The State Innovation Competitions award ceremony recognized 109 projects this year, including 40 i-PhD laureates and 69 i-Lab laureates. These initiatives, funded by the State as part of France 2030 and managed by Bpifrance, aim to support the transfer of research into business. The i-Lab competition supports the creation of technology companies emerging from public research, while i-PhD assists young researchers in valorizing their work and building entrepreneurial projects.
Among the i-PhD laureates, four projects from Institut Polytechnique de Paris received distinctions, including two Grand Prizes. The 3DCAM Sensors project, developed at the Plasma Physics Laboratory (LPP), received the Grand Prix Souveraineté i-PhD for its compact sensors measuring charged particles in low Earth orbit. The TatouAI project, from the SAMOVAR laboratory, won the Grand Prix i-PhD for its technology to trace artificial intelligence models. The AOPOLAR project, aimed at assisting in brain tumor surgery, and STRUCMEDICA, offering predictive diagnostics for infrastructure, were also recognized.
In the i-Lab category, four projects were awarded, including one Grand Prize. Praedon, a spin-off from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, received the Grand Prix i-Lab for its AI models combining deep learning and operational research for industrial decision-making problems. Other i-Lab laureates include Label4.AI CROMA for its solution detecting AI-generated or manipulated content, Ocean WM for analyzing marine data, and Sonaid.AI for embedded artificial intelligence recognizing critical sound events.
i-PhD laureates will benefit from a one-year support program including coaching and immersion in the deeptech ecosystem. i-Lab laureates will receive financial support of up to 600,000 euros per project, complemented by tailored business development support.
