Entrepreneurship and Digital Innovation HEC–TUM
Summer Program
Participants will gain a sound understanding of how digital transformation is impacting industry and the key challenges of digital projects. The skills and mindset acquired will enable you to move from an idea to a startup project.
WHERE & WHEN?
June 29 - July 10, Summer 2026
The program will be held at the TUM School of Management, Campus Heilbronn, Germany.
The first week will be taught by TUM faculty and the second week by HEC faculty.
Applications are now OPEN for Summer 2026.
Information Session
Join us to discover how two of Europe’s leading institutions - HEC Paris and Technical University of Munich (TUM) - have joined forces to create this unique Summer Program. The Recruitment Manager from HEC Paris will be joined by the Program Manager from TUM Campus Heilbronn for a webinar on Tuesday March 3rd @ 12.30pm Paris time to introduce the program, walk you through the practicalities and answer your questions.
About the program
Digital innovation is disrupting our way of life, our social relations, and the economy at an ever-increasing pace. It is now at the heart of the dynamics of business creation and industry transformation. The Entrepreneurship and Digital Innovation Summer Program is designed for participants who have:
- A curiosity for new business models;
- An aspiration to work in a group to imagine the value proposition of a digital project;
- The desire to experiment and challenge themselves.
The objective of this 2-week program is to immerse participants in two essential dimensions of digital innovation: start-up entrepreneurship and industrial transformation.
Digital tools are transforming the way a business project is developed. The phases of understanding the market, identifying user problems, ideation, testing a new offer, iteration and launch have been profoundly modified thanks to the new creation methods and digital tools now available.
During the first week taught by TUM faculty (Technische Universität München), we will introduce and discuss cases and examples of digital transformation and technological innovation to industries such as healthcare or retail. Participants will work in groups to find solutions to challenges in digital transformation proposed by business managers.
During the second week taught by HEC Paris faculty, participants will discover the fundamentals of digital entrepreneurship, ranging from the skills needed, methods applied, and tools used, to move from an idea to a startup project. The dynamic learning approach includes a learning-by-doing pedagogy with a conceptual contribution, thanks to class sessions with inspiring examples shared through testimonies and team workshops.
- Created and taught by leading HEC Paris - TUM professors
- Accessible to students of all backgrounds who wish to learn more about entrepreneurship and digital innovation
- Unparalleled opportunity to collaborate with diverse peers as part of student work groups
- Real life experience: opportunity to present your project to renowned professionals
- Dual certificate from leading partner institutions: HEC Paris and TUM
Why TUM Campus Heilbronn?
Our partner school for this program, TUM School of Management at TUM Campus Heilbronn, is located in southwest Germany and represents one of the most ambitious higher education projects in the country. The region is rapidly becoming a hub for AI research, development, and commercialization, anchored by the currently built European AI Hub (IPAI). It features a unique innovation ecosystem, with a strong start-up network and close ties to the German Mittelstand and global market leaders in the Heilbronn-Franconia region.
Read more about the vibrant community in Heilbronn at the foot of this page.
The room buzzes with creativity from day one. Professors encourage us not just to generate ideas but to structure them, and the pitching competitions make that real. We learn to present our projects in a way that is compelling, clear, and persuasive, skills that extend far beyond entrepreneurship itself.
Tiffany Bascle, Summer 2025
Upon successful completion of this summer program, participants will be able to do the following:
- Understand the digital revolution and why it promotes start-up entrepreneurship
- Assimilate the fundamentals of the entrepreneurial approach and its mindset
- Understand the successive steps of any entrepreneurial project: market, ideation, resolution of a user problem etc.
- Identify and use the right tools to design and test an innovative project
- Mobilize skills through an agile approach
- Understand digital technology and innovation, digital transformation in industry and the key challenges of digital projects
- Identify and use qualitative and quantitative tools to support business analysis
Participants will be evaluated based on the following:
- Group work exercises
- Case study pitch
Participants who successfully complete the program will earn 5 ECTS credits. Full attendance is required to obtain the Program Certificate.
All students who are seeking credit are encouraged to consult their home academic institution to validate credit transfer.
The Summer School Experience
