CISAM identified as one of the 25 places of innovation in France

Among the 300 initiatives identified, 25 were selected based on their ability to provide the resources necessary for entrepreneurial creativity and which, through "their organization, their model, their service offer or their territorial anchoring, represent excellence in their ability to concretely "serve" entrepreneurs". Among these 25 initiatives are three actors in the Aix-Marseille area: the Cité de l'Innovation et des Savoirs Aix-Marseille, Le Cloître in Marseille (innovation and social entrepreneurship cluster) and La Coque (innovation and digital event center in Aix-Marseille).

The objective of this study is to demonstrate the vitality of a large number of places and initiatives for interaction, sharing and experimentation throughout France, by listing the role, organization, services, operating models, and real estate and territorial anchoring methods of these places that are changing innovation in France. These are places that are as different as they are surprising, and which place the need for collective action, exchange and transversality as the basis for innovation.

Designed as a unique space for entrepreneurial creativity, meetings and enrichment in the Aix-Marseille territory, CISAM was created at the initiative of Eric Berton, President of Aix-Marseille University in 2018. It is the fruit of intelligence and ambition shared by Aix-Marseille University, the largest metropolitan university in France, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, the CMA CGM Group and the L'OCCITANE Group.

With the same desire to develop scientific culture and innovation for economic growth, these partners have joined forces around a unique concept: to bring together on the same site all the resources needed to stimulate innovative approaches and make them more fluid. CISAM is a meeting place for creation, incubation and acceleration of projects, and is a space that serves all those who innovate in the Aix-Marseille area.

The study emphasizes that "CISAM has thus established itself as a space serving all those who innovate in the Aix-Marseille area, offering them a place to meet, create, and incubate projects... within the same "totem" building located in the Joliette business district, at 61 Boulevard des Dames. CISAM structures its offer around taking care of innovation needs (from the idea/concept and its concretization), offering each project holder personalized support at their request."

This study highlights the dynamism of the Aix-Marseille region in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation and the richness of the local ecosystem that organizes, collaborates, shares and exchanges with a view to creating value. More than 60 support structures and numerous facilities: fab labs, third-party spaces, coworking spaces, etc. are available to entrepreneurs. The region has around 30 scale-ups and the Aix-Marseille French Tech cluster is the second largest in France, after Paris, with no fewer than 800 start-ups.

Local players also play a major role in the reputation of these new spaces. Institutions, cities, regions, universities, and private companies are all providing support and deploying resources to strengthen, accelerate, and make these innovation spaces more visible. This is the case in the Aix-Marseille region, which combines public forces (the Southern Region, the Aix-Marseille Provence Metropolis, the Bouches-du-Rhône Department, the cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, etc.) with national and local industrialists to help this ecosystem live and grow.

Find the study on: https: //www.25lieuxinnovation.fr/

About Aix-Marseille University
Aix-Marseille University (AMU) is home to 80,000 students and nearly 8,000 staff on five large campuses of international standards. The university owns its own property and is present in 9 major cities in 4 departments. Its A*Midex University Foundation, which is the bearer of the IDEX, contributes to the development of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary pole of higher education and research of world-class rank. Known as a "research-intensive university," it is home to 113 research units, nine federations and some 50 technology platforms linked to major national organizations. AMU is committed to interdisciplinarity, which is at the heart of its strategy and training. It has already created Territorial Innovation Poles (PIT), access for economic players to certified technological platforms, the Aix-Marseille City of Innovation and Knowledge (CISAM) and 18 institutional institutes that guarantee bridges between research and training. A responsible and committed university, Aix-Marseille University has made "living together" a priority and is renowned in international rankings for its anti-discrimination policy and, more generally, its CSR policy. Widely open to the world since its creation (10,000 international students and more than 40 diplomas in international partnership), it is the winner of the European Commission's call for projects to build "CIVIS, a European Civic University" with its 9 European partners, contributing to the major societal challenges, particularly in Africa and the Mediterranean.

About the Cité de l'Innovation et des Savoirs Aix-Marseille
A unique space for entrepreneurial creativity, encounters and enrichment in the Aix-Marseille area, the CISAM is the fruit of the intelligence and ambitions shared by the largest French-speaking university in Aix-Marseille, the largest metropolis in France, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and two French multinationals: CMA CGM and the L'OCCITANE Group. Sharing the same desire to develop a scientific culture and innovation for economic growth, these partners have come together around a unique concept: to bring together on a single site all the resources needed to stimulate innovative approaches and make them more fluid. CISAM is a place for meetings, creation, project incubation, and acceleration, and is a space that serves all those who innovate in the Aix-Marseille region.