Launched in 2021, France 2030 funnels billions into strategic sectors, from clean energy to digital health, aiming to turn today’s breakthroughs into tomorrow’s market leaders. Among its flagship initiatives, the i‑Nov contest stands out for propelling startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) from lab‑bench prototypes to commercial reality. In 2024, Neuromind seized this opportunity with its NeuromindInov project, setting the stage for a new era of neurofeedback therapy. How did this funding come about and what horizons did it open up? We explain all the details.
France 2030: what is the vision behind the initiative?
Faced with growing global competition, technological upheavals and urgent environmental challenges, the French government felt the need to take action.
France 2030 was launched in October 2021 as a five‑year €54 billion investment plan to transform strategic sectors of the French economy, energy, automotive, aeronautics, and notably health, through technological and industrial innovation.
It supports projects from fundamental research all the way to industrialisation, with two cross‑cutting goals:
– 50% of investments go toward decarbonisation;
– 50% support emerging, environmentally responsible players.
Coordinated by the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI) in partnership with ANR (National Research Agency), Ademe (Environment and Energy Management Agency), Bpifrance, and the French Deposit and Consignment Office, it aims to create future leaders on the world stage by fostering collaboration among academia, industry, and public actors.
A three-part innovation program: i-PhD, i-Nov, and i-Lab
Under the umbrella of France 2030’s “Digital Health” acceleration strategy, three flagship calls for proposals guide innovators along the entire R&D and industrialisation continuum:
– i‑PhD supports doctoral researchers by offering mentoring, training, and early visibility to help bridge the gap between science and market;
– i‑Lab kick‑starts deep tech projects at the proof of concept stage;
– i‑Nov co‑finances more advanced R&D projects led by startups and SMEs, offering grants and repayable advances up to 45 % of eligible costs (projects between 600 000 and 5 million euros over 12 to 36 months).
The i-Nov contest: supporting digital health innovators
Since 2017, i‑Nov has awarded 692 laureates to date, mobilising up to €80 M per year across themes such as digital transformation, sustainability, and health. Operated by Bpifrance in collaboration with Ademe, it selects projects for their medico‑economic value and potential.
Béatrice De Keukeleire, Health Sector Manager at BpiFrance, explains the ambition behind the program:
“The objective of i-Nov is to foster disruptive innovations in key areas of the French economy and to support future leaders in their market segments, namely start-ups with high growth potential. i-Nov is part of a comprehensive financing continuum, from upstream to industrialisation, aimed at supporting start-ups with a strong technological foundation.”
The 9th wave alone saw 53 winners from 200 applicants, with 24 projects in health, including 14 in digital health, receiving a total of €56.3 M in funding. i‑Nov’s rigorous two‑stage selection (paper review and expert jury audition) ensures only breakthrough innovations advance, while its structure (75 % grants, 25 % recoverable advances) encourages co‑investment from private sources.
NeuromindInov: winner of the 9th edition of the France 2030 plan
NeuromindInov was selected among the 24 digital‑health laureates of i‑Nov’s 9th wave for its digital therapy for depression, combining immersive virtual reality (VR) and real‑time neurofeedback.
This project has already been fully financed and completed, enabling the deployment of phase 1 developments for the Neuromind platform:
– prototype finalisation of our VR‑based neurofeedback system, integrating portable EEG headsets and proprietary AI algorithms for valence and arousal tracking;
– internal validation of the prototype, confirming its safety and potential for supporting mood regulation.
This successful completion laid the groundwork for Neuromind’s first commercial offering, accelerating our roadmap toward regulatory approval and larger‑scale trials.
Showcasing Neuromind at key events in digital health innovation
On December 3, 2024, Neuromind took center stage at the 3rd National Digital Health Innovation Day, organised by the French Ministry of Health to accelerate digital health adoption. At the Conference Centre in Issy-les-Moulineaux, we presented our VR-based neurofeedback innovation through a poster session, highlighting how EEG-driven emotional biomarkers can support attention and emotion regulation.
This flagship event marked the third anniversary of France’s “Digital Health” acceleration strategy bringing together over 230 supported projects, 65 new laureates of France 2030’s health innovation programs, and key decision-makers shaping the future of healthcare.
Beyond national visibility, we showcased Neuromind internationally at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in Chicago and at the Virtual Medicine Conference in Los Angeles. Together, these events have been pivotal in demonstrating how Neuromind’s innovation bridges neuroscience and digital health, underlining our scientific credibility, clinical promise, and alignment with France 2030’s ambitions for strategic autonomy in healthcare innovation.
What’s next for Neuromind after the i-Nov award?
With phase 1 under its belt, Neuromind now has a clear path ahead:
– clinical validation and CE compliance, by launching multi-centre randomised controlled trials aiming for CE marking;
– scaling and partnerships, targeting health clinics and insurers to integrate Neuromind into care protocols;
– R&D expansion, adapting the closed-loop system to other conditions like chronic pain, PTSD or ADHD while refining emotion biomarker accuracy.
Neuromind’s journey with France 2030 isn’t an endpoint but a springboard. From a funded i‑Nov prototype to a robust platform with clinical potential, our device is on the verge of reshaping mental healthcare. Want to see it for yourself ? We’d be delighted to arrange a demonstration.
– France 2030, Government investment plan overview;
– Press kit, France 2030, Two years of the “digital health” strategy: Making France a leader in digital health, January 2024;
– Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Innovation competition: the three components i-PhD, i-Lab and i-Nov;
– Bpifrance, i-Nov Contest Call for Proposals;
– Ademe, i-Nov 9th wave results (2024);
– French Healthcare, Nearly half of the winners of the ninth wave of i-Nov in healthcare.