Start in France program

The Start in France program aims to promote the French deeptech ecosystem and attract international talent in research and innovation.

To this end, through an annual call for applications, the program selects US-based researchers and entrepreneurs, regardless of nationality, with a disruptive innovation project; it offers it’s laureates a two-stage training program:

• a virtual preparation seminar, consisting of workshops organized by French innovation experts, to familiarize laureates with the specific features of the French deeptech ecosystem and its academic and administrative particularities;
• an immersion in France in an innovative ecosystem, during which the laureate entrepreneurs take part in workshops, one-on-one meetings with scientific stakeholders, entrepreneurial actors, and key players in economic development, innovation, attractiveness, and international relations relevant to their field of activity, as well as networking events. The aim of this immersion is to draw up, with the support of local players, a roadmap for a potential move to France, in order to add value to their disruptive innovation project through the creation of a startup or collaboration with a research laboratory.

The Start in France program is aimed at PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, researchers, professors, and entrepreneurs with deeptech projects who wish to bring their entrepreneurial project to fruition in France. To be eligible, candidates must reside in the United States and provide evidence of a proof of concept that is not associated with a startup incorporated in the United States at the time of participation in the program.

There are no age or nationality restrictions. It is desirable for the candidate to have a prior connection with France (collaboration, partnership, studies, culture, etc.).

• Application Submission: January 2 – March 28, 2025
• Selection Interviews: Late April – May 2025
• Announcement of Winners: By early June 2025
• Virtual Training Seminar: June – Early July 2025
• Immersion Week in France in the Host Ecosystem: September – October 2025

In 2005, the Office for Science and Technology (OST) of the Embassy of France in the United States created the Young Enterprise Initiative (YEi) program, also known as YEi – Start in France. Initially in the USA, under the name Young Entrepreneurs Initiative, and primarily aimed at expatriate French researchers with an innovative entrepreneurial project that would enable them to re-establish their plan and project in France, the YEi program has evolved over the years to open up to more mature companies; in 2016, it was extended to other countries. Between 2005 and 2019, the program brought together 199 participants in 15 editions, not only from the USA but also from 9 other countries: Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden and Taiwan. Between 2018 and 2020, the program was led directly by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. The program was then suspended in 2021 due to the pandemic. In 2025, La Synapse is relaunching this program in the United States, under the name “Start in France”. Three French innovation ecosystems will host the winners in 2025: Aix-Marseille, Grenoble, and Toulouse.

La Synapse’s thematics are focused on 10 scientific and technological fields, in accordance with the France 2030 plan. However, the Start in France program is open to all disruptive innovation projects, with the emphasis above all on the disruptive and deeptech nature of the innovation.
The 199 laureates of the program since 2005 are mainly in three sectors: biology, medicine and healthcare (48%), ICT and artificial intelligence (33%), and energy and environmental challenges (15%). Nevertheless, the new program format will pay particular attention to diversifying the scientific fields of the projects, in order to better represent the expertise of American research institutions, in line with the cutting-edge fields of the French deeptech ecosystem and the objectives of the “France 2030” plan.

Nearly 15% of YEi award-winning entrepreneurs from the USA have set up a business in France following their participation in the program. Some examples are: Akrivis Technologies (YEi 2010) developed a joint laboratory with CEA-LETI in 2014, Milo Biotechnology (YEi 2012) entered into an R&D partnership with Génopole d’Evry in 2014, and PathMaker Neurosystems (YEi 2014) was incubated at the “Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière”.