Pépite Centre-Val de Loire

What Pépite Centre-Val de Loire does

Pépite Centre-Val de Loire is a regional public service organization supporting student entrepreneurship in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France, founded in 2014 as one of 32 national Pépites initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. It is administratively hosted by the University of Tours and operates in coordination with the Université d'Orléans and INSA Centre-Val de Loire as co-founding institutional partners. The organization delivers the Statut National Étudiant-Entrepreneur (SNEE), a unique non-juridical national status that legitimizes students' entrepreneurial démarche and grants access to free personalized accompaniment, across 8 university sites covering Tours, Orléans, Blois, Bourges, Chartres, Châteauroux, Issoudun, and Vierzon.

Its core platform architecture is built around the SNEE status, supported by a layered service portfolio including awareness interventions (PEP'S, Tournée des Amphis, Créa Campus competition, Pépite's Day, Certificat Universitaire), structured accompaniment programs (SPRINT Emergence, Programme d'Accompagnement Collectif, Pépite Starter), specialized tracks (Pépite PhD for doctoral students, WOW for women entrepreneurs), and the D2E diploma program for recent graduates. Distribution is anchored by 56 active ecosystem partners and 45 partner educational establishments, with centralized digital channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) and a national SNEE application portal at snee.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr.

The business model is non-commercial: services are provided free of charge to students, funded through the Ministry of Higher Education and Research via the University of Tours, with supplementary programmatic support from the Région Centre-Val de Loire, the Préfecture, France 2030 / PUI Loire Valley Innov, Bpifrance, and BPI Création. The only fee-bearing element is the D2E university diploma (amount not publicly disclosed). In 2023-2024, the organization supported 263 student entrepreneurs, raised awareness among 4,562 students through the Opération Amphis de rentrée, and engaged 1,000+ participants in the Créa Campus competition, with 34% women among SNEE beneficiaries and 250 doctoral students sensitized to entrepreneurship.

Name

Pépite Centre-Val de Loire

Legal name

Pépite Centre Val de Loire

Website

https://pepite-centre.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pépite Centre-Val de Loire is a public service organization delivering the SNEE national student-entrepreneur status and free personalized accompaniment programs across 8 university sites in France's Centre-Val de Loire region, serving 263 student entrepreneurs annually and 1,338 cumulatively since 2014.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Entrepreneurship Support Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Mentorship & Coaching (Career, Academic, Industry-Specific) (EDAMAKAA)

Keywords

• Student entrepreneurship support
• University entrepreneurship programs
• Doctoral entrepreneur incubation
• Women entrepreneurship programs
• Higher education innovation

Headquarters

HQ city

Orléans

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Public funding and government support: Pépite CVL is a publicly funded initiative initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in 2014. It is administratively hosted by the University of Tours in coordination with the University of Orléans and INSA Centre-Val de Loire. The organization does not generate commercial revenue; services are provided free of charge to students. Some programs like D2E (Diplôme Etudiant-Entrepreneur) have registration fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Pépite Centre-Val de Loire is a public service device that delivers the Statut National Étudiant-Entrepreneur (SNEE), a non-juridical national status legitimizing students' entrepreneurial démarche, and accompanies this status with a portfolio of free accompanying programs (SPRINT Emergence, Programme d'Accompagnement Collectif, Pépip Starter, Pépip PhD, WOW), pedagogical competitions (Créa Campus, Pépip's Day), and a diploma track (D2E). It serves students and young graduates across 8 university sites in the Centre-Val de Loire region, funded by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and administered by the Université de Tours.

Product overview

Pépite Centre-Val de Loire is a regional public service supporting student entrepreneurship, organized as a platform of interconnected programs. At its core is the SNEE (Statut National Étudiant-Entrepreneur), a national non-juridical status that opens access to the full accompaniment ecosystem. This is complemented by sensitization programs (PEP'S, Tournée des Amphis, Créa Campus competition, Certificat Universitaire, Pépite's Day) for students not yet at project stage, and structured accompaniment programs (SPRINT Emergence, Programme Collectif, Pépite Starter) for those with formalized projects. Specialized tracks serve distinct audiences: Pépite PhD for doctoral researchers and young doctorate holders, and WOW (Women on Work) for women entrepreneurs. Recognition and prizes (Prix Pépite, Prix Pépite des Pépite) incentivize and showcase student projects. The D2E (Diplôme Étudiant-Entrepreneur) extends SNEE access to young graduates. Together, these programs form a continuous pathway from entrepreneurial awareness to project acceleration and alumni recognition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SNEE (Statut National Étudiant-Entrepreneur) A non-juridical national status that legitimizes students' entrepreneurial démarche and grants access to free personalized support from Pépite. Open to all post-BAC students and young graduates with a formalized project idea, enabling them to build and develop an entrepreneurial project within their training curriculum.
• SPRINT Emergence A 100% dematerialized program for early-stage student entrepreneurs to consolidate project foundations. Structured across 4 modules each combining video, deliverable, and collective webinar components.
• Programme d'Accompagnement Collectif A comprehensive collective accompaniment program featuring workshops, co-development sessions, conferences, and individual mentorship, including Cafés Pépite, JREE/JLEE (Regional/Local Student Entrepreneur Days), and Tout Savoir Sur webinars.
• Pépite Starter An intensive 3-month acceleration bootcamp program (April–July) for invested student entrepreneurs, limited to a cohort of 15, culminating in a public presentation of the project to the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• D2E (Diplôme Étudiant-Entrepreneur) A university diploma for young graduates within 3 years of their last degree, providing access to SNEE benefits with reinforced accompaniment and a professional mentor. Concludes with a Business Plan submission and defense. Registration fees apply depending on profile.
• Pépite PhD A specialized program for doctoral students and young researchers combining entrepreneurship awareness, individual coaching, and networking, with access to innovation competitions (i-PhD, i-Lab) and partner incubation programs. Linked to France 2030 PUI Loire Valley Innov.
• WOW (Women on Work) A dedicated program to support women entrepreneurs, providing masterclasses, assertiveness workshops, conferences, videos, and testimonials. Supported by PAREF (Plan d'Action Régional pour l'Entrepreneuriat des Femmes) with funding from the Centre-Val de Loire Region and BPI Création.
• Créa Campus A regional pedagogical business creation competition for student teams of 2–6 members, spanning 5 months to develop a real or fictional company or association project with prizes ranging from 500 to 5,000 euros. Teams receive professional mentorship and thematic expert-led workshops.
• Certificat Universitaire Entrepreneuriat, Innovation et Stratégie A 25-hour university certificate program for University of Tours students (Masters, Doctoral candidates) and student entrepreneurs, covering 5 theory lectures (15h) and 2 practical workshops (10h) to discover and understand the entrepreneurial démarche.
• PEP'S Short 30-minute to 1.5-hour awareness interventions to acculturate students to entrepreneurship, dispel myths about entrepreneurs, and demonstrate the diversity of entrepreneurial pathways.
• Pépite's Day A turnkey thematic one-day event (50–100 students) using participatory and innovative pedagogy around real-sector problem cases. Students work in multidisciplinary groups and present their projects to a jury. Thematics include food, tourism, ESS, cosmetics, HR, cybersecurity, and more.
• Prix Pépite Annual national award organized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in partnership with Bpifrance, selecting innovative student and young graduate projects via an independent jury at territorial and national levels.
• Atelier Assertivité A 3-hour experiential workshop on assertiveness and public speaking, developed in partnership with Christine Laurent Sagiadinos, targeting women entrepreneurs within the WOW program. Includes testimonials, personality tests, and hands-on case practice.

