What ENSTA ParisTech does

ENSTA ParisTech (legal name: École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées) is a French public engineering school (grand établissement) founded in 1741, operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Armed Forces with dual campuses at Paris-Saclay and Brest. It delivers a three-year MSc in Engineering (Diplôme d'ingénieur) with 18 specialization tracks, plus Mastères Spécialisés in Maritime Engineering, Autonomous Localization and Multi-Sensor Systems, Multimodal and Autonomous AI, Maritime Project Management, and Pyrotechnics, alongside doctoral programs (300 PhD students). The institution is one of five founding members of Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) and operates 13 research laboratories and 27 industry-academic chairs across defense, marine engineering, AI, sustainable energy, transport, and health engineering.

The school's research infrastructure centers on unique physical assets including a 20m x 12m x 6m air-sea experimental basin topped by a 5m drone aviary at Brest — described as unique in France and Europe — plus the COMET-3000 autonomous underwater vehicle (3,000m depth) developed under the France 2030 MARTOC project and the ID-GF swarm of hybrid underwater robots for distributed deep-sea imaging. Core technology spans autonomous multi-environment robotics, acoustic and laser-based underwater systems, multi-sensor fusion (radar, sonar, lidar), and acousto-optical imaging for medical applications. ENSTA Press has published scientific and technical works since the 1970s, and the Enstartups incubator supports spinouts from the research base.

Revenue is generated through regulated tuition (French/EU and international), research grants from French State (CPER, France 2030, DGA), Brittany Region, and the EU (FEDER/ERDF), industry partnerships with defense and maritime firms (RTSys, Orange Marine, Ifremer, FMC Composites, Oxxius), and continuing/executive education. Recent funding milestones include €21.25M under CPER 2021-2027, €3.54M for the air-sea basin (two-thirds DGA, one-third local/EU), and €1M from France 2030 for MARTOC. The school recruits students through national competitive entrance exams (Concours) and dedicated international admissions, serving a customer mix of prospective engineers, industry R&D partners, and government/defense research sponsors.

Name

ENSTA ParisTech

Legal name

École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées

Website

https://ensta.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1741

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ENSTA ParisTech is a French public engineering school founded in 1741, operating dual campuses at Paris-Saclay and Brest to deliver MSc, specialized master's, and doctoral programs plus applied research in defense, marine engineering, AI, and sustainable energy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineering Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Engineering Services (541330), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Engineering Services (54133)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Engineering & Technology Institutes (Comprehensive) (EDAHAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Research Universities with National Laboratories/Big Science Facilities (EDAHAAAJ), Technical Universities with Specialized Engineering Domains (EDAHAEAI), Online International & Cross-Border Universities (Global/Transnational Providers) (EDAHALAL), International Branch Campus & Offshore Program Partnerships (EDAIABAI), Engineering & Technical Professions (PE, Engineering CPD) (EDAAALAF)

Keywords

• Engineering education
• Graduate programs
• Marine engineering research
• Defense technology training
• Applied sciences research

Headquarters

HQ city

Palaiseau

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Education Fees: Revenue from student tuition including international student fees, continuing education programs, and executive education offerings
2. Research Funding and Grants: Government funding through CPER contracts, France 2030 projects, regional and European Union grants for research activities
3. Industry Partnerships: Partnership agreements with companies for R&D collaboration, recruiting partnerships, and industry-sponsored research chairs
4. Continuing Education: Professional development and executive education programs for working professionals

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ENSTA ParisTech is a French public engineering school delivering higher education programs (3-year MSc in Engineering with 18 specializations, seven Specialized Masters, doctoral degrees, executive education) and conducting applied research in defense, marine engineering, AI, sustainable energy, and transport. It operates 13 research laboratories, the unique air-sea experimental basin in Brest, a startup incubator (Enstartups), a publishing house (Les Presses de l'ENSTA), and the hydrographic vessel Mélité for field training.

Product overview

ENSTA ParisTech is a French engineering school offering a comprehensive portfolio of higher education programs and research services. The core offering is the three-year MSc in Engineering (Diplôme d'ingénieur) with 18 specialization tracks including General Engineering, Defense & Security, Embedded Systems, and Mechanical Design. The school operates advanced Master (Mastère Spécialisé) programs in Maritime Engineering, Autonomous Localization Systems, Multimodal AI, Maritime Project Management, and Pyrotechnics. Research infrastructure includes the unique air-sea experimental basin at Brest campus and 13 research laboratories. Supporting services include ENSTA Press publishing house, the Enstartups incubator, and the hydrographic vessel Mélité for field training. The institution is part of Institut Polytechnique de Paris and operates across Paris-Saclay and Brest campuses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ENSTA: Shortened name for the institution used in casual contexts
• ENSTA ParisTech
• Institut Polytechnique de Paris

