instantly and naturally ease hot flushes”;
• Romain Dhenin, general director of Bioteos using micro-algae to purify the air and fight pollution;
• Manon Pagnucco, general director of PimpUp, committed to “save one million ton of food from waste” by offering “anti-waste” food baskets;
• Sylvain Deplace, Director of products and technology of TOLV, providing decarbonation solutions of professional vehicle fleets.

And the Pépite network concludes by saying that by highlighting these exceptional careers, the winners of the Pépite des Pépites prize 2024 show “the deep and positive impact that young entrepreneurs may have on our society”.

Explore more

- on the national-wide poll of Pépite France

- on the Pépites des Pépite prize