Built with the CentraleSupélec alumni community, this fund is in line with the School’s entrepreneurial DNA, which has led to numerous international success stories.
– CentraleSupélec Venture’s mission is to finance innovation in the broadest sense of the term, with a particular focus on deeptech, healthcare, and industrial and environmental transitions.
– With a funding target of 25 startups, the fund complements CentraleSupélec’s existing support and acceleration programs.
Paris, May 10, 2023 – CentraleSupélec today unveils CentraleSupélec Venture, its early-stage fund created by the School and its alumni. Having just completed its first closing, and aiming for a final target of €25M for the beginning of 2024, this new investment structure completes a rich support system for entrepreneurs.
A strong entrepreneurial DNA
With entrepreneurship in its genes, the School has been a pioneer in this field on several occasions, being for example the first engineering school to set up an incubator as early as 2000.
With the support of its Foundation, CentraleSupélec is now developing a broad program to support innovation and entrepreneurship with a societal dimension, 21st by CentraleSupélec: grants, loans, business and scientific coaching, mentoring, experimentation areas, fablab, etc. CentraleSupélec alumni have an impressive track record in business creation, both in France and abroad.
Today, CentraleSupélec Venture will support startups with at least one co-founder from the École’s community: graduates, post-docs, masters, PhDs, researchers from the École’s laboratories, etc.
With the desire to invest in innovation in the broadest sense, the fund will pay particular attention to deeptech projects, health, and industrial and environmental transitions, by injecting initial tickets ranging from €150,000 to €500,000 in the seed phases, and this, in any geographical area.
“With a strong focus on innovation and deeptech, CentraleSupélec Venture will make it possible to finance projects related to the institution’s strategic challenges: the environmental transition, health and industrial sovereignty. This fund completes an already rich support system for entrepreneurship, structured around the 21st innovation and support program,” says Romain Soubeyran, CentraleSupélec’s Director General.
A virtuous relationship between the School and the alumni
This investment structure is the embodiment of a virtuous marriage between the School and its alumni. The School offers alumni a new opportunity to get involved with CentraleSupélec. By investing in this fund, they are contributing to the future success of these
companies in the form of a venture capital investment. This is in addition to any other commitments they may have to the School, such as their contribution to the Foundation.
The CentraleSupélec Foundation and the CentraleSupélec Alumni Association are also subscribers to the fund and, by law, receive half of the carried interest. By allowing them to benefit from a significant part of the value creation, the fund wishes to strengthen the School’s resources and influence in order to create a virtuous circle beneficial to its entire ecosystem.
“Building an environment conducive to entrepreneurial development around its alumni can only strengthen the school’s aura. We, the CentraleSupélec alumni, are helping it to acquire all the resources it needs to shine in France and abroad. The fund will now spearhead this strategy, placing disruptive innovations at the heart of this new chapter.said Jean-Marc Patouillaud and Pierre Martini, both CentraleSupélec alumni, who launched this initiative pro bono.
Operationally, the fund will be managed by a team led by Cédric Curtil, who has a wealth of experience in funds, large groups and start-ups. The fund will benefit from the School’s exceptional wealth of skills: 18 research laboratories, 4,000 students, including more than 1,000 who are made aware of entrepreneurship every year, 100 projects and startups supported every year, from the opportunity stage to scale-up, and hundreds of startups developed on all continents by alumni.
