Station F Based Hardware Accelerator Focus By Usine IO To Launch Industry 4.0 Program

How would you describe Usine IO in 50 or fewer words?

Usine IO provides services designed to boost the development of hardware projects. Our members, entrepreneurs, SMEs and larger corporations, have access to our technical expertise, our in-house methodology and our network of industrial suppliers, all dedicated to bringing hardware projects from an idea to an industrially produced product.

We also run a thematic acceleration program called Focus in partnership with selected industrial stakeholders at Station F.

What is your role at Usine IO and how did you get involved?

As mentioned before, Focus by Usine IO is a hardware themed acceleration program. Three stakeholders are involved: Usine IO, industrial partners, and Station F. All partners provide specific expertise linked to the theme; Station F provides the infrastructure and the ecosystem. Usine IO manages the program’s organization and mobilizes resources to help the selected startups step up their project.

As Head of the Acceleration Program, I am in charge of sourcing partners to finance the program, sourcing startups worldwide, building a tailored program for each startup, daily organization and relationships (scheduling events, technical and business meetings etc.), communication and branding. Guillaume Larieu works with me as the program manager.

Tell us a bit about your program – what can startups expect and what do you ask for in return?

Focus is four months long program, aiming at fulfilling our startups’ needs in four aspects: technical, business, project management, and network. We rely on Usine IO’s expertise and network regarding technical meetings, IP, design, electronics, mechanics, etc. We also developed a project management method and tools to monitor the projects’ progress, complemented by pitching sessions, lawyer meetings, etc. In regards to business, our partners’ involvement manifests in sharing their business expertise during weekly meetings. For networking, we offer our startups to tackle specific issues by organizing meetings with corporate professionals active in the respective domain. Moreover, during these meetings our startups can also showcase their demo/prototype to corporates, talk about potential partnerships and – why not! – negotiate the first sale.

In the area of hardware, what innovations are you looking for specifically?

Each batch is created around a specific theme thus we are seeking companies which are relevant to the current theme. For example, our first batch, launched in October 2017, focused on autonomous and connected mobility. By mid-April this year we will launch the 2nd program dedicated to Industry 4.0. More specifically, we’ll look for cyber-physical systems, IoT, Cloud & Cognitive computing, and predictive maintenance startups.

Why should a startup apply to Focus / Usine IO?

Usine IO is one of the few hardware accelerators in Europe. A startup should apply to Usine IO to be accompanied on their path from idea to product, to benefit from a targeted network, to build their own in coherence with their business needs, and to get familiar with the industrial sphere.

With the insane growth of accelerators joining the ecosystem in Europe – how do you make sure you stand out?

Currently, we have the only acceleration program dedicated to hardware. Usine IO has accompanied more than 500 hardware since 2014. Because we focus on a specific theme, we are able to work with very specific companies, linked to this theme (PSA and Valeo for automotive for example). Thanks to this unique corporate and industrial partners operation, startups benefit from our targeted expertise. Thus Focus can help startups to reach their ambitious objectives very efficiently.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

We keep a close eye on our alumni and aim to develop a powerful community in the future. We measure the success of our startups by keeping track of their funding rounds, launched products, media coverage, trade shows, job creations and so on. However, we’re not the only ones for whom these success stories are interesting, which is why we decided to video-interview our alumni and publish the result on our website.

As a French accelerator, what do you wish for in improving the European startup ecosystem?

I wish for the fundraising system in Europe to become simpler and more efficient in the next few years. Having been working in the hardware sector for the last three years, I noticed that investors are often reluctant to take financial risks with startups whose project implies taking a physical product to mass manufacture. Today, the market is still far too shy to invest in hardware.

What advice would you give entrepreneurs for their startup?

Hardware innovation happens thanks to prototyping, prototyping, prototyping, prototyping and iteration, iteration, iteration, iteration. “Build, make, iterate” is our motto – find the right people you can trust for advice. Success depends on choice, and it should always be a focused choice!!

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