Workshop « Repenser le soutien entrepreneurial » : Être ou ne pas être accompagné·e ? Les nouvelles frontières du soutien entrepreneurial

In a context marked by growing tensions between the injunction to be autonomous and the proliferation of support schemes, this workshop places critical approaches to entrepreneurial support at its core. The aim is to better understand what it means today to “be supported” or to “choose not to be”, in light of the major transformations affecting the profiles, practices and ecosystems of entrepreneurial support. Three main factors explain this evolution.

The first factor relates to changes in the profiles and behaviours of aspiring entrepreneurs. The growing diversity of backgrounds is accompanied by new practices. Increasingly autonomous in building their human capital, aspiring entrepreneurs rely on social media, online resources and the people around them. Support organisations are therefore dealing with well-informed, more demanding individuals who expect targeted support tailored to the specific nature of their project. Some of these entrepreneurs also pay particular attention to the societal and environmental impact of their activity.

The second factor is digital transformation, amplified by the rise of generative artificial intelligence. While the shift to digital makes it easier to scale up support schemes and allows new players to enter the field, it also raises questions about the quality of the interactions and collective dynamics it generates (Becker et al., 2024). This transformation is reshaping the skills expected of support providers and encouraging the entry of new players with hybrid, online offerings.

The third factor concerns public funding, which remains central to many support ecosystems. In a context of sharp cuts in public spending, support organisations are being encouraged to rethink their business model and revisit their legitimacy, with regard to both public authorities and entrepreneurs. This legitimacy also deserves to be considered from an ecosystemic perspective (Banc and Messeghem, 2025): how do support organisations connect with other entrepreneurial sub-ecosystems (Cloutier and Messeghem, 2022)? How do they contribute to the orchestration (Harima et al., 2024) and governance of ecosystems (Nave et al., 2024)? How capable are they of embracing diversity (Neumeyer et al., 2019)?