CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Lyon signs partnership agreement with PEPITE Beelys

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Lyon signs a skills sponsorship agreement with PEPITE Beelys at the Salon des Entrepreneurs trade show.

At the Salon des Entrepreneurs trade show held in Lyon on 13 and 14 June, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Lyon signed a skills sponsorship agreement with PEPITE Beelys (Student Centre for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship).

In 2014, the French Ministry of Higher Learning and Research implemented a new policy on student entrepreneurship by setting up PEPITE centres. Today, operating in Lyon and Saint Étienne, this centre is the largest of the 29 PEPITE centres in France, involving some 33 institutions and representing more than 150,000 students and 130 entrepreneurship and innovation stakeholders.

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Lyon is committed to serving on the panel of the first Engagement Committee for the new intake of student entrepreneurs, which will take place on 7 July 2017 at the Beelys incubator, and to organising workshops and conferences throughout the year for students in various programmes (Programme Campus, Acceleration Programme JEA Entrepreneurs, D2E) of PEPITE Beelys.

For François Coutard, partner and president of the law firm, the partnership embodies the work of CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Lyon: “Entrepreneurship is at the heart of our business. First, because most of our clients are businesses and entrepreneurs. We are aware of their reality and we strive to put our skills in the service of their project. Next, because our status as lawyers, and consequently liberal professionals, also makes us entrepreneurs. Finally, and more specifically, because our firm is a business, with employees and staff representation […].”

Arnaud Bogeat, counsel, continues: “Our firm was founded and has grown by putting entrepreneurship and people at its centre. […] This partnership is a great opportunity for sharing, for getting closer to young entrepreneurs and for going beyond the traditional framework of our actions. By having a closer relationship with Beelys, we want to show that the business world and the university world should work together and enable students to cope with changes yet to come. Our involvement alongside Beelys is a testament to our commitment and desire to support aspiring entrepreneurs.”

At the trade show, six more partnership agreements were also signed between PEPITE Beelys and other major players: Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants (CJD), Ecosystème, Enactus, Fondation Entreprendre, Now Coworking and Patriarche.

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre launched a number of initiatives in 2016 aimed at establishing its visibility as an innovative firm and stakeholder in the ecosystem of innovation and, consequently, in the universe of start-ups. It therefore developed a dedicated offer, FABLAW, which is now a partner of the Institut Open Innovation de Centrale Supelec and the University of Paris Dauphine, training students who must in their curriculum work together in support of student start-up creators.