Concours d'innovation i-PhD

What the i-PhD prize gives you

Winners get a one-year support programme plus reserved access to a grant of up to 30,000 EUR. The grant can cover up to 90% of your project's eligible costs, such as staff, running costs, equipment, intellectual property, market studies, experiments and prototypes. The programme runs from summer 2026 to summer 2027. It includes monthly coaching, both one-to-one and in groups, plus training on the basics of deeptech entrepreneurship. You also get personal mentoring (an experienced adviser who guides you over time), "Learning Expeditions" to meet other winners and the French deeptech scene, and a video kit to promote your project. On top of that, you get priority access to the Bourse French Tech with a raised funding threshold, and your project is promoted across the ecosystem. Up to 10 top prizes ("Grands Prix") are awarded each edition. The contest is run by the French public investment bank Bpifrance with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, funded under the France 2030 plan.

Who can apply

• Your stage: You are a doctoral student from your second year of thesis onwards, or you finished your PhD less than 5 years ago.
• Your project: You want to start a deeptech company (one built on advanced science or technology) based on your own research. Early-stage projects are welcome, so you do not need to have proven the technology or the market yet.
• Tech transfer support: A technology transfer body backs your project, for example a SATT, a national research organisation or a public-research incubator. Your university innovation hub or Bpifrance can help you find one.
• Lab backing: Your thesis director or lab director is behind the project.
• Where you go: You develop the project in France.
• Limit per person: You may enter once per edition, and no more than 7 times across all editions.

How to apply

You apply online through the official platform between 23 March and 30 April 2026 (deadline 23:59). You prepare a CV showing your academic and entrepreneurial background and a project presentation written together with your lab. If your file is eligible, you present your project to the jury in an online oral session. Results are announced at the awards ceremony.

How realistic are your chances?

The pool is narrow: you must be a PhD student or recent doctor with a deeptech project backed by a tech transfer body and your lab, so far fewer people qualify than for an open contest. Around 40 winners were named in recent editions, so a well-matched applicant has real prospects. The jury weighs your entrepreneurial drive, the startup potential and the environmental impact, so a clear, convincing pitch counts as much as the science.