The next edition of START will take place from October to December 2025.
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The LAUNCH programme is designed to support entrepreneurs at the prototyping stage. It includes masterclasses, workshops with experts and experienced entrepreneurs, coaching, access to a community of peers and resources aimed at refining prototypes, working on the entrepreneurial approach and preparing for market entry.
The programme is open to ESCP students and alumni, as well as entrepreneurs from partner institutions, upon selection.
❍ This programme is for those who are starting to prototype or test their solution with their first users and who want to join a cohort of entrepreneurs, with personalised and collective support.
❍ If you are still in the exploration phase and not ready yet to commitment in a programme to work on your idea, check out our series of EXPLORE events, open to all, to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem and learn from the experiences of seasoned and inspiring entrepreneurs.
❍ If you are just starting your project (need to validate your idea), check out the START programme.
❍ If you are in the early sales phase, visit the SEED programme page.
The online sessions are held in English from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
IMPORTANT: Participants agree to follow the entire programme and must sign a commitment charter.
"The programme was the perfect opportunity for us to bounce ideas off each other and move our project forward. Through workshops and co-development sessions, we were able to get feedback from expert speakers on various topics, as well as from other entrepreneurs in the programme.
This helped us realise that we were spreading ourselves too thin, so we decided to put our consulting business on hold to focus on what's essential for Blutopia, our media outlet."
— Malaury Morin & Julien Gerbet, founders of Blutopia
Participants may come from any ESCP programme or partner institution (Bachelor, MIM, MS, MSc, MBA, EMBA, etc.) and may be students or alumni.
In terms of the maturity of participating projects, approximately 20% are at the idea stage, 50% are at the prototype development stage and 30% are at the prototype testing stage or have already made their first sales.
We are generalists and each year we have projects that are very different from one another. In addition, given the very early stages of development of the projects, it is common for them to change during the programme. This is why support is primarily focused on the participants themselves, to help them develop projects that are important to them and to society.
The LAUNCH programme is run by the 5 campuses, each of which selects between 5 and 10 projects from among the applicants. The support format is hybrid:
- Online, with sessions consisting of a masterclass followed by a Q&A and a working session in sub-groups (in English).
- In person or online, each campus organises tailor-made workshops and co-development session.
- Individual coaching sessions can be held online or on campus, depending on your location.
Participants who are able to visit one of the campuses will have access to a coworking space, depending on the availability.
The programme consists of online sessions from 6pm to 7:30pm, including interactive masterclasses by experts (defining your value proposition, business strategy, financing, relationships between founders, etc.) as well as networking and workshops designed by the Blue Factory teams.
A pitch session, open to the public, is organised at the end of the programme to allow you to pitch your project to the programme mentors.
At the same time, you will be able to:
- exchange ideas with other project leaders in the programme
- join tailor-made workshops and events offered by the Paris, Berlin and Turin campuses
- benefit from regular coaching for personalised support
- use the coworking facilities on the campuses, subject to availability
- and, of course, take advantage of Blue Factory's resources (EXPLORE events, YouTube, recruitment offers, etc.).
The programme takes place online, twice a year: the first edition runs from February to May and the second edition from October to December.
To enable as many people as possible to participate, the sessions are organised online in English, at the end of the day from 6pm to 7.30pm.
Customised workshops designed by the campuses may be organised on various dates and at various times during the semester.
The dates of the online sessions for the next edition are:
*2 additional dates for in-person workshops will be communicated by each campus during the onboarding.
To be part of the LAUNCH programme, you must:
➡️ To participate in the LAUNCH programme, you must complete the registration form, which will allow us to determine whether the programme is suitable for your needs and to organise a selection interview if necessary. Please remember to send us the 2-minute video requested in the form, as it is necessary for your application to be considered. It will only be viewed by our teams. Keep it simple; a selfie will be fine.
The selection criteria we take into account are:
- the profile and, where applicable, the complementarity of the team
- the ability to be coached
- the relevance of the project
- the stage of progress
A 30-minute selection interview will be organised with the Blue Factory teams.
Registration for the next edition of the programme is open until Monday 22 September 2025. To register, click HERE.
The programmes are designed to correspond to different stages of progress:
- START: idea exploration stage
- LAUNCH: prototype stage
- SEED: initial sales stage
To give you an idea of the maturity of the projects of participants in the LAUNCH programme, approximately 20% are at the idea stage, 50% at the prototype development stage and 30% at the prototype testing stage or even making their first sales.
In any case, each completed registration form is reviewed by the Blue Factory teams and, if necessary, a call is organised to determine which support is best suited to your needs.
You can also take advantage of free content that we share on our BlueLuckyLetter and via our LinkedIn and Instagram accounts, and by following our YouTube channel.
The LAUNCH programme is designed to be accessible to as many people as possible and is therefore free of charge.
These attractive prices are made possible by donations to the ESCP Foundation's ‘Start programme’ funding initiative. More details here. Please feel free to support the programme in any way you can to enable others to benefit from it after you. Thank you!
The availability of coworking spaces depends on each campus's facilities and availability. You will be informed of this during the application process.