Becoming an entrepreneur without interrupting your studies: tailored agility at Telecom SudParis

Starting in the 2026 academic year, Telecom SudParis will be taking a new step forward in its commitment to aspiring company creators, with the official launch of its own entrepreneurship support program. Fully integrated into the engineering curriculum, this customized framework allows students to replace up to seven months of internships with the development of their own project. As a member institution of Institut Mines-Télécom and a founding member of Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris), Telecom SudParis relies on its incubator IMT Starter to give every student the freedom to turn an idea into a start-up. Sébastien Cauwet, Director of the incubator, explains how it works.

A pioneering approach, centered around student autonomy

As early as 2000, 14 years before the Pépites network established the National Student-Entrepreneur Status (SNEE), Telecom SudParis was already allowing its engineering students to replace an internship with a start-up project, through its IMT Starter incubator. “The Telecom SudParis program was in place before the creation of Pépites and the national status,” says Sébastien Cauwet.

Now, the school is formalizing this long-standing commitment by launching its own “Engineer-Entrepreneur” program. The goal is to provide flexibility for students. Rather than imposing external administrative procedures or rigid structures, the in-house program at Telecom SudParis allows students to begin, pause, or accelerate their entrepreneurial journey according to the actual pace of their project, while focusing on what matters most: support throughout their studies.

IMT Starter: a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs

Directed by Telecom SudParis and run in partnership with Institut Mines-Télécom Business School (IMT-BS) and ENSIIE, the IMT Starter incubator plays a key role in the academic program. It is both:

• An academic advisory board: the essential step for any student wishing to have their entrepreneurial project recognized as part of their studies (validation of internships, ECTS credits, supervised projects).
• A service platform: one-on-one coaching, themed workshops, access to the incubator's facilities and networking with an ecosystem of experts.

The support on offer is tailored to all needs, ranging from very short-term formats (one-off meetings or hackathons) to long-term immersion programs that can last an entire year.

From the lightbulb moment to the “100% Entrepreneurship” year

The program follows a progressive approach that is accessible to everyone without ever being forced upon them:

• 1st year: Exploration without pressure: Discussions, events and support during free time (Thursday afternoons, evenings) to work on an idea.
• 2nd year: Collective experimentation: A mandatory awareness week brings together the entire cohort for the Challenge Projets d'Entreprendre® (Entrepreneurship Projects Challenge), alongside students from IMT-BS and ENSIIE. The program can be continued through an optional entrepreneurship module (30 hours) or by carrying out the Cassiopée project (180 hours), based on the students’ own ideas.
• 3rd year: Full immersion: The IDEE Major offers a semester entirely dedicated to entrepreneurship and the business model, which future founders can extend by completing their final internship on their own project.

In total, across the three internships in the program, up to seven months in total (in the 2nd and 3rd years) can be devoted to starting a business. A fully committed student can thus spend “one out of three years” of their studies building their start-up.

“Come as you are”: open access and strict criteria for graduation

Unlike a closed cohort with a set recruitment schedule, admission to the program is not subject to any criteria regarding the maturity of the project. “Any student at Telecom SudParis, without exception, who has a project to start a business is welcomed and listened to,” says Sébastien Cauwet. All it takes is a simple hunch to enroll in the incubator's Summer School or request a one-on-one meeting.

There is only one formal selection process, when a 3rd-year student requests to replace the final internship with their own project, through the engineer-entrepreneur agreement. A panel composed of representatives from the incubator and the education directorate evaluates whether the project demonstrates sufficient maturity, in terms of business and engineering, to allow the student to fully commit to it for six months in a manner that meets the requirements of their degree. If approved, a dual supervision arrangement is implemented: IMT Starter focuses on the start-up aspect, the business model and development, while a faculty member acting as a supervisor ensures the scientific and technical standards required by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (CTI).

“There's no harm in trying”

“The program is fully integrated into the academic curriculum. In the best-case scenario, your start-up takes off and you create your own job. At worst, you decide to stop, but you'll have gained project experience, management skills and leadership qualities that are valuable to any recruiter.” Sébastien Cauwet, Director of the IMT Starter incubator.

Structured support: coaching, workshops and a network of entrepreneurs

In practical terms, support is based on a personalized combination of:

• Individual meetings lasting about an hour, between the student, an incubator representative and an experienced entrepreneur in the field of digital technology, to review the project's progress and the division of roles within the team.
• Group workshops led by professionals, on the start-up ecosystem, market research, pre-launch activities, fundraising strategies, etc.
• Key networking events: Startup Shakers, the Innov'Night hackathon, the Startup Weekend and an open day held every year in late September.

In the halls of IMT Starter, this dynamic is reflected in projects rooted in the school’s areas of excellence: digital health, cybersecurity, optimization of internal processes (HR, sales performance, energy efficiency) and quantum solutions.

A win-win ecosystem for partner companies

This program also benefits the school's network of partners. Companies use innovations from incubated start-ups to enhance their offerings to major clients, sponsor the Challenge Projets d'Entreprendre®, one of France’s leading student start-up competitions, and contribute through patronage to the honor loan fund, becoming major donors to Fondation Mines-Télécom. It offers a unique opportunity for companies to identify the talent and technological building blocks of the future at a very early stage.

Find out more:

→ The Entrepreneurship Pathway at Telecom SudParis

→ The IDEE Major at Telecom SudParis

→ Overview of the IMT Starter incubator