Introduction
Innovation at the heart of the construction of the new Marseille
The MED’INNOVANT competition is organised by the urban and economic development agency Euroméditerranée, the largest city-centre urban renewal and economic development operation in Southern Europe.
For 25 years, Euroméditerranée has been designing, developing and building a comprehensive model for the Mediterranean sustainable city. Spread over 480 hectares in the centre of Marseille, France’s second city, the development programme brings together public services, retail, office space, housing, transport and parking infrastructures, public parks and more to create a new way of ‘living together’. Home to over 5,300 businesses and 45,200 jobs, Euroméditerranée is now France’s third-biggest business district.
Awarded the ‘EcoCité’ label, the regeneration project is a test bed for urban planning where innovative services and technologies can be assessed, developed and deployed in order to simultaneously meet objectives such as connectivity, convenience, quality of life, cost efficiency and environmental performance. To supports its ambitious plans, Euroméditerranée decided to proactively seek out innovative companies and, over 10 years ago, created MED’INNOVANT: an innovation competition designed to help start-ups accelerate their eco-innovation projects that offer solutions in line with the new development and sustainability objectives pursued by Mediterranean regions.
The actors of the Mediterranean sustainable city
Euroméditerranée has developed a comprehensive approach to open innovation that encompasses the following areas:
- Multi-energy smart grids
- Urban digital services
- The natural city and public spaces
- Demonstrator buildings
- Optimisation of the water cycle
- Waste management
- Soil and materials management
- Soft, low-carbon transport
MED’INNOVANT is part of an operational strategy to launch, in the short- to medium-term, pilot and demonstration projects within the Euroméditerranée Eco-City, (a test bed spread over 480 ha in the heart of Marseille, France’s second-biggest city) and more broadly the Aix-Marseille Provence Metropolis. The competition also has the backing of industrial partners that support Euroméditerranée in its pursuit of an open innovation approach and are looking to team up with innovative and creative enterprises!
Innovators: invent solutions for our rapidly changing world!
Tackle one of five challenges to win a year’s sponsorship by one of the competition partners!
The list of 2023 challenges is as follows:
Challenge #1: Wastewater: turning waste into a resource! Combat heat islands in the city by reusing treated water (grey and black water) for green spaces
Topic: Water in the urban environment
Sponsor: Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France
Challenge #2: Using cross-referencing of data (Big Data + AI), determine whether a building has individual or collective heating and whether it is powered by gas or electricity
Topic:Energy & Data Processing / Big Data
Sponsor: ENGIE
Challenge #3: "Je rêve de toits" (I dream of roofs): Accommodating multiple uses comfortably and sustainably on Mediterranean roof terraces so that these under-valued spaces become places for living, well-being and relaxation, health, production, sharing, living together, and so on.
Topic: Use of roofs & shared space
Sponsor: EIFFAGE
Challenge #4: Encourage the integration of biodiversity at several levels: homes, buildings, neighbourhoods, and town
Topic: Urban nature
Sponsor: REDMAN
Challenge #5: Develop low-carbon mobility solutions for the activities of artisans and merchants
Topic: Sustainable mobility
Sponsor: ICI MARSEILLE & Euroméditerranée
For more information :
What are the benefits for the winners?
High-value packages offering a year of assistance combining a CASH INJECTION and BUSINESS SUPPORT to build concrete foundations for your business, make targeted connections and DRIVE YOUR PROMOTION! |
FINANCIAL BOOST: €50,000 split between the winners of the 5 Challenges 5 "JURY AWARDS’"
REGIONAL ACCESS PASS:
- A laboratory for testing and demonstrating the innovative solution: the Euroméditerranée Eco-City*
- A personal tour of the Euroméditerranée catchment area with a representative of the urban development agency to access the potential scope of application for the award-winning innovation;
ACCELERATION PACKAGE:
- A two-hour work session with the Business Development Director and the Innovation Manager of Euroméditerranée to define the ways in which the award-winning solution will be implemented in the Euroméditerranée Eco-City
- A two-hour meeting with the key sponsor of the challenge accepted (monitoring of the award-winning solution at an ad hoc steering committee, etc.)
