The winners of the twenty-third edition of the i-Lab competition, the second edition of i-Phd and the seventh edition of the i-Nov competition were announced in July 2021. The time has come to launch the eighth call for i-Nov projects. 10 themes have been defined, including Digital Deep tech and the industry of the future.Applications are open to startups and SMEs until 5 October 2021.
The i-Nov competition: supporting the development of start-ups and innovative SMEs
Launched in 2017, the i-Nov Competition already has more than 400 winners. It is part of the series of “innovation competitions” based on 3 complementary components: i-PhD, i-Lab and i-Nov. The innovation competition marks a commitment by the State via funding, labelling and enhanced communication to support the development of highly innovative and technological companies.
On the one hand, the i-PhD and i-Lab competitions aim to encourage the emergence and creation of deeptech startups born of advances in French cutting-edge research. On the other hand, the i-Nov competition supports innovative development projects carried out by startups and SMEs. The latter is financed by the State via the Programme d’investissements d’avenir (PIA) and operated by Bpifrance and ADEME.
The fifth wave of the i-Nov competition rewarded 80 winning projects for a total amount of 50 million euros. The sixth edition rewarded 51 winning projects for a total amount of €26 million. The seventh wave of the i-Nov component was launched in March 2021, with registration closing on 11 May 2021. Candidate applications are currently being analysed and the next winners will be announced during 2022.
Ten central themes for the eighth call for projects of the i-Nov competition
As part of the eighth edition of the i-Nov competition, a call for projects has just been launched. Ten themes have been selected:
- Health – Modelling and digital simulation tools for the development of biomedicines
- Health – Innovative medical devices with a hardware component
- Adaptation of agriculture to climate change and hazard management
- Digital Deep tech
- French Fab – industry of the future
- Circular economy including recycling of critical metals
- Environmental performance of buildings
- Adapting territories to climate change
- Digital greening
- Transforming cultural and creative industries and events through digital technology
Startups and SMEs interested in the competition can register until October 5, 2021 by submitting their application. For the winners, the competition is an opportunity to obtain co-financing (up to a maximum of 45%) for their research, development and innovation project, the total costs of which are between 600,000 euros and five million euros.
Translated from Lancement de l’appel à projets de la huitième édition du concours d’innovation i-Nov
