Cohort #15:
a new momentum for SquareLab!

A rapidly accelerating entrepreneurial dynamic

For more than ten years, the SquareLab Open Incubator has pursued a dual ambition: supporting project leaders in turning their ideas into reality and contributing, through innovation and entrepreneurship, to the economic vitality of the region.

With a six-month support programme combining group workshops, individual mentoring, and immersion in a dynamic academic and entrepreneurial ecosystem, SquareLab supports two cohorts of entrepreneurs each year through the key phases of structuring and developing their initiatives.

The new cohort, bringing together 24 project leaders, fully embodies this momentum. It will benefit from structured and progressive support based on essential pillars: real-world testing to refine ideas, clarification of the business model to ensure viability, and the development of a strong entrepreneurial mindset, a key driver of legitimacy and impact.

To better understand how SquareLab operates and its support methodology, five questions were asked to Thibault Bertrand. A former incubatee and now a Start-up Manager, he supports project leaders alongside the team and perfectly illustrates the continuity and spirit of transmission that define the programme.

Cohort #15 has just started and stands out for a particularly high proportion of students and student entrepreneurs. Beyond this new cohort, the year seems marked by an unprecedented level of entrepreneurial engagement. Can we speak of a record year?

Yes, clearly, this is a record year.

Cohort #15 includes 24 project leaders, and across the last two cohorts, we received more than 70 applications for around 40 supported participants. This is a level of engagement we had never seen before.

What is particularly striking is the proportion of students and student entrepreneurs. We are currently supporting 6 students with National Student-Entrepreneur Status and 9 students from Clermont School of Business.

Since 2025, we have observed a significant rise in interest in entrepreneurship among younger generations. The growth of artificial intelligence plays a major role: it lowers barriers to entry, facilitates market exploration, and enables faster prototyping of digital projects. But beyond AI, there is a cultural shift: students no longer wait until the end of their studies to start a business. They test, explore, and launch side projects. Our role is precisely to channel this energy so that it does not turn into haste.

At Clermont School of Business, the incubator is part of the services included in tuition. Students can reach out to us at any time to challenge an idea, structure their thinking, or prepare a future application.

SquareLab places strong emphasis on debunking entrepreneurial myths and on effectuation. Why are these elements central to your support methodology?

Debunking myths is essential because many project leaders arrive with a very romanticized vision of entrepreneurship. We still hear many misconceptions: you need a brilliant idea, you must raise funds quickly, create your company immediately, or build a perfect product before talking about it…

In reality, these beliefs are often the root of failure. They push people to focus too quickly on the solution and to fall in love with their product instead of the problem they are trying to solve. This is where effectuation becomes highly relevant. This approach starts not from a fixed objective, but from available means: who I am, what I can do, and who I know. It encourages gradual progress, testing, and co-creation with the field rather than planning everything alone.

Concretely, at SquareLab, we teach our incubatees to turn their intuitions into hypotheses, and their hypotheses into evidence. We validate before investing, and we test before developing.

Our method has one goal: to reduce risk as much as possible by validating desirability, feasibility, and viability before launching a business. In an uncertain economic context, learning to build a business in a gradual and controlled way is a real strategic skill.

What are the main challenges faced by project leaders at the beginning of incubation, and how does SquareLab help them overcome them?

The main challenge at the start of incubation is accepting to set aside one’s solution. Most project leaders arrive with a well-developed idea, sometimes even with a prototype. The natural reflex is to improve, develop, and refine it.

However, our first step is often to ask them to go back: to focus on the problem, not the solution. To go into the field, leave the office, talk to their target audience, observe, and listen. It sounds simple in theory but is difficult in practice. It requires confronting assumptions with reality and sometimes accepting that they are not entirely accurate.

At the same time, they benefit from privileged access to a well-established network within the Clermont metropolitan area and beyond, at a national level. This facilitates connections, initial field interviews, and early partnerships.

Finally, another often underestimated challenge is personal: being clear about one’s motivations. Why this project? What am I willing to invest in it? Moving forward means investing time, sometimes at the expense of comfort or leisure. We also support this reflection. Because entrepreneurship is not only about a viable idea, but about a level of commitment aligned with who you are and what you are ready to invest.

In what way does the SquareLab experience go beyond simple business support?

SquareLab goes far beyond business support because we primarily support people, not just projects.

Very quickly, incubatees realize they are no longer alone. They arrive with their ideas, doubts, and sometimes their obstacles. Within days, they find themselves surrounded by a cohort going through the same ups and downs.

We often witness powerful moments: two incubatees from different cohorts meet “by chance” in the workspace, start talking, and within an hour solve a problem that had been blocking them for a week. There is also the environment: a dedicated space, open six days a week, where participants truly work on their projects. They meet other entrepreneurs, sometimes partners, sometimes even investors. They learn to pitch almost without realizing it. And then there is personal transformation. People often arrive with certainties. They learn to listen, to question themselves intelligently, to go into the field, and to accept that their idea will evolve. They gain posture, confidence, and clarity.

The SquareLab experience builds lasting relational capital. Cohorts interact, collaborate, and often founders become partners or clients. This network directly contributes to the entrepreneurial vitality of the region.

You were yourself an incubatee before becoming a Start-up Manager. How does this experience influence the way you now support entrepreneurs?

Having been an incubatee before becoming a Start-up Manager changes everything. First, I know exactly what project leaders go through. I experienced the same phases: the initial enthusiasm, the doubts, the questioning, and the moments when it feels like you are going backwards when in fact you are gaining clarity.

When we ask an incubatee to set aside their solution and go back into the field, I know it is not comfortable. I have lived it. And I also know how structuring it is.

This experience allows me to adopt a very pragmatic approach. I don’t just talk about methodology—I speak from experience. I know what it means to pitch for the first time, to face a committee, to question your positioning.

Above all, it makes me highly attentive to the human dimension. Behind every project, there is a person investing time, energy, and sometimes part of their personal life. My role, alongside the SquareLab team, is to challenge projects while respecting the pace and reality of those who carry them.