Facts & Figures

Atlanpole – Château de la Chantrerie in Nantes.

The genesis

Atlanpole was established in the late 1980s as the Technopole of the Pays de la Loire region, driven by the partnership of Olivier Guichard / Jean-Marc Ayrault, respectively President of the Pays de la Loire Region and Mayor of Nantes, later President of Nantes Métropole.

From the outset, the Atlanpole concept was intended to be disruptive and decidedly forward-thinking compared to the dominant model of technological parks at the time. It emphasised the networking of skills and the integration of academic and economic stakeholders from the balanced metropolis and the entire regional ecosystem, with a focus on development based on the knowledge economy. 

Thus, well before the Allègre Innovation Act of 1999, Atlanpole incubated business creation projects stemming from Public Research, similar to Eurofins Technologies, Sirenha and Biomatlante, spin-offs respectively from the University of Nantes, the Ecole Centrale de Nantes or the  University Hospital (CHU).

EU-BIC, a mark of excellence

In 1997, Atlanpole was awarded EU-BIC (European Business Innovation Centre) certification and continued to professionalise its process of identifying, incubating, and providing tailored support for innovative business creation projects over time, while strengthening a multidisciplinary network of Atlanpole companies, including startups, SMEs, and large innovative enterprises.

Since 1999…

A regional incubator for Public Research since 1999, Atlanpole works in partnership with the Loire technopoles (Laval Mayenne Technopole, Angers Technopole, Le Mans Innovation) as well as with school incubators to specifically support the incubation of business creation projects arising from or closely linked to Public Research.

Since 2005, Atlanpole has been involved to varying degrees in the creation, development, or expansion of the competitiveness clusters in the Grand Ouest region of Pays de la Loire. Now numbering 8, Atlanpole is gradually establishing itself as a regional innovation hub, particularly facilitating the intersection of the region’s areas of excellence.

After expanding its support for innovative companies by becoming the regional DeepTech accelerator in 2019, Atlanpole is, in 2023, a co-founder of the University Innovation Hubs (PUI) Nantes Université and PREDICT. The aim is to multiply the economic and social impacts of research by fostering the development of effective innovation ecosystems within university campuses.

Atlanpole is also the lead partner for the European EDIH (European Digital Innovation Hub) initiative for the Pays de la Loire region, named DIVA (Digital Innovation Value Accelerator), which was certified in November 2022. The aim of DIVA is to promote AI for the benefit of the entire economic fabric.