Booster de l'innovation Montpellier: the innovation gas pedal!

From October 2 to 4, 2024, the University of Montpellier, leader of the Montpellier University Innovation Cluster, brought together ten innovative project leaders for a new session of the Montpellier Innovation Booster (BIM). At the end of three days of intensive training, this year's candidates will have until October 20, 2024 to submit their project and try to secure funding to propel their innovation forward.

For three days, BIM participants received intensive training in project structuring and valorization, intellectual property, fund-raising and entrepreneurship. With the help of students from Montpellier Management's (MOMA) Master 2 " Accompagnement à l'entrepreneuriat " program, coaches from the Pôle universitaire d'innovation present at the event, the BIM participants were able to learn how to structure and promote their projects .1the BIM team and the innovation consultancy hired for the occasion, each project leader was able to work on the development of his or her innovative project and on their pitch, before the final presentation to the jury of experts.

David Virieux, leader of the Cure CMT project (new therapeutic target for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease) and researcher at the ICGM, was one of the candidates in this new session. " The students helped us simplify our presentation to make it more accessible during the pitch session, which was a challenge for me. The advice on structuring an innovative project or on the risks associated with my scientific field will also be very useful for the future. "

Exceptional financing of 120,000 euros

The jury for this year's BIM was made up of : Gaspard Lepine,INRAE 's "Pôles Universitaires d'Innovation" project manager; Christophe Bonnel, hospital practitioner and head of theinnovation extractor at Montpellier University Hospital; Thanh Nguyen, head of the contracts office at the UM's Department of Innovation and Partnerships (Dipa); Raphael Girardin, head of entrepreneurship at theInstitut agro Montpellier, and current coach on the M6 TV show "Qui veut être mon associé"; Cyril Peyré, head of the business support and cross-functional innovation project management department (Dipa); Maylisse Seba, manager of Startup Dealflow at CNRS Innovation; and Laurent Biasetti, head of partnerships at Satt AxLR.

The winners will be announced in December, and this year will benefit from exceptional funding of €120,000. The Montpellier Innovation Booster continues to assert itself as a major springboard for innovators, offering them concrete tools to transform their ideas into viable projects, with a tangible impact on society.

The Booster innovation Montpellier (BIM), set up in 2020, is one of the actions of the Pôle universitaire innovation (PUI) aimed at detecting and supporting emerging innovative projects. Since its inception, the BIM has funded 19 projects to a total of €476,900.

  1. Agence Ad'Occ, IRD, Agro vallée incubation, Satt AxLR, Incubateur Initium, Direction de l'innovation et des partenariats de l'Université de Montpellier, CNRS