Ecosystem Projects 4 minutes

My year at the studio by Co-Idea

Immerse yourself in the story of a year of entrepreneurial exploration in ISS program, through alumni testimonies. Whether they created an innovative business at the end or not, everyone experienced an engaged, enriching and personal year. Listen to them and discover through the videos and interviews, their challenges, highlights and major learnings; without forgetting the power of the meetings that make the history of startups.

Philippe Giraudeau: “I don’t know of any equivalent to ISS in the deeptech sector.”

During his research work, Philippe Giraudeau was far removed from the entrepreneurial world, a world he reconciled with when he founded the startup Co-Idea, an EdTech specializing in creating interactive environments through augmented reality. Inria Startup Studio helped him adopt the startup mindset necessary to commercialize his innovation.

Co-Idea: Innovation in Spatial Augmented Reality

At a time when augmented reality holds increasing promise in the field of training, Co-Idea is leveraging spatial augmented reality to create hybrid environments, where virtual projections and physical objects intertwine to bring more engaging experiences to all participants.

Using a video projector and a camera, Co-Idea’s solution allows a group to interact with content projected onto a flat surface, enhancing collaboration during classes or brainstorming sessions and thereby increasing efficiency.

Co-Idea’s development

Officially founded in October 2023 by Wilfried Mayengo and Philippe Giraudeau, EdTech Co-Idea particularly targets higher education institutions and professional training organizations, following its initial focus on the national education sector. This strategic evolution is typical for a young company exploring its market, showcasing the capabilities Philippe Giraudeau developed during his time at Inria Startup Studio in 2022.

“I completed my thesis at Inria center in Bordeaux, and I felt it was a shame to leave unused this technology derived from the work of the Potioc team and the e-TAC research project led by the University of Lorraine,” explains Philippe Giraudeau.

Looking for a way to develop practical applications around his work, Philippe Giraudeau then discovered the advantages offered by Inria Startup Studio: “The main advantage is staying within the same ecosystem while mitigating many risks. Inria allowed me to use the proprietary code I had developed during my thesis. I was remunerated for a year, which allowed me to test the market with more confidence.

Additionally, I benefited from guidance from ISS mentors and had access to the entrepreneurship program at EM Lyon. This enabled me to ask the right questions: which clients would be interested in the solution, what problems would it solve, and at what price?“

The startup ecosystem, a somewhat “opaque” environment

ISS helped Philippe Giraudeau embrace the principles of entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem, a world that was entirely unfamiliar to him before joining the program:

“To be honest, during my research work, I was even somewhat anti-startup, in the sense that I found the term too ‘marketing’. The fact that a research entity like Inria invests in creating businesses seemed obscure to me, in every sense of the term!

Since then, my perspective has completely changed, and I now find the mission of the Startup Studio natural. Inria is actually best positioned to support researchers in entrepreneurship and help bring their innovations out of the labs. I don’t know of any equivalent to ISS in the deeptech sector.”

Strategic Advantages for Founding Co-Idea

Beyond the financial security provided by ISS, Philippe Giraudeau also benefited for a year from legal assistance and Inria’s network, which helped him navigate the uncertainties of starting up and ultimately positioned Co-Idea as an EdTech player.

“Like many entrepreneurs, initially I was unfamiliar with the intricacies of choosing a SAS, distributing shares in a company, or drafting a shareholders’ agreement. Another benefit of the Startup Studio is immersing ourselves in this environment alongside other project leaders.

Now I have a significant understanding of various aspects related to startups, such as fundraising, evaluating market size, building a marketing strategy, and selling solutions. Should we prioritize sales or leasing? Which customers are likely to adopt our solutions the quickest? Who are the decision-makers, and how should we present Co-Idea to them?

I’ve had the opportunity to engage with numerous educational leaders to tailor our approach, and I realized that I needed to expand our development into higher education and professional training, not limiting ourselves to primary and secondary education,” explains the co-founder of Co-Idea. “This way, we aim to appeal to future professionals and increasingly collaborate with businesses.”

A Journey with Rewards Along the Way

To achieve this, the startup also relies on :

the support of Bordeaux Technowest incubator, joined in October 2022.
its victory in the iPhD competition organized by BPI France in the same year to reward the best deeptech projects, which enabled it to gain the support of Deeptech Founders and Adoc Talent Management.

Discover Philippe Giraudeau’s video !