Quantifiable outcome

• 263 student entrepreneurs accompanied (2023-2024)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 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, major and minor.

• Université de TourscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdministrative host institution of Pépite CVL. Provides institutional framework, facilities, and coordination for the program's operations in Tours.
• Université d'OrléanscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member active in Pépite CVL. Hosts the Orléans site and coordinates entrepreneurship activities for the university.
• INSA Centre-Val de LoirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member active in Pépite CVL. Hosts sites in Blois and Bourges, with Julien Olivier serving as cross-site coordinator.
• LAB'O Village By CAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBusiness incubator in Orléans that hosted Créa Campus event and provides venue and ecosystem access for student entrepreneurs.
• CCI Loiret (Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal chamber of commerce recognizing student entrepreneurs. Mentioned student Alwina Calle appearing in Talent(s) de la CCI Loiret magazine.
• Christine Laurent SagiadinosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert partner who collaborated with Pépite CVL to develop the assertiveness workshop within the WOW (Women on Work) program.
• C VaLo (Centre Val de Loire Innovation)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional valorization structure for doctoral research projects, providing double follow-up for PhD students whose projects relate to their research.
• SPV (Sciences Poitiers Valorisation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerValorization structure supporting PhD students with research-linked entrepreneurial projects, part of the double follow-up system for Pepite PhD.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute: HEC's center provides entrepreneurship education, mentorship, and incubator access (e.g., HEC Challenge+) comparable to Pépite CVL's programs. Differs in serving a private, selective student base and being privately funded.
• EMLYON Entrepreneurship Center: Private grande école entrepreneurship hub offering mentorship, incubators, and pitch competitions to its students. Comparable as a structured university-based entrepreneurship accompaniment platform, but serves a private-school student base rather than a regional public mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Station F: World's largest startup campus in Paris offering incubation and acceleration programs. Comparable as a French entrepreneurship support platform, though focused on post-student founders and operating at much larger commercial scale.
• IncubAlliance: University of Paris-Saclay-affiliated technology incubator supporting deep-tech and student-led spinoffs. Comparable as a university-hosted entrepreneurship support entity, though more research-commericalization focused than the broad student-entrepreneurship scope of Pépite.
• French Tech Central: National government-backed ecosystem supporting French startups, including student founders. Comparable as a publicly mandated entrepreneurship support umbrella, but oriented toward later-stage startup visibility rather than early-stage student accompaniment.
• Bpifrance Le Lab: Bpifrance's innovation research arm and direct financial partner of the Prix Pépite program. Compares as the broader national ecosystem player that funds and complements Pépite's student pipeline with post-creation capital and acceleration.

Emerging players

• 42 (École 42): Free, peer-to-peer programming school with strong entrepreneurship culture and founder output. Comparable as a tuition-free, public-interest educational institution fostering entrepreneurial mindsets among French students, though focused on software engineering talent.

Direct peers

• Pépite Île-de-France: Largest regional Pépite, also delivering SNEE status to student entrepreneurs in the Île-de-France region under the same Ministry of Higher Education and Research mandate. Directly comparable in mandate, funding model, and program structure.
• Pépite HESAM: Another of the 32 national Pépites, hosted by a higher-education consortium. Operates the same SNEE delivery model, mentorship programs, and Créa Campus-style competitions, making it a structural twin.

Others

• CCI France (Chambers of Commerce): National network of Chambers of Commerce that, through entities like CCI Loiret, partners with Pépite CVL to recognize student entrepreneurs. Comparable as a business-creation support ecosystem with territorial coverage, but oriented toward post-formation business owners rather than students.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCeCYG1gG4l4mcxjYiPOqPew
• Facebookfacebook.com/pepitecentre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pepitecentre
• Instagraminstagram.com/pepitecentre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Pépite Centre-Val de Loire