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IÉSEG’s CRÉENSO program offers students the opportunity to delve into social entrepreneurship with hands-on experience. This approach appealed to Luc VERWAERDE who chose to embark on the adventure, eager to discover the challenges of the role of consultant while collaborating with an innovative social company. This journey led him to assist Welcome Account, and to win, alongside its founders, the Prix CRÉENSO 2024, in recognition of the impact and commitment of his work.

Why did you choose to take part in the CRÉENSO experience?

CRÉENSO is an optional course within the Master cycle of the Grande École Program. I decided to take this course for two reasons: first, I am deeply interested in entrepreneurship, particularly social entrepreneurship. What attracted me with the CRÉENSO program was the opportunity to explore the world of social entrepreneurship in a very concrete way by collaborating with companies. This course allows you to move beyond theory and academia to focus on real-world applications. Prior to CRÉENSO, I spent a semester abroad at a university in Lebanon, a country facing significant social, economic, and geopolitical crises, where I witnessed the impact of social entrepreneurship alongside charitable efforts in society.

The second reason I chose CRÉENSO was for the opportunity to have a consultant role, something I had not done before, as my previous internships involved being part of the staff in a company. The consultant role is different, and I wanted to truly experience that for myself.

You chose to work with Welcome Account…

Indeed, at the beginning of the semester, we received a list of approximately 15-20 social enterprises, each with a brief pitch deck. We used this to conduct our research and select the companies that interested us. From the start, I had pre-selected Welcome Account as my top choice.

Welcome Account is a neobank for newcomers, founded in 2022. Essentially, it is an online bank aimed at immigrants arriving in France, whether as refugees, for professional reasons, or for academic purposes. This includes students coming to study at IÉSEG from foreign countries.

The initiative was launched by Caroline SPAN and Rooh SAVAR, an Iranian immigrant who faced enormous problems upon his arrival in France, particularly opening a bank account. Together, they wanted to provide a solution to facilitate the process of accessing a bank account in France, and offer services tailored to newcomers’ needs.

How did you help them exactly?

The Welcome Account team was at a pivotal stage in their development when I joined them through CRÉENSO. They had just completed building the solution they had been working on for a year and a half. When I began working with them, they were preparing to launch their services but had not yet secured clients. Therefore, they needed to raise funds and conduct a Proof of Concept (POC) to demonstrate the project’s interest by securing commitments from potential clients. The goal was to show investors that there was a market and a genuine need.

To raise these funds, they needed to refine their commercial strategy as precisely and efficiently as possible. This was where I contributed. Welcome Account operates differently from traditional banks, targeting businesses (B2B) that hire immigrants, rather than the immigrants themselves (B2C). They have a broad range of target audiences (corporate entities, large or small temporary employment agencies, NGOs, etc.). My mission was to conduct market research and analyze each target group to provide recommendations on which segments to prioritize initially to maximize their POC success.

What did you take away from this experience?

I loved my experience for two main reasons. Firstly, it was a project with a commercial focus, which aligns perfectly with my interests and aspirations. Secondly, I developed a great relationship with the company that truly welcomed me as a member of their team and dedicated a lot of time to working with me.

On a personal level, I aspire to start my own business someday, and thanks to this experience, I had the opportunity to witness firsthand the early stages of a startup’s development. I saw the daily challenges they face and how they overcome them.

Together, you won the CRÉENSO Prize 2024…

When the winner was announced, I was extremely happy for the founders of Welcome Account because this project is dear to me, and they truly collaborated with me throughout the semester! They are now in the launch phase with many developments ahead, which will undoubtedly require financial investment. Therefore, I believe the prize money will be highly beneficial to them. It’s a wonderful cause that truly deserves its victory!