“In the shoes of …”: Groupe BPCE makes a success of its 1st student challenge

At the end of September, Groupe BPCE launched its first innovation competition* open to all students studying in France, on the theme of “Innovating in your bank.”

The competition, organized in partnership with the Agorize platform, attracted more than 1,470 participants, 377 teams made up of 2 to 4 students who accepted the challenge of putting themselves in the shoes of the Group’s experts by becoming, at their choice: the head of the Next Innov program at the Banques Populaires, the Campus Manager of the Group’s Corporate HR Department, the head of the Partnership for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, the head of Social Commitment at a Caisse d’Epargne or the “Green and Sustainable Hub” manager at Natixis.
The students had to present their projects devoted to one of the 5 themes with a full description of their strategy, the measures planned, and the creation of an offer, an application, the media plan and its budget. The aim was to be innovative, disruptive, creative and adaptable. 
These criteria in particular were used to shortlist five teams who were invited on December 17 during the final round in the competition to pitch their project to members of the Group’s top management team.
 
The first prize (1,500 euros in gift vouchers) was won by the Les Athlètes du quotidien (“Day-to-day athletes”) team, 4 students in the Master 2 Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the University of Paris-Dauphine, on the theme: “You are the Partnership Manager for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” a unifying and innovative project inspired by the daily lives of French people to help position Groupe BPCE as the benchmark bank for the sports economy. Their project was unanimously approved by the members of the selection panel and all the contributors. 

* Challenge supervised and financed by Atlas, the “competence operator” for financial and consultancy services, in accordance with the areas of cooperation defined in the agreement drawn up with the French Ministry of National Education and Youth and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, with the support of funds collected under the apprenticeship tax.