Start in Saclay

What Start in Saclay does

Start in Saclay is a French non-profit student association founded in 2014 to federate and develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Paris-Saclay plateau. It operates a year-round event program (September to May) comprising four formats: masterclasses with industry professionals (e.g., fundraising sessions with Masteos, XAnge, UBS, and Yooner Avocats), pitch competitions including the flagship 'Le Saclay 20' annual ranking of the 20 best student and alumni startups, collaborative workshops (e.g., 'LLM Hack' with Hugging Face, Mistral AI, and Entrepreneur First), and afterwork networking events including an international seminar in Milan with Bocconi University. Participation is free for students and open across the plateau.

The association serves the approximately 65,000 students enrolled across 20 schools on the Paris-Saclay plateau, including major institutions such as HEC Paris, Polytechnique, and Université Paris-Saclay. It maintains a curated partner ecosystem spanning venture capital (XAnge), talent programs (Entrepreneur First), AI tooling (Hugging Face, Mistral AI), coding education (Le Wagon), financial services (UBS), legal (Yooner Avocats), and youth entrepreneurship (Startup for Kids). An alumni network of more than 100 former members provides continuity, mentorship, and a pipeline of speakers and partners.

Start in Saclay operates as a volunteer-led association governed by an annually elected bureau — President, Vice-President, Secretary General, Treasurer, and functional team members — with leadership rotating each academic mandate (currently 2025-2026). The organization is headquartered at 1 rue de la Libération, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France. No external investors, parent entity, or commercial revenue model is disclosed; the association is supported by partners since 2014 and does not charge students for participation.

Name

Start in Saclay

Legal name

Start in Saclay

Website

https://startinsaclay.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Start in Saclay is a French non-profit student association founded in 2014 that organizes free entrepreneurship events — masterclasses, pitch contests, workshops, and afterworks — for 65,000+ students across 20 schools on the Paris-Saclay plateau.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Entrepreneurship Events

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB), Small Business & Entrepreneurship Community Education (EDAAAFAK)

Keywords

• Student entrepreneurship programs
• Pitch competitions
• Entrepreneurial masterclasses
• Student community events
• Startup networking workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Jouy-en-Josas

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Association sponsorship and support: Supported since 2014 by partners; specific revenue model not publicly disclosed. The association operates as a non-profit student organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Start in Saclay is a student-led non-profit association that organizes free entrepreneurship-focused events throughout the academic year for students across the Paris-Saclay plateau. Its programming includes expert-led Masterclasses, pitch competitions (notably Le Saclay 20), collaborative Workshops, and informal Afterwork networking sessions. Events are open to all students from the plateau's 20 schools, subject to availability, and are supported by partners including Entrepreneur First, Hugging Face, Mistral AI, Le Wagon, UBS, XAnge, and Bocconi University.

Product overview

Start in Saclay is a student-led entrepreneurial association at Paris-Saclay that organizes events throughout the academic year to raise awareness and support students in entrepreneurship. The organization offers a portfolio of event programs: Masterclass (expert-led sessions), Pitch Contest competitions (including Le Saclay 20 startup ranking), Workshop collaborative problem-solving sessions, and Afterwork networking events. The association covers 65,000+ students across 20 schools on the Saclay plateau and has been operating since 2014.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Masterclass Expert-led sessions where professionals (public figures or otherwise) share their expertise or career journeys with students. Example: "La levée de fonds : entre VC et entrepreneuriat" with Masteos, XAnge, UBS, and Yooner Avocats. Targeted at students of the Paris-Saclay plateau.
• Concours de pitch (Pitch Contest) Competition in which student entrepreneurs present their startup projects to a jury of entrepreneurs and investors. Includes the annual "Le Saclay 20" ranking of the 20 best student and alumni startups from the Paris-Saclay plateau. Targeted at student entrepreneurs.
• Workshop Group working sessions where students collaborate to solve entrepreneurial problems. Example: the "LLM Hack" workshop conducted with Hugging Face, Mistral AI, and Entrepreneur First. Targeted at students of the Paris-Saclay plateau.
• Afterwork Informal networking events designed to build connections and synergies among association members and external participants. Example: a seminar in Milan to meet partners from Bocconi University's student entrepreneur association. Targeted at internal and external members of the Start in Saclay community.

