How PSL University Fosters Deep Tech Startups
The full podcast
Cédric Denis-Remis
There’s no better time to start a business than today, and above all, age is no barrier. Many success stories involve people over 45.
With a Ph.D. in Management Science and a degree from the École des Mines, Cédric Denis-Remis possesses a rare hybrid background, combining academic excellence with economic pragmatism. After spending a decade in China observing the rise of technological superpowers, he now leads PSL’s innovation strategy.
He is the architect of the PSL Innovation Fund (launched in partnership with Elaia) and of training programs designed to help researchers become entrepreneurs.
Program Summary
The integrated university model: a global standard
PSL University represents a paradigm shift in French higher education. Unlike the traditional "universities vs. Grandes Écoles" system, PSL brings together 11 prestigious institutions (Mines Paris, ENS, ESPCI, Dauphine, etc.) to achieve a critical mass comparable to international standards such as MIT or Cambridge.
This partnership enables us to pool our resources for intensive research and to rank among the world’s top 40 universities (the top university in the EU). This visibility is crucial for attracting international talent and the substantial funding required for basic research.
The "Tinder" of Deep Tech: Matching Science and Business
Launching a deep tech startup requires bringing together two worlds that are often worlds apart: scientific research (long-term, uncertain) and entrepreneurship (rapid execution, market-driven). To bridge this gap, programs like the Master’s in Deep Tech Entrepreneurship act as catalysts for collaboration. The concept is to form hybrid teams by bringing together:
1. The researcher/inventor: The driving force behind disruptive technology.
2. The business CEO: Often an experienced professional (aged 45–50) with an industry background, or a recent graduate trained as a "Chief of Staff." This approach allows the project to be "de-risked" from a human resources perspective even before the legal structure is established.
From the laboratory bench to the factory floor: the funding chain
Funding for disruptive innovation follows a specific maturity curve, supported by public and private initiatives:
1. Pre-maturation & Maturation (PUI): Funded by public money (grants ranging from €100,000 to €400,000) to transform a laboratory invention into a proof of concept (TRL 3 to TRL 6).
2. Seed Funding: Investment from specialized funds such as the PSL Innovation Fund (investments ranging from €1 million to €8 million), which helps structure the company.
3. Growth (Scale-up): This is the current challenge facing French Tech. While early-stage financing is now thriving, the lack of capital for Series B rounds and beyond (investments exceeding €20 million) remains a barrier to transforming startups into industry giants.
The Challenge of Reindustrialization and the Skills of Older Workers
The rise of deep tech startups is not limited to software; it often involves building factories and complex industrial processes (regulations, supply chains, thermodynamics). These challenges require skills that recent graduates do not yet possess.
The ecosystem is thus seeing a strong resurgence of senior professionals (aged 45 and older). These former industry executives (from sectors such as oil & gas and nuclear energy) bring crucial expertise for scaling up to industrial production, enabling France to aim for technological sovereignty in targeted niche markets (quantum computing, AI, healthcare).
Deep In Tech by Dynergie
Deep in Tech is driven by a core belief: to understand Deeptech, you have to listen to the people who are building it.
Behind every disruptive innovation lie demanding journeys, difficult trade-offs, and successes that often go unrecognized.
The podcast gives a voice to entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry leaders at the intersection of science and the market.
At the heart of the Deeptech ecosystem’s challenges, Deep in Tech lifts the veil on the behind-the-scenes of a world as complex as it is strategic. Industrialization, financing, the transition from lab to market…
These journeys, often fraught with obstacles, are recounted candidly by those who experience them firsthand.
The podcast offers an authentic look at the inner workings, tensions, and collaborations that shape both the successes and failures of French Deeptech.
A space to understand the reality on the ground, from the perspective of those involved, far from formulaic narratives.
Florence Caghassi Jouni
With Deep in Tech, I meet the people who are shaping the deep tech landscape every day. They share their journeys, struggles, challenges, and successes with me—unfiltered. I created this podcast to help everyone understand and navigate the complex and exciting ecosystem that is deep tech.
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