In an era characterized by rapid economic, environmental, and technological advancements, traditional management approaches fall short in addressing the complex challenges we face today.
To navigate this uncertain terrain and drive progress, a new breed of leaders — entrepreneurial minded individuals — must emerge. They must embrace innovative market exploration methods, harness cutting-edge technologies, and adopt novel business models.
ESSEC rises to meet the expectations of both companies and our diverse student body, young and seasoned professionals alike, with conviction and determination.
Our vision of entrepreneurship is anchored in shaping a society centered on:
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Harnessing technology for the betterment of humanity, leveraging deeptech and addressing the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence
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Fostering a more equitable and inclusive economy
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Upholding democratic values that respect diverse perspectives
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A sustainable society capable of developing on a large-scale efficient models that will meet planetary limits
Supported by numerous partners, ESSEC Business School guides, trains and connects entrepreneurs, whether they are students, alumni or managers looking for growth. ESSEC’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is the driving force behind the development of entrepreneurship, one of the school’s three strategic pillars.
 Cofounded by Guillaume Alary-Raisonnier (M08)
360Learning is the first Collaborative Learning platform. |
Cofounded by Guillaume Paoli (E96) Aramis Group is the European leader in online used car sales. |
Cofounded by François Roth (E12), Amaury Courbon (E12) and Alexandre Martin (E12). Colonies is a real estate operator specialized in co-living. |
Cofounded by Jonathan Cherki (E11) Contentsquare is a global leader in UX analytics. |
Cofounded by Jonathan Benassaya (MBA05) Deezer is a French music streaming platform launched in August 2007. |
Cofounded by Augustin Derville (M19) Electra is a European specialist in fast charging for electric vehicles. |
Cofounded by Clément Bonhomme (E11) Foodles is a user-friendly company canteens that provide environmentally-friendly gourmet food 24/7. |
Cofounded by Arnaud Delubac (M21) Greenly is a platform specialized in helping organizations reduce their carbon emissions. |
Cofounded by Adrien Ledoux (E06) Jobteaser is a French company that provides recruitment solutions. |
Cofounded by Jean Moreau (E17), Phenix is a French scale-up that supports companies in their efforts to reduce waste. |
Cofounded by Franck Annese (E00), So Press is an independent publishing house based in Paris. It publishes, among other titles, So Foot and Society. |
Cofounded by Tristan Maurel (E20) Umiami is a plant-based meat experts. |
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Cofounded by David Benhaïm (E18) wethenew is France’s # 1 platform to buy and sell new, authentic and limited sneakers and streetwear. |
Cofounded by Alexis Angot (E08), Ynsect is the global leader in the production of insect-based ingredients for animals, humans, and plants. |
At In-Lab Africa, we are determined to establish a center of innovation excellence, highlighting the wealth of African entrepreneurial potential. We are dedicated to nurturing creativity and encouraging entrepreneurship, seeking to bring about significant change in the economic fabric of our continent. Together, let’s shape a future where innovation and economic growth converge to propel Africa towards new horizons.
A key player in its region, the ESSEC Africa campus places entrepreneurship at the heart of its challenges. More than just an educational institution, the ESSEC Africa campus aims to design and develop tools to foster entrepreneurial ecosystems in Africa.
This is how In-Lab Africa, a center for innovation and entrepreneurship was born. In-Lab Africa aims to become a scout for entrepreneurial talent in Morocco and Africa, as well as the leading African platform for entrepreneurial content. It will also connect Pan-African ecosystems and open their doors to international ecosystems.
To this end, In-Lab Africa has defined the following objectives:
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To be an incubator for content and pedagogy. Through its In-Lab, ESSEC Africa seeks to support experts (professors, facilitators and students) in the production of new content and new pedagogical processes. They aim to disrupt the status quo in order to come up with the most innovative solutions. The work is carried out through focus groups, co-design seminars and workshops on the exchange ecosystem.
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To develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa. In-lab Africa aims to develop entrepreneurial solutions, prototypes and action plans for a more powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem. This will help fill the knowledge gap and provide a platform for African entrepreneurship experts to share their knowledge.
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To be a start-up accelerator. In-Lab Africa strives to be a true catalyst for youth entrepreneurship through the development of entrepreneurship programs and the design of customized toolkits for African entrepreneurs.
In practical terms, In-lab Africa manages two major projects:
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Business Enhancer, in partnership with Maroc PME: this program aims to identify outstanding entrepreneurs, raise awareness of entrepreneurship and support them in their entrepreneurial endeavors, from the ideation phase to the seed phase, through an incubation and acceleration process. Our approach is based on three main pillars: business expertise, a network of personalized coaches and access to pre-development financing.
