It does not exist yet, and yet it is already surrounded by big names: Xavier Niel (Illiad), Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Pierre-Edouard Stérin (Smartbox)… The army of supporters at Albert School continues to grow , since the future data-oriented business school announces a new fundraising of eight million euros, with eight founders of French unicorns. Among these new partners are Payfit, Veepee, Contentsquare, VestiaireCollective, Voodoo, Jellysmack, as well as ManoMano.
The project of this new establishment: “to found the talents of the economy of tomorrow” , as Grégoire Genest explains it to us. With his two partners, this Polytechnician, already an entrepreneur in the past (Neos, a payment solution sold to Lyf Pay), imagined a training course for managers, both business and data-oriented.
This also affects large groups, which need talent as part of their digital transformation. We were quickly contacted by French entrepreneurs, in particular creators of unicorns, who loved the project,” he explains, stressing the need for well-trained tech profiles, the shortage of which is well known on the job market. . Its objective: to respond to this, with hybrid profiles between business and data.
60 students in the first class
So, what will this future school look like? Albert School will open its doors next September, with a first Parisian campus of 2,700 square meters, located in a former earthenware factory in the 10th arrondissement.
For their first bachelor promotion, the three co-founders are aiming for 60 students to start with. Somewhat special profiles, precisely! “They don’t see themselves becoming engineers, but they don’t want to miss out on data and maths in the commercial sector either ,” says Grégoire Genest. Recruitment is done outside Parcoursup, with an online test and an oral interview.
Each semester of this bachelor will consist of three main blocks: data, mathematics and business, with a compulsory internship of at least 5 months in a company in the third year
The school has not yet decided which of these four themes will open first. “The first year of one of them will be created at the start of the 2023 academic year, according to the affinities and desires of our students” , notes the founder. The “business & data” bachelor’s degree, over three years, has a level 6 RNCP title, attesting to a bac+3 equivalent.
Fund and convince
Cost of this new school: 12,000 euros per year. To reduce the bill, the establishment proposes to carry out the third year of bachelor, as well as the master’s degree in work-study, in connection with one of its partners.
They are fond of alternating, because they need talents now. This will allow our students to take their first steps in business, while financing their studies ,” comments Grégoire Genest. The first two years would thus be the only “paying” years for young people. The school has developed partnerships with banks and prepares scholarships for those who need them.
The campus, which opens in September 2022, is based at 18 rue de Paradis, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. On the menu: mathematics, data, business (finance and marketing), and humanities (communication, change management, ethics of AI).
The campus, which opens in September 2022, is based at 18 rue de Paradis, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. On the menu: mathematics, data, business (finance and marketing), and humanities (communication, change management, ethics of AI).
How to convince parents when creating a new school in competitive higher education? “Already, with high-level teachers! Our math teacher, for example, went to Polytechnique and Berkeley, and was a data scientist. That of data co-founded Dailymotion and teaches python at Sciences Po… On business subjects, our speakers work in marketing, finance, and are also professors in large schools , ”explains Grégoire Genest. Another key argument, its shareholders and partners, whose names are intended to be reassuring for worried parents.
Objective: eventually attract 160 students per class, i.e. 800 students in total. It now remains for this new school to prove itself, both in terms of pedagogy and professional integration.