Incubation

Once the project is approved either via ESA-BIC or via the local funding option (which is a choice of the start-up), the start-up is offered accommodation in a dedicated part of the ISU Building. A number of offices are available, between 15 and 27m²  depending on the needs. All the offices are equipped with basic furniture.

A rental agreement of 2 years is foreseen and the incubatee will benefit from preferential tariffs thanks to the support of the local community, i.e. the Eurometropole of Strasbourg for ISU start-ups.

In order to become part of the local ecosystem and benefit from local support, the start-up has to be registered in this phase as a local company.

ISU has for this purpose organized a template for company registration and, if necessary, working permit organization and can refer to a specialized local legal office.

Additional facilities such as a shared meeting room and audiovisual equipment are available, as well as access to the ISU building as a mailing address (e.g. for package deliveries). Other shared services like reception and IT support can be obtained from ISU at favorable conditions.

During this 2 years-period, the start-up will be supported by the whole ecosystem (ISU, locals, government bodies like BPI) to make the project successful. The incubation period can leverage up to incrementally 200K€ from public grants over a period of two years and more from private partners.

The ISU incubator will mainly assist you in the technical proof of concept whereas the partner organization, SEMIA, will provide guidance on how to mature a startup (in particular in the case of a B2C component). This combined support will allow you to rapidly develop and scale up your endeavor. An important aspect during incubation is the access to numerous visiting faculty for advice or even business relations. In addition, several start-ups have benefitted from the presence of high-level ISU students either for internships or even for recruitment.