- Free soft landing for three months at the accelerator P.Factory
- Legal support from FIDAL law firm: a two-hour training session covering intellectual property and information technology law, contract law, company law and property law
- Three months’ access to the ICI Marseille collaboration factory and its “Helping Hand” support programme for the winner of Challenge #5 (one month for the winners of the four other challenges)
- Targeted introductions with the competition partners and associated organisations (incubators, accelerators, competitiveness clusters, etc.)
- Integration with EMUL (Euroméditerranée Metropolitan Urban Lab), a network of industrial partners working to develop innovative solutions on the themes linked to the resilient and sustainable Mediterranean city
- Free one-year membership to La Cité des Entrepreneurs d’Euroméditerranée (association co-financed by Euroméditerranée and the CCIMP, which organises and networks over 250 business entrepreneurs who wish to be associated with the economic dynamic driven by Euroméditerranée.)
* 480 hectares within the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 14th and 15th arrondissements of Marseille.
PROMOTIONAL PUSH:
- 5-minute pitch delivered to an audience during the 2023 Challenges - Jury Awards. Ceremony taking place on November 22nd at La Coque in Marseille
- Communication: press, social media, website
- Broadcast on Euroméditerranée's communication channels of a video interview of the winner presenting his innovative solution
Winners and finalists
An annual event, the MED'INNOVANT competition organised by the Euroméditerranée Urban & Economic Development Agency rewards start-ups inventing the sustainable, smart and resilient city of tomorrow. In 2021, 5 companies will be singled out for their innovative solutions: Vooter, Néolithe, Kocliko, IMMOBLADE et Nielsen Concept Mobility.
Winners 2021
The call for applications for this 11th edition of MED'INNOVANT was launched in September 2021. In less than a month, 70 French start-ups sent in their application to Euroméditerranée. For the first time, this latest competition invited tomorrow’s talents to take up five themed challenges. After the finalists presented their solutions to the jury, five projects were singled out as winners.
Through MED’INNOVANT, Euroméditerranée offers innovators the chance to test their solutions on an experimental area in the heart of France's second largest city!
Challenge #1: Design and build tomorrow’s urban developments alongside users
Sponsor: EPA Euroméditerranée
Laureate: Vooter
«Designing urban planing with residents is virtuous. We are excited to work with Euroméditerranée on these issues to facilitate everyone's involvement in the projects.»
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Challenge #2: Develop mechanisms to promote a circular economy in city planning
Sponsor: Saint-Gobain Bâtiment Distribution France
Laureate: Néolithe
« Neolithe develops the third way of waste treatment: fossilization. We transform non-recyclable waste into reusable aggregates for construction. After winning the « Coup de Cœur » award in 2018, which had allowed us to gain visibility with various market players, we were keen to participate in this year's edition. We are very proud to receive another award through this challenge. The implementation of a Neolithe Fossilizer in this Mediterranean territory would be for us a concrete opportunity to test our innovation on a large scale »
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Challenge #3: Support residents in new ways to reduce the energy footprint of housing
Sponsor: ENGIE
Laureate: Kocliko
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« It was a pleasant surprise for KOCLIKO to win the MED'INNOVANT competition. I didn't think we would get this award, as the solution is not well established in the South of France. Being able to develop in the Mediterranean region is a real opportunity. We'll be able to help residents better manage and understand their collective heating systems while providing our expertise on the summer comfort issues encountered in Marseille. The density of collective housing is one of the highest in France, so it is necessary to give the inhabitants the means to rationalize their energy consumption and limit CO2 emissions. This is precisely the answer provided by the Kocliko solution. »
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Challenge #4: Design comfortable, low-carbon buildings at an affordable price for buyers
Sponsor: Redman - EIFFAGE - Saint-Gobain Bâtiment Distribution France
Laureate: IMMOBLADE
« It is a great pride to be awarded by the trio of sponsors for this challenge. It makes sense for our solution because we have: glass with Saint-Gobain, promotion with REDMAN and construction with Eiffage. These are three players with whom we can probably achieve a lot. Marseille has a great need for construction and renovation and our solution of glazing with solar protection is applicable in both cases. This MED'INNOVANT competition promises great opportunities.»