Products and services

• MSc in General Engineering (Formation d'ingénieur généraliste)
• MSc Engineering Defense & Security
• MSc Engineering Embedded Systems (Apprenticeship)
• MSc Engineering Mechanical Design (Apprenticeship)
• MS Maritime Engineering / Naval Architecture and Offshore
• MS Autonomous Localization and Multi-Sensor Systems Engineering
• MS Multimodal and Autonomous Artificial Intelligence
• MS Maritime Project Management - Ship Maintenance
• MS Pyrotechnics and Propulsion
• Air-Sea Experimental Basin
• Presses de l'ENSTA (ENSTA Publishing House)
• ENSTA Incubator (Enstartups)
• Hydrographic Vessel Mélité
• 13 Research Laboratories
• Executive Education and Short Programs
• MARTOC Project - COMET-3000 AUV
• ID-GF Deep-Sea Imaging Project

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked among top French engineering schools with strong national positioning
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability13 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerENSTA is one of the five founding members of IP Paris, a prestigious French polytechnic institute. This partnership provides access to shared research facilities, dual degree programs, interdisciplinary centers, and collective reputation benefits across the IP Paris network.
• École PolytechniqueflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the Concours de Nouvelles Avancées literary competition since 2017, joint research collaborations through IP Paris interdisciplinary centers
• Lab-STICC (CNRS)coreTechnology or IntegrationJoint research unit (UMR) conducting research in information and communication sciences and technologies, robotics, and marine systems
• RTSyscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in MARTOC project developing COMET-3000 AUV for deep-sea cable detection; specializes in underwater robotics and acoustic systems
• Orange MarinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in MARTOC project for submarine cable operations; operates over 15% of world cable ship fleet with 264,000 km of cables laid
• IfremercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench海洋研究院, national marine research institute collaborating on deep-sea exploration projects and underwater acoustic localization systems
• FMC CompositescoreTechnology or IntegrationPartner in ID-GF project developing composite hulls for 6000m depth rated underwater vehicles
• OxxiuscoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner developing underwater laser communication systems for ID-GF distributed imaging project
• BEST (Board of European Students of Technology)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent association network active in 32 European countries fostering connections among European science and technology students
• ENIT (Tunis)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOffshore campus partnership enabling international engineering education collaboration with Tunisian institution
• SPEIT (Shanghai)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOffshore campus partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University partner institution for international engineering education
• Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional university partner in CPER 2021-2027 projects including SpaceTechDroneTech and IF-SysMer

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CentraleSupélec: Top-tier French engineering school formed by merger of École Centrale Paris and Supélec. Competes with ENSTA for the same French preparatory-class students, offers comparable MSc engineering programs, and runs similar industry-sponsored research chairs.
• IMT Atlantique: French engineering school with campuses in Brest and Nantes specializing in digital, energy, and marine engineering. Most direct peer for ENSTA's Brest campus activities and competes for the same regional Brittany talent and marine industry partnerships.
• École Polytechnique (IP Paris): France's most prestigious engineering school and co-founding member of IP Paris with ENSTA. Directly comparable in offering elite graduate engineering education, dual-degree pathways, and access to shared IP Paris interdisciplinary centers and faculty.
• ISAE-SUPAERO: France's leading aerospace engineering school in Toulouse, with overlapping defense, autonomous systems, and propulsion research. Comparable on the defense/aerospace domain and competes for similar DGA-funded research programs as ENSTA.
• Mines Paris - PSL: Elite French engineering school within Université PSL with strong industry research chairs and applied science focus. Direct competitor for top French students, faculty, and industry-sponsored research funding.
• ENSAI: French grande école specializing in statistics, data science, and AI engineering. Comparable elite French public engineering school model with selective admissions, industry chairs, and continuing education offerings.
• Grenoble INP - UGA: Group of French engineering schools within Université Grenoble Alpes with strong industry partnerships and applied research focus. Comparable in scale, public status, and research intensity across multiple engineering domains.
• Arts et Métiers ParisTech: French engineering grande école with a parallel multi-campus model (Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, etc.) and mechanical/industrial engineering focus. Comparable in scale, French public status, industry partnership intensity, and apprenticeship programs.
• INSA Lyon: Largest INSA engineering school with broad engineering curriculum and significant apprenticeship tracks. Comparable scale, multi-program engineering offering, and French public grande école status.

Regional players

• École Navale: French naval academy in Brest specializing in military naval engineering. Direct peer for marine engineering and Brest-based defense research, though serving military officer training rather than civilian engineering degrees.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/ensta-paris
• Instagraminstagram.com/ensta_paris
• Xx.com/enstaparistech
• Facebookfacebook.com/ENSTA.ParisTech

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ENSTA ParisTech