The Innovation Factory: Innovating and approaching entrepreneurship differently with the Université de Lyon

The Innovation Factory harnesses the talent and creativity of students, the scientific excellence of researchers and the technological and scientific platforms used by all institutions of the Université de Lyon to develop innovative projects, in partnership with companies, local and regional authorities, clusters, etc.
It strengthens the relationships between academic and socio-economic communities by working in synergy with the Student Center for Innovation, the Beelys Transfer and Entrepreneurship center (PEPITE) and Pulsalys, the Technology Transfer Acceleration Company (SATT).

The Innovation Factory is supported by IDEXLYON.

• Establish a pioneering policy for innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and design.
• Become a leader in creation and innovation to contribute to the region's economic development and national and international outreach;
• Enable companies and institutions to immerse themselves in an innovative ecosystem, and to benefit from a different perspective on their projects and issues;
• Help develop innovative teaching by offering students the opportunity to work directly on concrete projects led by companies.

• Access to two temporary sites, the 'Innovation Pre-Factories', which are innovative and customizable collaborative working spaces:
  • a 350-m² space on the LyonTech-la Doua campus
  • a 360-m² space on the Manufacture campus in Saint-Étienne
• The CAP’S program, ChAllenge Pluridisciplinaire (multidisciplinary challenge), provides organizations (companies, clusters, associations, etc.) with an innovative perspective on a given issue and the opportunity to explore many different possibilities. To this end, the Innovation Factory is organizing creativity challenges to generate new solutions in a short time of just one or two days. These custom “ideathons” draw students from several institutions, who are selected based on the proposed topics.
• The PEP’s program, Projet en Équipe Pluridisciplinaire (multidisciplinary team project), enables companies to develop a project alongside research professors and students from several institutions of the Université de Lyon. To this end, the Innovation Factory is recruiting interns from a variety of fields to build project-based teams. The teams will be supported by research professors in an innovation project within a company spanning several months. Recruitment, supervision, working methods... The Innovation Factory offers tailored programs to address companies’ needs and constraints.