The French Tech Tremplin program, launched in 2019, will receive ten million euros of additional investment. This was announced by Elisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate for Equality between Women and Men, Diversity and Equal Opportunities, and Cédric O, Secretary of State for Digital Transition and Electronic Communications. The initiative aims to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are underrepresented in the French tech ecosystem to develop their entrepreneurial projects.
The PIA invests an additional ten million euros in the French Tech Tremplin programme
With this additional ten million euros, French Tech Tremplin has 20 million euros from the Programme d’Investissement d’Avenir (PIA). The aim of this initiative is to promote the diversity of talent so that they can contribute to the French economy. From now on, up to 500 people will be able to join the “Preparatory” phase and 300 people will be able to benefit from the incubation period, during which a grant of 30,000 euros is made available to each of the winners.
Elisabeth Moreno commented on the establishment of this initiative:
“It is essential to accelerate parity and diversity in the tech sector. The “digital promise” carries with it the promise of equality between women and men and equal opportunities. But this dual promise needs to be further realized. Only 30% of the sector’s employees are women and they represent only 12% of start-up founders.
Moreover, more than 50% of digital jobs are located in the Île-de-France region and the attraction for tech jobs is 30% lower in priority city districts. These statistics show us how far we still have to go. The challenge of digital transformation is therefore also a challenge of inclusion. This is the ambition of the French Tech Springboard program. In light of the enthusiasm it has generated since its inception, Cédric O and I are delighted to expand it today. Let’s make tech an accelerator of inclusion.”
An initiative in several distinct phases
Until September 3, 2021, those interested in this initiative can already apply for the 2021-2022 session. In order to participate, applicants must be eligible for one of the following conditions:
- Economic criteria: be a beneficiary of minimum social benefits (RSA, AAH…), be a scholarship student or former scholarship student (less than one year since the end of the scholarship) of level 5 to 7 or be a ward of the state.
- Residence criteria: reside in a priority district of your city (QPV) or in a rural revitalization zone (ZRR) or in an active watch district (QVA).
- Personal background: have refugee status recognized by OFPRA
After that, the selected persons will be accompanied in two phases. The first is the “pre-prep” phase which will be launched in October 2021. It is structured as follows:
- 2 weeks of “bootcamp” organized in at least 20 locations (including overseas) that will allow the winners to present their project, receive an initial diagnosis, advice, mentoring workshops, participate in pitch sessions, etc.
- 1.5 months of access to free tools to help their projects grow and support from Capitales French Tech on various topics (financing, pitching, recruitment, etc.)
- 3 days of bootcamp to assess the progress made by the winners and to help them apply for the incubation phase
After that, there will be an “incubation” phase that will start early next year.
To conclude, Cédric O mentions in his remarks, the ambitions of the French Tech Tremplin:
“The French Tech Tremplin program has allowed talented profiles to make their voices heard and to insert themselves into an ecosystem that is still too closed and endogamic. I’m thinking, for example, of the success of Roomba (founded by Justine Bâ) or Explor Visit (founded by Guillaume Jacquemart and Faouzi Teboulbi), which is one of the 100 start-ups to invest in in 2021, but there are so many others, such as Hoptisoins or Sempaï. Equal opportunities is one of the Government’s priorities.
It is at the heart of our social model and it must be at the heart of our economic model. By allowing those who do not necessarily have the network or the means to undertake, to launch themselves and to believe in themselves, we create not only a stronger society, but also a more efficient tech ecosystem. That’s why, with Elisabeth Moreno, we decided on an additional investment of €10M in the French Tech Tremplin program, which has been very successful.”
Translated from Le programme French Tech Tremplin va recevoir un investissement de 10 millions d’euros supplémentaires
