An interview with Mr. Cédric DENIS-RÉMIS, Vice-President, Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Université PSL
Université PSL, a major player in tomorrow’s innovation and economy
What are the main thrusts of Université PSL innovation support policy?
For a long time, universities were known for their first two missions: education and research. Today, their third mission is increasingly visible: innovation in the broadest sense of the term, technology transfer and associated value creation (joint laboratories, creation of start-ups and jobs, etc.). Université PSL has been committed to achieving a strong socio-economic impact for over 10 years, and is a pioneer in this field. Alongside the classic model of patent registration, licensing and royalties, it has developed a new model to help researchers set up their own companies. This has had a snowball effect: we now have a veritable population of researcher-entrepreneurs, co-founders, shareholders or scientific managers of startups. In this model, the license is granted to an entrepreneur, not a long-established company; it is converted into a shareholding by not asking for money at the very beginning of the company’s life, when it is most fragile. Every year, around ten research-related startups are created within the University. In addition, PSL has acquired a stake in 30 active startups, as well as around 30 others via the PSL Innovation Fund, an independent investment fund it set up with Elaia. A third of these are active in biology-health, a third in digital and AI, and a final third in climate technologies.
Why does PSL particularly support the emergence of deeptech start-ups?
Unlike “classic” companies, deeptech startups are closely linked to science and research, and are capital-intensive – a necessity if they are to develop an industrial prototype. What’s more, it takes a very long time to master a new technology, but the expected impact is significant: a new vaccine, a new solution for mobility or the climate…
Could you give us a few examples of success stories in this field?
There are a lot of them! But I can give you three. SUBLIME Energie has developed a revolutionary process for liquefying biogas from organic agricultural waste (pig slurry). This world first should optimize the management of this waste and democratize methanization on farms. Investors have made no mistake: in March 2024, deep tech start-up SUBLIME Energie raised €11.5 million. For its part, Energo has developed a revolutionary chemical synthesis technology combining heterogeneous catalysis and cold plasma. This clean, low-carbon technology can be applied in particular to the production of renewable gas by converting biogenic CO and CO2 from waste treatment or the metallurgical industry into CH4. This enabled it to raise €16.5 million in May 2024. Finally, LightOn is the first player in generative AI to go public on Euronext Growth in Paris. This IPO enabled it to raise €12 million in November 2024. A great recognition for this company: after marketing photonic co-processors for very large-scale AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) on supercomputers, it will soon be marketing Paradigm, a design-secure generative AI platform for enterprises.
Students in a cutting-edge laboratory at ESPCI Paris – PSL
Could you tell us about PSL’s Pôle Universitaire d’Innovation (PUI)?
Université PSL is one of the 29 winners of the 2023 call for proposals for the Pôles Universitaires d’Innovation (PUIs – University Innovation Clusters). As such, it has received €11 million over 4 years, the largest amount ever allocated in this context. This reinforces PSL’s policy, which places relations with the socio-economic world at the heart of its priorities, and positions it as a major player in innovation and the economy of tomorrow. The PUIs will accelerate the strengthening of our ecosystem, helping to create value and reindustrialize France. To achieve this, we have a number of levers at our disposal: raising awareness, technology platforms, strengthening links with companies, supporting startups, and of course communication to create links with society as a whole. It is in this spirit of openness that Mines Paris Research Day will be held on June 23, 2026 (with a special session on AI applications in defense) and the Deeptech Forum, also organized by Mines Paris-PSL on March 18, 2026. Events that bring people together!
Originally published in ©Parlementaires de France Magazine, now ©Research Innov France.
