The “Espoir” prize at the Belle de Mai incubator’s twenty-fifth anniversary

The Belle de Mai incubator marked twenty-five years by bringing back the companies that had passed through it. The "Espoir" prize rewards a trajectory in progress rather than a result already achieved, which describes fairly well where Sycon stood at that date.

What incubation had provided

A place, neighbours who had already hit the same obstacles, and the obligation to say out loud what you are building. For an industrial product, with a long sales cycle and a demonstration that is hard to give at a desk, that constraint is worth more than advice.

What the prize recognised

The direction taken: instrument the existing fleet rather than wait for it to be replaced.