Grenoble Alpes stands out for its venture capital investment, the presence of unicorns, the density of its startup ecosystem, its patent activity, and above all, its close links with the Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA).

Indeed, UGA plays a key role in this dynamic, with more than a third of the region’s start-ups coming out of its laboratories, over 11,000 graduates trained each year — genuine transfer of skills to businesses and society — and world-class research, ranking among global leaders in over 30 disciplines.

In a study on the role of European universities in patent filing and innovation published in October 2024 by the European Patent Office (EPO), UGA also secured first place among 1,200 European universities, with 3,348 patents filed over a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020.

As the leader of the Pôle universitaire d’innovation Grenoble Alpes, UGA operates at the crossroads of its three core missions: education, research, and innovation, in close collaboration with its partners CEA, CNRS, Inserm, Inria, and INRAE.