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HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

Ranked among Europe’s Top 10 start-up hubs (Financial Times, 2026), the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) empowers founders and innovators tackling today’s major economic, scientific, and societal challenges.

The Institute brings together entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, corporates, mentors, students and faculty in one of Europe’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems. Its mission: turn ideas into impact, accelerate science-based innovation from lab to market, and support founders driving technological and societal transformation.

Because entrepreneurship is never one-size-fits-all, the Institute offers tailored pathways adapted to each project’s stage, ambition and industry. In 2024, it supported 599 ventures. Over the past five years, startups from the HEC ecosystem have raised €16.5 billion, including €1.9B last year. With a global network of 1,000+ experts and mentors, it delivers high-caliber guidance through its three centers of expertise: : Incubation & Acceleration, Deep Tech and Social Entrepreneurship.

HEC alumni have founded 16 unicorns worldwide, 14 still active today, a strong marker of the Institute’s lasting impact on European innovation. Entrepreneurship is both a personal journey and a force for change. Its mantra, "Make it happen, Make it BIG", aligns with HEC Paris's mission in order to support entrepreneurs determined to build high-impact solutions.

Read the 2024 activity report

Last Articles

Tom & Josette: Reinventing childcare through intergenerational micro-nurseries

Astrid Parmentier and Pauline Faivre co-founded an intergenerational model of nurseries located in retirement homes to address the issues of capacity and recruitment in the early childhood and elderly care sectors.

HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

La maison de la Conversation: Here we treat the ailment of the century!

Isolation, mistrust, social fracture: loneliness is the crisis of our time. Xavier Cazard turns it into a lever for social cohesion and public health, fostering conversation between citizens, one neighborhood at a time.

Emma France, HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

Cognitii: The AI Platform Tackling the Special Education Gap

Based in India, winner of the 2025 WomenEntrepreneurs4Good pitch contest, Cognitii is building a global infrastructure to support neurodiverse children through AI.

HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

Veeton: Reinventing Fashion Visuals With AI

Flore Lestrade and her cofounders turned a fast-growing need for fashion visuals into a scalable AI solution adopted by major retail brands.
 

HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

Genomines: Producing Nickel with Plants, Not Mines

Fabien Koutchekian and Dali Rashid turned botanical science into a scalable, low‑carbon alternative to traditional mining

HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

Neurobus: Bringing Frugal AI to Defense and Aerospace

Florian Corgnou turned a career shaped by engineering, entrepreneurship and multiple HEC Paris programs into a deeptech venture delivering ultra-efficient AI for drones, satellites, and defense applications.

HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute

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