Quantifiable outcome

• 65,000+ students reached across 20 schools
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Entrepreneur FirstcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizes events with Entrepreneur First to support student entrepreneurs on the Paris-Saclay plateau. Entrepreneur First provides expertise and resources for startup development programs.
• Hugging FacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered for the 'LLM Hack' workshop, providing technical expertise and resources for students learning about large language models.
• Mistral AIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered for the 'LLM Hack' workshop alongside Hugging Face and Entrepreneur First to provide students with exposure to leading AI technology companies.
• Le WagonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoding bootcamp partner collaborating on workshops and educational events for student entrepreneurs.
• Startup for KidsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for entrepreneurship events targeting children and youth, expanding the association's reach to younger entrepreneurs.
• Bocconi University (Milan)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership with the student entrepreneurship association at Bocconi University in Milan. Includes seminar exchange program and international networking opportunities.
• MasteosminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParticipated as a speaker/partner in masterclass on fundraising: 'La levée de fonds : entre VC et entrepreneuriat'.
• Yooner AvocatsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal firm that provided expertise during the fundraising masterclass for student entrepreneurs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Le Wagon: France-based coding bootcamp and existing Start in Saclay partner. Operates an adjacent, partially overlapping mission — training aspiring student entrepreneurs in technical skills — and shares the workshop/education format.
• École 42: Free, peer-driven French coding school with no teachers or tuition. Shares Start in Saclay's free-access, student-led ethos and serves as a comparable French model of alternative, volunteer-organized education targeting the same young tech/entrepreneur audience.
• F Founders: French entrepreneur community and event organizer targeting early-stage founders, including student entrepreneurs. Operates similar event-driven programming (mixers, talks, demo nights) at a slightly more advanced stage than Start in Saclay's student-only audience.

Direct peers

• Polytechnique Entrepreneurs: Student entrepreneurship organization at École Polytechnique, another anchor school on the Paris-Saclay plateau. Directly comparable: event-driven format (talks, pitch competitions, hackathons) targeting the same engineering-student entrepreneurial audience.
• CentraleSupélec Entrepreneurs: Student entrepreneurship club at CentraleSupélec, a Paris-Saclay plateau school. Operates a similar event-driven model (pitch contests, workshops) targeting the same engineering-student population that Start in Saclay serves.
• Bocconi Students for Entrepreneurship: Student entrepreneurship association at Bocconi University in Milan. Already an international partner of Start in Saclay, operating an analogous event-driven model (masterclasses, pitch contests, networking) and serving as the most directly comparable international counterpart.
• HEC Entrepreneurs: Student entrepreneurship association at HEC Paris, one of the 20 schools on the Paris-Saclay plateau that Start in Saclay serves. Directly comparable mission (federating HEC student entrepreneurs) and overlapping membership base, making it both a peer and a potential co-organizer for plateau-wide events.

Broad incumbents

• Y Combinator Startup School: Free online startup education program from Y Combinator. Targets the same aspiring-founder audience as Start in Saclay (students exploring entrepreneurship) but at global scale; represents the broader, more established alternative for self-directed student founders.
• Station F: Largest startup campus in the world (Paris). Operates broad entrepreneur-support programming (incubators, events, VC access) at a vastly larger scale than Start in Saclay; while not a direct competitor (free student events vs. paid programs), it represents the broader ecosystem within which Start in Saclay's members eventually operate.

Others

• Junior Enterprises (CNJE network): National federation of French student-run consulting businesses (Junior-Entreprises) operating inside engineering and business schools. Shares the volunteer-student-organization governance model with Start in Saclay and represents a broader ecosystem of student-led, sponsorship-funded French organizations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 Start in Saclay