Creative Destruction Lab - Paris (CDL-Paris)
Creative Destruction Lab - Paris Creative Destruction Lab - ParisLanguage: English
About the program
Since 2020, HEC Paris has established a strategic alliance with the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a global nonprofit startup program dedicated to seed-stage, science-based companies addressing solutions for tomorrow's global challenges, impacting business, society, and the environment. The program takes no equity and charges no fees - it is funded through philanthropy as a result.
Our program employs an objectives-based mentoring process, led by a select group of exceptional entrepreneurs, angel investors, economists, and scientists.
We welcome participants with ambitious, massively scalable projects driven by disruptive deep technologies in biotechnologies, AI, quantum, climate, and space, offering the potential for substantial impact.
Creative Destruction Lab - Paris
Our mission
HEC Paris has been a member of the Creative Destruction Lab network, alongside a dozen other institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Toronto, Georgia Tech, etc. This non-profit network was created to connect top business schools, to collaborate in providing business support to science-based startups, and to develop ecosystems around edge technologies.
The mission of HEC Paris has always been to understand the world of tomorrow, and to prepare the members of our communities to be leaders in this world.
Today, we can witness the transformations that are brought by entrepreneurship at large, and by the continuous emergence of edge technologies in all industries. For this reason, the topic of Deep Tech and science-based entrepreneurship has become a focus within the school.
CDL-Paris streams
CDL Streams act as focus areas: typically an emerging technology area, an area of application where multiple emerging technologies are converging to create new commercial opportunities, or a mission-driven focus.
CLIMATE
Mobility & Transportation, Renewable/Alternative Energy & Storage, FoodTech, AgriTech, Waste Management & Circular Economy, New Materials, Building & Cities...
SPACE
Satellite Communications, Earth Observation, Planetary Exploration & Interplanetary Transportation, PNT, Space Situational Awareness, Space Logistics & Manufacturing...
AI
Process Automation, Pathology Recognition, Drug Discovery, Machine Learning Operations, Harnessing Data Lakes, Cybersecurity Risk Management, NLP...
Next Gen Computing
High-Performance Computing, Quantum Computing, Neuromorphic Computing, Edge Computing, Neural Network Algorithms, Cybersecurity Algorithms...
Carbon Removal
CDL-Paris Carbon Removal stream focuses on innovation areas around Carbon Sequestration, Biochar, Carbon Mineralization, Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), Afforestation and Reforestation, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)...
Our partners
Program Objectives
The program’s objective-setting process enhances the performance of technical founders who learn from the insights of experienced entrepreneurs, increasing their probability of success.
- Focused mentorship from proven entrepreneurs who have founded, led, and sold significant tech companies
- Technical advice from world-leading scientists, engineers, and economists
- Access to top business students, who embed within the company to provide business development support
- Opportunities to raise capital from North American and European investors
KEY FIGURES
3000+
Participating startups globally
$30B
In startup equity value created
as of July 2023
13
Universities collaborating across 3 continents
More than just a program...
Join the program
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a not-for-profit seed-stage program for massively scalable science-based companies. The program takes no equity and charges no fees - it is funded through philanthropy.
HEC Paris MBA Students
Every year, 30 MBA students have the opportunity to work directly with the companies in CDL-Paris. Students help these ventures develop financial models, evaluate potential markets, and fine-tune their strategies for scaling up their businesses.
For the nine months of the certificate, students gain first-hand experience in all aspects involved in founding a company, including:
- Creating the idea/business
- Protecting yourself from competition
- Designing competitive advantage
- Building a business model
- Financing a new ventures
"There are 3 unique opportunities that CDL presents HEC Paris MBA students: First, exposure to seasoned entrepreneurs who offer raw, unadulterated advice on how to build and scale up a start-up; second, the opportunity to apply business theory to real-world problems by working as a consultant for the venture; lastly, and quite simply, CDL presents you with the unparalleled opportunity to be part of something potentially huge, right from a very early stage and in a controlled environment."
Learn more about CDL-Paris...
News
HEC Paris, through its Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Paris), has solidified its position as a key player in the fight against climate change by joining forces with the XPRIZE Foundation and CDL Global...
If there's one program that's long overdue for a spotlight, it's the Creative destruction Lab (CDL). While the CDL-Paris program at HEC Paris only started back in 2021 with one stream: the Climate stream...
In April, HEC Paris began its drive to recruit 25 climate-focused ventures who will join its newly- launched Creative Destruction Lab called CDL-Paris. The eight-month early-stage program for science and...
The recent CDL Super Session held in Toronto brought together around 1,200 participants, including startups, mentors, researchers, and academics, marking the first in-person gathering in four years. The...
Christine Tovee has had a long and rich career in space and aeronautical projects on both sides of the Atlantic, including a stint as CTO of Airbus Group North America. Currently, she is a consultant for...
HEC Paris officially launched its nine-month Creative Destruction Lab program, CDL Climate, with an objective-setting session on October 27 devoted to scalable solutions to climate change challenges. It...
In its inaugural year, CDL-Paris hosted an Apprentice Module on Climate, featuring up-and-coming high school pupils from across Canada. The topic was in keeping with this year’s Creative Destruction Lab...
Exactly a year after HEC Paris launched its first-ever Creative Destruction Lab program, (the CDL Climate Certificate), the school’s academics, students and business mentors welcomed a new cohort from the...
HEC’s CDL (Creative Destruction Lab) Climate program reached its fourth-round climax on April 19 - a historic moment for the seven startups retained after a grueling mentorship program. Following another...
Following the climax of its second CDL (Creative Destruction Lab) Climate program, HEC Paris officially launched its new European CDL “Space Stream” program at an HEC Demo Day on June 7. This seed-stage...
Creative Destruction Lab was founded a decade ago by Professor Ajay Agrawal as part of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. It has since expanded to a dozen business schools, all devoted...
The first-ever Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Space stream enters its fourth and final session on April 12 with a 10-hour online exchange between mentors, students and startup companies. On the eve of...
CDL-PARIS OPERATIONS TEAM
CDL-PARIS ACADEMIC TEAM
