Gonzague Gridel (EDHEC 2008) presents MIP Robotics!

1. Can you explain briefly how your company came about (team, origins, project originality)?

MIP Robotics came from the realisation that industrial robotics continues to have little presence in French industry as it is still very expensive and complex. So we decided to develop a robot for the industry of the future, a robot accessible to all: one that offers a quick return on investment, is easy to use and isn’t dangerous. A significant R&D phase was necessary before we could do this.

The main strength of this project is the passion and complementarity of its two founders, who represent two different generations, one with an engineering background and the other with a commercial background (EDHEC).

2. What is your initial assessment of this entrepreneurial adventure? What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?

Having worked 6 years in banking and finance, I’m very glad I decided to take on this adventure (whether it ends in success or failure), even though it has involved more (and lengthier) challenges than I had first imagined!

I would readily advise young graduates to get into entrepreneurship (having first assessed the risks of course!) and not to wait until all the comets are aligned.

3. Have you ever benefited from the network of EDHEC graduates?

The network provided me with a few new corporate clients and I also received advice from the incubator. But so far the project has mainly focused on product development. We are now tackling the commercial phase so I hope to benefit from the EDHEC network again in the future. 

4. What’s next for your company?

We are currently establishing a small series of robots. The following step will be to produce this model on an industrial scale and then to develop new models.  

As well as increasing our customer base, we continue to recruit new staff: we started out with just 2, there are now 6 of us, and we will be a team of 8 in November and 10 by January. 

5. More info: website, contact details, social networks...

Website: http://www.mip-robotics.com

Telephone: 06.62.88.52.30

Email: gonzague@mip-robotics.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MIProbotics/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MipRobotics

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mip-robotics