Enabling international students to turn their diverse perspectives into entrepreneurial strength

📌 The Scenario

A Paris-based business school with a highly international cohort partnered with Urone to help students confidently explore entrepreneurship in France and Europe. While these students were motivated and full of ideas, they often faced:

• Limited knowledge of the local startup ecosystem

• Language and administrative challenges

• Lack of access to relevant professional networks

• Uncertainty about how to turn ideas into action in a new environment
  
  

🛠️ Problem Solved

Urone designed and delivered a tailored extracurricular track to support international students in transforming their ideas into entrepreneurial initiatives. The program included:

• Discovery sessions introducing key players, resources, and pathways in the French startup ecosystem

• Exercises on identifying opportunities through cross-cultural insights

• Mentorship on navigating local procedures, understanding student entrepreneur eligibility, and taking first steps toward launching

• Workshops on pitching, storytelling, and business modeling — adapted to multilingual and multicultural contexts

• Opportunities to connect with early-stage support networks and develop a clear action plan
  

The program reinforced the idea that students’ international experiences could serve as a strategic advantage, not a limitation.

🌟 The Result

• Students gained confidence in their ability to pursue entrepreneurial paths while studying in France.

• Multiple teams advanced their ideas beyond the classroom with clearer direction.

• The school strengthened its reputation for inclusive, real-world entrepreneurship education.

• International students reported greater clarity and connection to the local entrepreneurial landscape.

🤝 Benefits of Working with Urone

Context-sensitive design: Created specifically to address the challenges international students face.

Clear next steps: From idea to implementation — demystified and structured.

Empowering mindset: Positioning international backgrounds as a source of innovation.

Real connection: Helping students bridge into local networks and startup communities.

🚫 Pitfalls We Helped Avoid

• International students feeling excluded from local startup support

• High-potential ideas abandoned due to administrative or cultural uncertainty

• Missed opportunities to use global perspective as entrepreneurial strength

• Lack of clarity on how to navigate entrepreneurship systems as an international student