Get free access to a fully equipped fablab (3D printer, CNC drill, Laser cutter, CAD / design, electronic and mechanical components), a dedicated co-working space and our support team.
In the past two years L’Openlab has accelerated 30+ startups and DIY projects from students, researchers, entrepreneurs, teachers and more. These projects have grown into successful startups (Glowee, Haïku…) or on-going research projects (Guken…) or very active student clubs (Open Science School…). We help drive projects towards success.
We are looking for ultra-early-stage projects led by changemakers: people who dream of solving the world’s greatest challenges (improving education, transportation, health and well-being, solving environmental issues, etc.). We’ve accelerated projects using technology and science to revolutionize nighttime lighting, bike navigation and gesture learning, amongst others.
Benefit from the international ecosystem of the Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI), which includes academic research labs, universities, incubators, do-it-yourselfers and citizen scientists! You’ll also have ambitious peers, successful alumni and l’OpenLab team to help you move forward with your project.
L’Openlab is part of the Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI) in Paris, a hybrid structure reinventing the way we learn, teach and do research in order to train and support tomorrow’s changemakers. If you want to push the boundaries of traditional learning and doing, you’ll fit right in.
The entrepreneur’s life is a never-ending process of asking questions and looking for solutions. Throughout your journey at L’Openlab there will be mentors to help you work through your issues in different areas: technical, software, hardware, material, industrial, administrative, business, communication…
Did we mention that we have partners in Shenzhen and Boston? Because we have awesome partners in Shenzhen and Boston...
How do you industrialize a product? Is it possible to reconcile open source and intellectual property? How should you pitch a project to investors? … We organize workshops around your existential questions, calling on experts and professionals who can give you personalized advice on your project. You are also invited to join all the meetups organized at the Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI) each week (game jams, conferences, brainstorming sessions, etc.)
Ready to go from dreams to reality? L’Openlab is here to help you design and build your first working prototype to get you on your way to changing the world. Step one : fill out the application form below.
Internet of things, smart and connected objects to improve our every day life and its application for quantify self, smart cities, citizen science, motion learning etc...
Digital tools for education: from MOOCs and Knowledge Technologies to robotics and machine learning to improve learning experience.
Using synthetic biology to improve human health, environment, drug development. Or hacking life functions and integrate them in our everyday life.
Web and mobile development for IoT and education. Integrating tangible solutions to digital ones, connecting devices to the web.
Any basic, quantitative research based on robotics, physics, biology. All projets with a scientific relevant ground will be considered.
Exploring the frontiers between Art, Design and Science, in particular regarding BioDesign, Human-machine interactions and Design for Education.
You are a student, teacher, researcher, You have a spirit of change maker, You are dreaming of solving the world’s greatest challenges (education, transportation, health and well being, environment…) or You have an art project you want to mix with technology...
If your project is accepted into L’Openlab Program you will have access to :
How to get your startup running
Get your minimum viable product, test, iterate, validate
Start to think bigger, sharpen your story, pitch your work
L'OpenLab helped us in many ways on our project, but I want to highlight the ability to 3D print and test many ideas before going for our real prototypes. It enabled us to test various versions of our magnetic clip and how it interacts with our electronic board. We also tested various shapes with potential user. In the end we were confident when we produced our final prototypes for our crowdfunding campaign. Of course we also benefited from numerous advice on how to conduct our project and all the decisions it implies." Haiku | promo#1
"L'OpenLab nous a donné l'opportunité d'entrer en laboratoire, partie la plus compliquée pour une startup de biotechnologies qui n'est pas issue du milieu de la recherche. Mais la vraie force de l'OpenLab, c'est d'avoir dans un même lieu tout un tas de gens bourrés de compétences sur des sujets très diverses, qui nous ont permis de résoudre les plus grosses problématiques du projet, simplement au détour d'une tasse de café." Sandra rey, Glowee | promo#1
GUKEN, originally named Whooshing Machine, was my diploma project at Strate école de design. L'OpenLab has permitted me to move from a scholar project to an entrepreneurial one. Into a research environment I could explore and experiment by myself every technical issues of what I had in my mind: the Open Lab is the ideal place for emerging concepts which need time to maturate without market compromises. Thanks to what I've learned and people I've met, GUKEN is now composed of 4 people keen on challenging learning innovation technologies through unique opportunities, such as an ANR application in collaboration with the CRI, IRCAM and CIME Nanotech: simply unthinkable one year ago!" Genku | promo#2
We joined the Openlab just a couple of month after the creation of our company. The goal was to improve our arduino prototype in order to create a MVP (minimum viable product) in six month. We received a lot of help from the Openlab team and we learned a lot about hardware/electronic prototyping. The motto Do It Yourself is great because it gives you the opportunity to master every aspect of your product. We met some great people from other startups some were a bit ahead of our stage and some were at our stage of development. It gave us a great opportunity to receive some feedbacks and help from other entrepreneurs, designers, electronic geeks, artists,... Now we are planning on going to production and hit the market. We moved to another office but we still have a great relationship with the people we met during our time at L'Openlab. Koondal | promo#2
