PACA EST Incubator

The Paca-Est Incubator is dedicated to promoting the creation of innovative companies that have grown out of or linked to public sector research.

To this end, the incubator opens its doors to project initiators aiming to create businesses. It offers support and a wide range of services targeted both at individuals and groups (training sessions and so on), as well as premises and financial support to be repaid where the business is successful.

Under French Law (Association Law 1901), the incubator does not own any capital in the future company.

The Paca-Est Incubator is dedicated to promoting the creation of innovative companies that have grown out of or linked to public sector research.

To this end, the incubator opens its doors to project initiators aiming to create businesses. It offers support and a wide range of services targeted both at individuals and groups (training sessions and so on), as well as premises and financial support to be repaid where the business is successful.

Under French Law (Association Law 1901), the incubator does not own any capital in the future company.

Project selection

The incubator is dedicated to supporting project initiators aiming to create innovative businesses.

Support is available to candidates of all profiles (researchers, employees, students, job seekers and so on).

Main project selection criteria

• The project's innovative nature: the technology, concept or service the project proposes must be innovative.
• Public sector body or research laboratory backing: the incubator accepts proposals that have come out of public sector research (based on technology developed within a laboratory or public sector research institution) or projects which can be linked to public sector research (through the use of a licence or a partnership between the future business and a research laboratory).
• Location in the Alpes-Maritimes or the Var departments: the incubator supports proposals from project initiators who locate their company in the area.
• A maximum of six months after the creation of the company: generally speaking the incubator takes on proposals for companies not yet established but leeway is given where a company's articles of association have been filed during the six months preceding application.

Once these four criteria have been met, the project initiator can meet with one of our account managers for a preliminary analysis of the project.

Following this meeting and prior to acceptance of the proposal, the project manager may ask you to fill out a 'Project Proposal', a sort of mini business plan.

This important step will allow you to formalise your business idea, to think further down the road and ask yourself the fundamental questions about its development (offer, market, distribution channels, competition, intellectual property, financial requirements and so on).

The proposal will then be presented before a selection committee.

The selection committee meets approximately every two months and includes experts with complementary skills in different areas (technology, economics, finance and so on) as well as creators and leaders of innovative businesses. The committee may also draw on experts chosen according to the proposals under consideration.

If the selection committee gives the go-ahead, the proposal enters the pre-incubation phase.

It is then presented to the incubator's board, which makes a definitive decision and a provisional budget allocation. This allocation is repayable if the project succeeds and is used to fund multiple services for the project.

Account manager support

The account manager is the project initiator’s main contact person throughout the incubation period.

From the first meeting, the project manager will help you ask the right questions and will offer an analysis of the project from an outside perspective.

Once the project has entered incubation, the account manager will meet with you regularly in order to track the project's progress and provide you with an individualised feedback.

The account manager also acts as an intermediary, and according to your needs and the needs of the project, facilitates contact with other members of our network.

The account manager is at your disposal to advise you on the key project stages. If you're in doubt, he/she will help you prepare applications for funding, for patents and so on.

The account manager will also be there to guide you when building your team.

International development

The Paca-Est Incubator is committed to providing SoftLanding support for its startups to help in their development abroad.

To this end, the Paca-Est Incubator and its partners make use of and take part in different programs enabling them to propose several destinations to startups.

The Paca-Est Incubator, member of the EBN Softlanding Program (EBN): in partnership with the RETIS network, EBN assists its Business Innovation Centre (BIC) members in consolidating a network that focuses on international development in Europe. Sharing their skills and making them available, BIC partners receive those companies being offered support in their target destinations.

For the PACA region, the members of Paca Innovation participating in the EBN SoftLanding program coordinate their actions for greater cohesion and efficiency, both in receiving foreign companies and supporting local companies in their efforts to develop internationally.

In addition to the steps currently under development, the Paca-Est Incubator has already begun work in this direction. A collaboration has been established with the University of South Florida and an incubated company is setting up a subsidiary in the dynamic area of Central Florida, the "High Tech Corridor”. Through this collaboration, the company can better reach the U.S. market while taking advantage of the medical expertise available in the university laboratories.

Training, repayable advance, premises

An estimated incubation budget is defined when the project enters incubation.

This allocation is used to finance project initiator requests for services offered by external providers. Only services specific to the project are taken out of this allocation.

A training programme is established for each year according to the needs of the various projects in incubation: sales and marketing training, fund raising strategies, communication, recruitment and so on.

Training may be in groups (paid for by the incubator, with a small contribution requested from projects) or individual (deducted from the project’s overall budget), depending on requirements.

Based on the needs of the project, the incubator team may call on external service providers for topics such as developing a market study, setting up a website and communication materials, drafting and filing a patent, etc.

Subject to availability, the incubator may also offer project premises and logistics support. The incubator has several offices in the Alpes-Maritimes department (furniture, internet access, phone, etc.) and helps projects enter other support structures, following incubation (Nice Côte d’Azur, Cré@TVT Toulon, Grasse and Chateauneuf de Grasse).