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Challenge #5: Use social innovation as a lever for a more resilient, productive, and inclusive city
Sponsor: ICI MARSEILLE
Laureate: Nielsen Concept Mobility
« ENTENT is developing a low-temperature electricity production solution. The PULSE will make it possible to use waste heat in a previously inaccessible temperature range, from 60 to 150°C. Tomorrow, industrial companies will be able to participate in a circular economy approach by producing an electrical resource from their thermal waste. We applied to MED'INNOVANT for two reasons: firstly, because our solution has a place in the sustainable city of tomorrow, secondly, because we are attached to our region and are keen to start deploying our solution locally »
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All our winners:
Finalists
Discover the MED'INNOVANT 2017 finalists.
Discover the MED'INNOVANT 2016 finalists.
Selection committee
Aurélie COUSI, President - EPA Euroméditerranée
Michel DANIEL, Director of Regional Strategy and CSR - Saint Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France
Hervé GATINEAU, Major Real Estate Project Director - Eiffage
Ludovic PARISOT, Regional Director South Corsica Monaco - ENGIE
Sandra CHALINET, President - La Cité des Entrepreneurs d'Euroméditerranée
Romaric TAGBO, Business Development Director - REDMAN
Olivier MEYNARD, in charge of innovative projects - ICI Marseille
Patrick SIRI, Co-founder and President - P.Factory
Cyril CHAUVIN, Manager of the Intellectual property/Technologies & IT cluster / Mediterranean regional director - Fidal Société d’avocats
Official partners
With MED'INNOVANT, the innovative solutions competition, Euroméditerranée is keen to assert its leadership and specialist expertise in the sphere of sustainable urban planning in the Mediterranean.
Euroméditerranée has many strengths to promote, above all as “a unique testing ground for urban innovation in France and experimenting with market approaches that represent business opportunities for your organisation”.
Why support the competition?
- Stand out as a local actor in contact with tomorrow’s innovation leaders
- Develop your business network and share your expertise in the sphere of the sustainable Mediterranean city!
- Sit on the jury to choose the winners
Premium media exposure
- Euroméditerranée is present at industry trade fairs and business events: Viva Technology Paris, Forum des entrepreneurs de l’UPE13, Emerging Valley, Grand Opening evening of French Tech Weeks, and more
- Media advertising in the economic and specialist press
- Press relations
- Communication plan rolled out on social media
- Awards ceremony on November 22nd at La Coque in Marseille
Join us and get involved at grass roots level with the innovators of tomorrow!
medinnovant2022@euromediterranee.fr
Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France
Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France, part of Saint-Gobain’s Building Distribution branch, is today the leading distributor of construction materials in France, supplying the construction and home improvement sectors.
Eiffage Immobilier
Eiffage Immobilier est une filiale du groupe Eiffage, 3ème acteur français de BTP et de concessions, qui compte 70 400 collaborateurs dans le monde dont 700 dans le sud-est de la France. Elle opère avec un modèle de constructeur-promoteur unique en France. Eiffage Immobilier fédère de multiples activités : logements résidentiels, résidences dédiées aux seniors, étudiants ou jeunes actifs, résidences de tourisme ou d’affaires, hôtels, immobilier d’entreprise, urbanisme commercial et aménagement urbain.
Engie
Engie puts sustainable growth at the heart of its business areas (electricity, natural gas and energy services), in order to rise to the key challenges of the energy transition towards a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and responsible resource use.
La Cité des entrepreneurs d'Euroméditerranée
Créée il y a 20 ans, la Cité des Entrepreneurs d’Euroméditerranée fédère les entreprises autour du projet d’aménagement et de développement économique : Euroméditerranée.
