KEDGE strengthens its commitment to the "Entrepreneurs dans la Ville" programme to promote integration into the workforce through entrepreneurship

Aimed at supporting young people from priority neighbourhoods who have a business creation project, the “Entrepreneurs dans la Ville” programme was created by Sport dans la Ville and Emlyon Business School, with whom KEDGE shares the same values of social responsibility, inclusiveness, and openness to the world.

For KEDGE, this partnership is part of, and complementary to, its Ecole Entrepreneuriale, a new programme created in September 2020 which is dedicated to young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 30 and who mainly come from priority neighbourhoods.

Lasting 24 months, Entrepreneurs dans la Ville works with 15 to 25 business creators and is structured around four key stages: 

• Sourcing: intended for young people from priority neighbourhoods, candidates for the programme are selected for their level of commitment and the feasibility of the projects they plan to develop. 

• Starter: A 6-month acceleration programme is offered to each participant, with 2 to 3 days of training per week on five main themes: marketing, strategy, economic model, financing, and commercial strategy. Each participant receives guidance from a mentor in the formulation of his or her business plan. 

• Incubation: Each participant benefits from an 18-month incubation programme to help them accelerate the creation of their company (individual monitoring by a startup manager, mentoring system, privileged access to expert consultants, free access to coworking spaces or incubators).

• Follow up: In addition to the 24 months of free support offered by the programme, specific services can be provided to entrepreneurs according to their needs, including membership to joining the EDLV Business Club which brings together all graduates from the programme.

Created in Lyon in 2007, the programme is also offered in Paris, Lille, Saint-Etienne and, because of the recent partnership with KEDGE, now in Marseille, which ensures the operational coordination and pedagogical supervision of the Starter training programme (certified by emlyon business school).

“Entrepreneurs dans la Ville has proven itself by providing support to more than 375 young entrepreneurs since 2007, thanks to the support of our partners who contribute to the expansion of the programme and the development of the support offer. We are very happy to be able to count on KEDGE to ensure the success of the programme in Marseille", Michel Coster, Professor of Entrepreneurship at emlyon business school and Pedagogical Director of the Entrepreneurs dans la Ville programme. 

The partnership will be developed with a view to deployment in the Bordeaux area, where the school's head office is located. "In a cross-collaborative approach, Sport dans la Ville also plans to roll out the Ecole Entrepreneuriale in areas where the Entrepreneurs dans la Ville programme is already in place," explained Philippe Oddou, Managing Director of Sport dans la Ville.

In the field of inclusive innovation, this approach corresponds perfectly to our strategic objective of facilitating access to training for all. With "Entrepreneurs dans la Ville", we share the goal of integration through entrepreneurship at the service of the territories in a concept of complementarity of our systems," indicates Anil Benard-Dende, Deputy General Director of KEDGE.

Created in 1998, Sport dans la Ville is the main association for integration through sport in France.

The association sets up and supervises sports centres in priority neighbourhoods. All of the programmes developed by the association promote the social and professional integration of 7,000 young people from priority neighbourhoods.

In order for each young person to find the road to success and employment, Sport dans la Ville has created the following programmes:

• L dans la Ville for the emancipation and professional insertion of the 1,770 Associations’ young women
• Job dans la Ville d to help 1,640 young people, from the age of 15, to succeed in their orientation and professional integration.
• The Entrepreneurs dans la Ville business start-up programme, which has enabled the creation of 259 businesses since 2007.

Marseille PRESS RELEASE