Never change a winning team. On Monday, October 10, 2016, for the second year in a row, Le Progrès newspaper hosted the Innovation Victories in partnership with the ENS de Lyon. On the menu that evening: a workshop showcasing the latest innovative products developed in the region, and the awarding of the Innovation Victories to 10 budding talents. Two ENS de Lyon startups were crowned: Mathym, for research, and GeoPeka, for environmental innovation.

Why hold an event on innovation? Because innovation is at the heart of economic and social development. In fact it’s a key factor in the evolution of territories and of our society. “It’s not by improving the candle that we invented electricity,” said Jean-François Pinton, President of the ENS de Lyon. “The biggest innovations are not only technological, they create new uses that deeply change our lifestyles, our social relations, our cultural references.” We could even say innovation has become a civilization model. Technology disrupts everything. So, why not look out for the disruptions that will shape our future, and reward laureates that put their energy everyday into creating them?

That’s the ambition of these Innovation Victories, structured around 10 themes: creativity; research; design; industrial, social, scientific and commercial innovation; breakthrough innovation; environmental innovation; and of course the Jury’s favorite pick.

The event features renowned partners from various backgrounds: SantéVet, the national intellectual property institute (INPI), the CIC Lyonnaise bank, Sanofi, Veolia, Designers+, GRDF (France’s gas distribution network), the INSSEC and the ENS de Lyon.

This year again, the ENS de Lyon’s startups were in the spotlight. After Kallistem, the startup born from the Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon (CNRS/ Inra/ ENS de Lyon/ Lyon 1) that won the prize for breakthrough innovation in 2015, the awards went to Mathym, Research Victory, and GeoPeka, Environmental Innovation Victory.

Research Victory – Mathym
Mathym is a Lyon-based nanotechnology company specialized in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative colloidal solutions dedicated to biomedical applications. Mathym emerged from research work at the chemistry lab (CNRS-ENS de Lyon) and is directed by its founders Julien Alberici and Frédéric Chaput.

Environmental Innovation Victory: GeoPeka
Created in 2014 by Guillaume Fantino, GeoPeka is a company offering study, monitoring and communication services for the management of natural areas. It provides studies and technical services in river hydromorphology. GeoPeka developed the first active sedimentary tracers for the study and monitoring of sedimentary continuity in rivers. GeoPeka emerged from research at the laboratory Environment-City-Society (CNRS-ENS de Lyon).