GENOPOLE

The cluster organisation has set up set out an integrated development strategy to promote R&D , entrepreneurship and economic growth and particularly supports small and medium-sized enterprises as well as entrepreneurs and founders-to-be in the field of biotechnology with a broad range of services which are structured in four different interrelated departments:

• “Genopole Enterprises” department provides access to the SHAKER and the BOOSTER programmes, as well as coaching and support services to entrepreneurs. Genopole Entreprises also develops prospecting actions and support for implantations of mature and high-growth businesses on the biocluster.
• “Genopole Research & Global Infrastructure” department manages the development of the 28 existing open-access technology platforms and infrastructures, promotes the launch of collaborative R&D projects and strengthens the research potential of the biocluster.
• “Genopole Marketing & Communication” department manages on-site networking activities, as well as general public communications and press relations.
• “Genopole International” department is responsible for international affairs and for developing cluster-to-cluster partnerships.

Our support services: 

A- Services for accelerating biotech innovation & bioentrepreneuship

Genopole has recently reengineered and reenergized its bioentrepeneurship programme, as driver for the translation of ideas into success stories. For this, in 2017, it has been launched a multistep programme specifically tailored to the Biotech sector, to guide future bioTech entrepreneurs from idea to success , as follows:

Step 1- Shaker programme: Services provided by the Shaker are designed particularly for doctoral and postdoctoral students, engineers, who come up with original ideas and innovative projects, and relating to applications in healthcare, environment, agritech, foodtech. Specifically, the Shaker’s services are designed to design and validate business concept as well as to support proof-of-concept experimentation by future biotech entrepreneurs, by providing free access to a dedicated research laboratory, the “Lab Biotech”, as well as facilitating ad hoc connections with top-notch scientific and technical personnel drawn from the 2,500-strong ecosystem of innovation managers, research scientists and entrepreneurs established companies on the site.

Shaker services also include initial training in entrepreneurship as its clientele is generally unfamiliar with the intricacies of the business world. This training is structured in  a series of introductory courses on financing means for biotechnology, biotech-specific legal and regulatory obligations, and business communications. The Shaker can also provide access to premarketing studies and other relevant information required to provide future biotech entrepreneurs a better idea of the road to come. The Shaker’s programme is for a period of six months that can be extended for another 6 months.

Step 2- Booster programme  : The Booster is the logical second step in Genopole’s offer to biotech entrepreneurs. This one-year program targets entrepreneurs whose companies (less than 2 years old) are considered to have high growth potential, either nationally or internationally, or both. Following a thorough diagnosis to establish a support plan that is specifically tailored for each company, the Booster services include 20 days of intensive training, coaching and mentoring, including assistance in developing  a bunises model and writing a strong business plan, in accelerating business development (including also co-financing consultancy mandates), as well as direct support in fund raising. The Booster programme also provides access to office and lab spaces, state-of-the-art technology platforms and contacts with experienced mentors.  The Booster’s programme duration  is of one year that can be extended for another 12 months.

To complement the Genopole’s all-round service package for bioentrepreneurs, the Growth Hub aims at supporting the mature start-ups to grow further into established SMEs, and eventually into small-caps. Based on the above mentioned services in any stage of the business service, Genopole is now recognized at regional, national and European as a key bioentrepeneurial ecosystem for accelerating biotech innovation.

B- Services for attracting biotech-SMEs and international biotech companies

One fo the key priorities of the economic and scientifc  growth strategy of the biocluster is to support the development of its park of mature biotech companies. For this, thanks to the business development team  of  the Genopole Entreprises department,  Genopole is carrying out a dedicated service to fluidify the cluster integration path, providing all the necessary  information needed (legal, scientific and technical partnerships, regulatory affairs, market access, public and private financing) by the interested company for its allocation .

The original proposal of Genopole is precisely to offer national and foreign companies a real operational follow-up during the implementation phase, from the identification phase to the installation phase, but also to offer support for the development of the company once set-up at Genopole.

C- Services for strenghening R&D potentiel and attracting talents

Genopole’s services is also to support fast-expanding R&D programmes, mainly on 1) genomic medicine, 2) stem cells and biotherapies and 3) synthetic and systems biology. In this perspective, Genopole set-up three different tools:

1.  Genopole is funding or co-funding the acquisition of cutting-edge technologies, by launching an annual call for the provision of shared equipment for promising scientific or industrial projects.
2. Genopole fosters emergence of new scientific leaders by offering a financial provision  to tenured researchers to create a team within already-established research units in the biocluster.  These grants, called ATIGES (French acronym for Actions Thématiques Incitatives de Genopole, or Genopole’s Thematic Incentive Actions grants), are intended for researchers who already have a position within a public research organisation or who are likely to obtain such a position before the attribution of ATIGES grants. The themes of candidate projects must be coherent with Genopole’s centers of interest (e.g.,
genomics and post-genomics, biotherapies, bioinformatics, biophysics, engineering sciences, as applied to large-scale biological domains such as transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, systems biology, synthetic biology).
3. Genopole promotes the “reverse brain drain”action. The purpose of Genopole’s postdoctoral repatriation allocations is to encourage and facilitate the return to France of French-educated Ph.D.s who are completing postdoctoral fellowships abroad. The program targets young research scientists with proven excellence in their field, and provides 2-year allocations to support the development of a research project to be conducted inside a laboratory or a company established in Genopole.

D- Services for answering to real estate needs

Genopole provides concrete solutions to real estate needs of already-established or future bioentrepeneurs by offering:

• Offices that can be made available free of charge for defined periods of time to creators of companies.
• An ISO 9001:2000-certified incubator fitted for early-stage biotechnology developments,  with fully-equipped offices, BSL1/2 labs ranging from 9 to 100 m2, as well as building services.
• Mixed or tertiary facilities of offices and BSL1/2 laboratories that are modular and expandable, with shared-access equipment and services, ranging from 10 to 150 m2.
• Fully-furnished mixed or tertiary facilities, ranging from 150 to 2,500 m2, for clients to launch their operations rapidly and control their set-up costs.
• Unfurnished customizable floor space, ranging from 400 to 2,700 m2.
• Land properties for companies and R&D centers in biotechnology;

Genopole’s four campuses in Évry currently cover 111,000 m2 (1,185,000 ft2) of offices and laboratory spaces, with the opening of a fifth campus planned for 2019. A residential tower for visitors and short-term residents, as well as a day nursery, were opened in early 2019. Additional 37,000 m2 (400,000 ft2) are under construction, or planned to open before 2021. The biocluster also offers a 700-seat conference facility.