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Innovative Women Lab in partnership, with the Union Nationale des Femmes du Maroc (UNFM): this program is supported by the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development. Its goal: to ensure that innovative women entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas can take the lead and make a difference. This pioneering six-month project is designed to provide academic, technical and financial support to young Moroccan women with innovative ideas and projects. It aims to improve the living conditions of the Kingdom’s most vulnerable populations.
The ESSEC Asia Pacific campus in Singapore has made entrepreneurship a strategic priority to both enrich the experience of our students in pre- and post-experience programs and contribute to the region’s dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The offer is based on two pillars:
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The ESSEC Ventures APAC program, which offers all our students a pre-incubation and incubation program for new business creation projects. As an extension of ESSEC Ventures in Europe, this program ensures the continuity of support for our entrepreneurial students pursuing their studies on our various campuses. In addition, it implements a specific mechanism for projects wishing to focus on the high-growth markets of Southeast Asia. The program also works with entrepreneurs-in-residence to coach our student entrepreneurs in their projects and share their experience during special events (Founder Talks) and lectures in the classes of our different programs.
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The Sustainable Impact Initiative, which offers education and research programs on ecological and social impact entrepreneurship. These programs connect our students with start-ups, universities and other institutional stakeholders in the regional ecosystem. The courses include hackathons (Create4Good in partnership with the Singapore University of Technology and Design) and an accelerator for regional start-ups with ecological and social impact. Research programs include collaborative projects with start-ups and associations, focused on impact issues (e.g. on the theme of Green Finance in partnership with Matcha Initiative) as well as academic research projects on entrepreneurial impact issues for solving major challenges and other complex environmental and social problems.
Would you like us to support you in your project to grow and enhance the impact of your solution?
Join the Antropia ESSEC business accelerator for non-profit organizations and social enterprises.
Founded in 2008, Antropia ESSEC is the first social enterprise business accelerator in France to be supported by a Grande École business school. Within ESSEC’s Center for Social and Ecological Innovation, Antropia ESSEC supports entrepreneurs who place maximizing their social and environmental impact at the heart of their concerns. A groundbreaking initiative, Antropia ESSEC demonstrates that social, environmental and economic factors are mutually reinforcing, helping to transform the economy as a whole towards a more inclusive and sustainable world.
Antropia ESSEC supports more than 550 project leaders throughout France in seven programs designed to support social entrepreneurs:
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Historically, at all stages of maturation: emergence; acceleration; scale-up; impact assessment.
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And increasingly in the deployment of unprecedented cooperative ventures with major private groups and local authorities, in the firm belief that working together is more effective, and that alliances need to be strengthened to ensure the successful transition of individuals, organizations and, more broadly, territories.
Join our ESSEC Momentum studio
In partnership with CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS and CEREMA, ESSEC is launching a new initiative: a Ventures Studio dedicated to deeptech start-ups and sustainable innovation. It brings together scientists with a mission and talented entrepreneurs with a specific goal in mind: develop radical, research-based technology companies with a commitment to expansion.
At the heart of this collaborative initiative, ESSEC brings its business expertise to bear, revealing the commercial strength of innovations and making them benchmarks in their markets. With our roots in the academic world, we have an avant-garde vision of emerging uses and new entrepreneurial practices.
The studio will address contemporary challenges such as sustainable energy, resource optimization, waste reduction and recycling, reducing pollution and gas emissions, biodiversity preservation and restoration, climate resilience, and improving quality of life.
This system, which has been tried and tested in various industries but never before implemented by an academic institution, considerably reduces the development time and failure rate of start-ups.
The result of a partnership between the Goldman Sachs Foundation and ESSEC Executive Education, 10,000 Small Businesses France, #10KSBFrance, is an acceleration program for French VSEs and SMEs aimed at fostering sustainable business growth, the resilience of business leaders and long-term job creation.
The program focuses on the levers that enable very small businesses to develop and implement a new growth strategy. The 70 participants in each class (two per year) benefit from both the pedagogical and material resources of ESSEC Executive Education and a contribution to training costs from the Goldman Sachs Foundation.
Building on the success of this program in the United States and the United Kingdom, 10,000 Small Businesses France, adapted to the French context, was rolled out in France in 2021. Since then, a total of 350 business leaders from all sectors and all over France have already benefited from this personalized coaching.
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