In 2019, 29 innovating business incubators, nurseries and platforms took part in the first test year of setting up an observatory of young innovating businesses in Grand Paris.
A panel of 29 accompanying structures for a total of 845 innovating businesses
Following the methodological study in 2018 in preparation for the observatory, it was decided the observatory should be instigated with a 3 year test period, from 2019 to 2021. In 2019, 29 organisations, a quarter of the accompanying structures in the metropolis, contributed to this first year by answering a questionnaire on businesses they accompanied. 845 innovating businesses were identified, 653 of which had been accompanied individually.
Rich first results
The observatory proposes a dynamic panorama of innovating businesses and the organisations which accompany them, reliable data sets and updates on the nature and life of these young companies. It does not yet allow itself to assess their evolution but gathers information about numerous subjects: the profile of entrepreneurs and businesses, their development and their growth, their sector of activity, their relationship with the ecosystem… Results confirm elements which were already known, add more detail and contribute more information. Out of the sample number of young innovating businesses analysed: 8/10 have their head office within the Metropolis, 57% innovate by offering a product or a service, 65% raised funds during the year, 11% have a turnover of at least 1 million euros, 22% employ 10 people full-time-equivalent or over, 18% have already registered a patent. Among the management teams of these businesses only 15% are mixed, 94% include a member who has graduated after 5 or more years in higher education, 79% include a graduate from an engineering or business school, 46% have business owners with no previous entrepreneurial experience.
Prospects
The observatory is intended to be a long term endeavour and to gauge how these businesses evolve.
The method chosen is collaborative and feedback on the experiences of partners on the data gathered in 2019 have enabled the questionnaire to evolve and be consolidated. A revised version will be proposed in 2020 to test the second year.
The observatory has the ambition of enlarging the panel of participating organisations so as to increase the number of businesses observed. This objective requires the actives support of major key players in the ecosystem.
