In a prelude to VivaTech 2025, the Délégué Général de la DER, Dr Aïssatou Mbodj, visited on Tuesday 10 June 2025 Station F, the largest startup campus in Europe, and met with the partners of HEC Paris. The HEC Challenge+ programme, which offers high-level support to Senegalese startups, is subsidised by the DER/FJ and the French Embassy, through the LionsTech programme. This acceleration programme includes several personalised diagnostics, an accompaniment to fundraising and mentoring sessions by experienced entrepreneurs. In two years, two cohorts of startups have been supported thanks to this partnership between the DER/FJ and the French Embassy, with a total of 34 projects supported and 39 project leaders trained. During the visit, several startups such as Ashia, Maket, Neofarm or Beezee testified to the positive impact of the programme on the structuring and development of their activity. The demo day of the 2nd cohort of the HEC Challenge+ Dakar programme will take place in July in Dakar. A strong moment to value the results and envisage the future of the partnership. Very engaged in the development of the ecosystem, Dr Aïssatou Mbodji expressed her wish to see more startups integrate this programme. She stressed the importance of the process of maturation and support for the emergence of solid enterprises.
The DER/FJ is visiting Station F to consolidate the HEC Challenge+ Dakar programme
