IHETC Campus
Leaving the programme with a business
Creating rather than joining is a destination in its own right, and it is prepared during the programme. One full programme is devoted to it, and any final-year project can take that shape.
A programme that ends with a company
A learning-by-doing programme: every student works on their own venture from day one. Real market research, prototype, first customers, accounting and fundraising. Final assessment is on the venture itself, defended before a panel of entrepreneurs and funders. The programme runs over 18 months, self-paced, and is validated on what you have actually launched.
- months of study
- 18
- credits earned
- 60
- supervised
- 600 h
- of work per week
- 13 h
The most flexible pace among long-form programmes.
What the programme has you produce
Each objective is validated on a delivered artefact: market research conducted with real customers, a costed business model, a first offer put on sale, and a legal and financial file ready to show a funder.
- Validate a market need before committing resources
- Build a viable business model and cost it out
- Launch a first offer and win the first customers
- Structure the company legally and seek funding
Support during and after
A teacher from the field
They follow the project at every milestone, challenge assumptions and flag early the shortcuts that cost dearly once the company is running.
A defence before practitioners
The project is defended before working professionals, who ask an investor's questions and a first customer's.
The follow-on with applied research
The research institute hosts projects that continue past the programme and opens its laboratories and workshops to them.
The competencies validated along the way
- Market research
- Business model
- Sales
- Cash flow
- Pitching
Questions about starting a business
Do I need an idea already?
The first block of the programme exists precisely to surface one and test it against the market before committing anything. Arriving with a formed project saves time; arriving with a sector and an appetite is enough to start.
Does the project remain mine?
Entirely. What you design during the programme belongs to you, including when the research institute supports you afterwards. The institute assesses your work and certifies it; it remains its witness, never its owner.
Can I start a business from another programme?
Yes: the final project may take the form of a company in any school, from computing to management. The faculty adviser and the board then adapt assessment criteria to the nature of the deliverable.