Ce réseau économique incontournable apporte à ses 250 adhérents une opportunité unique de participer à la mutation de ce territoire à travers des actions de networking où l’innovation tient une place prépondérante.
Redman
Founded ten years ago, Redman is an economic actor specialising in complex property transactions. In practice, it is the combination of an independent organisation with multidisciplinary competences that enables it to innovate to resolve the complexities of a project.
ICI Marseille
ICI Marseille est une manufacture partagée implantée dans le nouvel écoquartier « Les Fabriques ». Sur 3 500 m², elle permet à plus de 200 entrepreneurs de concevoir, prototyper, fabriquer et s’entraider au quotidien. En échange d’un abonnement, les designers, artisans, ingénieurs, makers peuvent prendre un atelier et accéder à un parc de plus de 50 machines professionnelles (bois, métal, fabrication numérique, maroquinerie, usinage…), des formations, de l’accompagnement au développement grâce à la communauté du réseau Make ICI et le soutien de Linkcity & UrbanEra. »
P.Factory
Créé par 60 entrepreneurs expérimentés, P.FACTORY est une SAS qui fait grandir les startups à fort potentiel de croissance en leur apportant du chiffre d’affaires, en les aidant à obtenir des financements (subventions, prêts, capitaux) et des avantages (privilèges, accompagnement).
Fidal
The Fidal legal practice has put in place an offering of legal and tax services dedicated to the boldest, most talented start-ups, giving them the opportunity to take advantage of its expertise in the field of intellectual property strategy as well as comprehensive legal and tax expertise, particularly with regard to investment capital.
Relaying Partners
Emerging Valley
AMFT
Medinsoft
Capenergies
Pôle Mer Méditerranée
Provence Business Angels
Anima
The Next Society
Linxeo
FBTP13
Grand Luminy Technopole
Marseille Innovation
Arbois Méditerranée
EA Eco Entreprises
Incubateur Belle de Mai
Le Club Immobilier
Citeos Ingénierie Méditerranée
Urban Wave
Région Sud
Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence
Ville de Marseille
risingSUD
UPE13
Provence Promotion
Citeo
Make it Marseille
E-couveuz’
Impulse Partners
Efficacity
The French PopTech
Léonard by Vinci
Pacte PME
Entrepreneurs pour la Planète
Contact & Press
Contact
Euroméditerranée Urban Development Agency: medinnovant2022@euromediterranee.fr
Press review
2020 edition
2019 edition
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The 12th edition of the MED'INNOVANT competition is now over.
We look forward to seeing you in 2024
SELECTION CRITERIA
- Expression of need: applicant’s ability to explain the need they have identified.
- Proposed solution to solve the problem: value proposition.
- Impact on the testing ground: the solution must be feasible for implementation within the Euroméditerranée Eco-City.
- Business model: applicant has provided a cohesive and realistic business model, technical feasibility, income projections.
- Technological maturity of the solution: the solution has moved beyond the ideation phase and presents developments in a significant environment or, at minimum, a working prototype (technological maturity ≥ 6).
- Quality and credibility of the team: the project team has the relevant skills and is able to conduct the project.
- Innovative nature of the solution: innovative product, service, or process, social or organizational innovation, etc.
The contest is open continuously from September 1st at 8th AM to September 30th, 2023 at 11:59 PM (UTC+1), for start-ups, micro-enterprises and SMEs based in France and abroad. Temporary consortia are permitted (see terms in the contest rules)
CALENDAR
During the week of October 1st, the contest organizer will open the applications and confirm their eligibility(applications must be complete, cohesive, and easily understood by a person outside of the project)
September 1st to 30th: Applications submitted
October 27th: Selection of a shortlist of 10 to 20 applications
November 22nd: Grand awards ceremony honoring the winners at La Coque in Marseille http://lacoque-numerique.fr/
CONFIDENTIALITY
Documents transmitted in the context of this competition are subject to the strictest confidentiality and are only communicated to the members of the jury. The information will only be used to judge the project owner's application.