EUniWell student entrepreneurs explore health innovation at the service of well-being in Nantes
From 18 to 20 March 2026, something new happened within EUniWell. For the first time since the Alliance entered its second phase, student entrepreneurship moved from ambition to action. Eleven students from seven universities (Nantes Université, Linnaeus University, and the Universities of Cologne, Konstanz, Murcia, Santiago de Compostela and Florence) spent three days in Nantes. Not in lecture halls, but in a living innovation ecosystem: walking through a brand-new health district, meeting start-up founders, and competing alongside local entrepreneurs at one of the city's flagship events.
The city as a classroom
Nantes has spent years building a reputation as a hub for health innovation. Le Quartier de la Santé, a newly developed district a short walk from the city centre, is the most visible expression of that ambition: an entire neighbourhood designed around health research, entrepreneurship and care. For visiting students, it offered something no seminar could replicate: a tangible sense of what it looks like when a university, a city and a regional ecosystem align around a shared vision.
Participants also had the opportunity to discover GINA, a research hub fully dedicated to health innovation, and to attend a presentation by the start-up Gynette at Nantes Université Kivo incubator, illustrating the diversity and dynamism of the Nantes health and well-being entrepreneurial scene. The visits provided students with direct access to entrepreneurs and innovators navigating real challenges in a field they care about.
Spice Up! A pitch contest to inspire and connect
If the daytime programme offered inspiration, the evening of 19 March provided something harder to engineer: genuine energy.
Spice Up!, the annual pitch contest organised by Nantes Métropole and Atlanpole (both associated partners of Nantes Université within EUniWell), attracts an audience of over 500 people each year. It is a serious competition, and the EUniWell group was there to experience it. Although participation in the pitch competition itself was optional, two students from Linnaeus University took part and pitched in the final. A remarkable achievement that highlighted the quality of student entrepreneurship within the Alliance.
All speeches and networking sessions at Spice Up! were translated into English in real time using OMIST, an AI-powered translation tool developed at Nantes Université, ensuring full accessibility for international participants. For a European Alliance built on the principle that language should never be a barrier, it was a fitting detail.
What made the evening particularly symbolic was the presence of Professor Anna Maria Papini, EUniWell's research Champion from the University of Florence, sitting on the jury. A researcher evaluating student entrepreneurs at a city-level competition, as part of an exchange programme funded by the Alliance: few moments could better illustrate how EUniWell's different initiatives can converge.
More than an event: a network in the making
Learning expeditions are not measured only by what happens during them. Their value lies in what they leave behind.
In Nantes, several lasting outcomes emerged. One of them being the constitution of an EUniWell network of student entrepreneurs specialised in health, which will remain active beyond the expedition.
Rooted in the EUniWell Innovation Valley Working Group, whose mission is to create connections with local entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems, the event also demonstrated the potential for structured collaboration between universities and their associated partners in this field. In fact, discussions with Atlanpole and Nantes Métropole opened the door to a potential European incubation pathway, a promising avenue that could eventually benefit student entrepreneurs across the Alliance.
In addition, the event provided a valuable context for deepening academic partnerships. Collaboration between the Master's in Management and Innovation at IAE Nantes and the Master's in Innovation through Business, Innovation and Design at Linnaeus University was reinforeced. Similarly, ties between the University of Florence and Nantes Université were strengthened, notably around the development of a joint Bachelor's degree building on the University of Florence's BSc programme Sustainable Businesses for Societal Challenges (SUSBUS).
Meanwhile, Anna Maria Papini's visit extended well beyond the Spice Up! event: she met the TARGET research team and visited the IRS2 research platform, advancing the research collaboration between Florence and Nantes that the Champions scheme is designed to foster.
A transatlantic surprise
A particularly notable dimension of the expedition was the joint participation of 19 student entrepreneurs from Québec, participating via the LOGIQ network. The rich exchanges between this group and the EUniWell students offered a concrete illustration of the Alliance's capacity to engage with partners beyond Europe, in line with the EUniWell Beyond Europe strategic objective. It also served as a natural opportunity to introduce EUniWell to actors well outside the Alliance, extending its reach and reputation beyond Europe.
Looking ahead
The different partnerships forged during the expedition lay the groundwork for future collaborative initiatives. This learning expedition is envisioned as the beginning of a series. Future editions could be hosted by other EUniWell universities, either continuing the focus on health or exploring other thematic areas, with the aim of progressively strengthening the Alliance's network of student entrepreneurs. These perspectives will be discussed within the EUniWell Innovation Valley Working Group.
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