HEC Startup Launchpad Grand Pitch Night 2026

Why It Matters

The showcase demonstrates how AI is reshaping legacy sectors—legal, cybersecurity, energy—unlocking multi‑billion‑euro efficiencies and creating fast‑growth investment opportunities.

Key Takeaways

• Gregorus automates notary succession tasks, cutting time by 50%
• Artinas uses AI agents to build, optimize, acquire apps rapidly
• Fu delivers AI-driven pentesting at 90x human scale
• Alex’s grid intelligence saves up to €800k per zone annually
• HEC Launchpad finalists compete for coaching, audience, and jury prizes

Summary

The HEC Startup Launchpad Grand Pitch Night 2026 brought together a curated cohort of European tech founders in London, culminating in a six‑minute pitch competition judged by investors, industry veterans, and a live audience. Over 27 startups vied for a spot on the final stage, with six finalists showcasing solutions ranging from legal‑tech automation to AI‑driven cybersecurity and energy‑grid intelligence.

Gregorus tackled the French notary succession bottleneck, using AI to extract assets, orchestrate deadlines, and execute paperwork, promising a 50% time reduction and a €1,500 value add per case against a €40 subscription. Artinas presented an end‑to‑end AI studio that spins up consumer apps in hours, continuously optimizes them, and drives acquisition through autonomous agents. Fu offered an AI‑pentesting platform that replicates 90% of human ethical‑hacker findings at ninety‑fold scale, while Alex introduced a data‑fusion layer that balances grid load, delivering up to €800,000 annual savings per zone. Sapienic‑care highlighted a biotech breakthrough producing a skin‑protective molecule previously unavailable for cosmetics.

Judges emphasized three criteria: deep problem insight, disciplined execution priorities, and measurable real‑world impact. The notary market alone represents a €1.2 billion opportunity, with a broader €3.6 billion estate‑administration horizon, while AI‑enabled app development and cyber‑risk mitigation each target multi‑billion‑dollar sectors. The event also featured mentorship from Petra Freddy, a UK Women‑in‑Tech awardee, and a dual prize structure—audience vote and jury selection—underscoring the importance of both market validation and expert endorsement.

For investors and corporate partners, the pitch night signals accelerating adoption of AI across traditionally manual industries, promising cost efficiencies, new revenue streams, and scalable business models. Startups that can translate AI capabilities into concrete operational savings—like Gregorus and Alex—are poised to capture sizable market share, while platform‑play founders such as Artinas and Fu may become foundational service providers for a new generation of digital enterprises.

Original Description

Welcome the HEC UK 'Startup Launchpad' Grand Pitch Night 2026! #HECstartuplaunchpad

This evening concludes 3 days during which 120 student-entrepreneurs from the HEC Startup Launchpad travelled to the London, met with entrepreneurs and VCs, and have taken part in this Pitch competition, with 21 jury members, 18 mentors for the pre-selection and 4 Jury for the Grand Pitch Night.

TONIGHT, 6 carefully selected startups from student entrepreneurs of this highly selective program will pitch their projects in front of our Jury of experts & audience of alumni, investors, professionals in VC and other professionals from the HEC & friends networks.

VOTE : Please vote for your favorite projects by rating each startup here: https://pollunit.com/polls/g67jgiackwjo5qlrkvho3q

ABOUT THE HEC STARTUP LAUNCHPAD : Designed with a ‘learning by doing’ approach, the HEC Paris Startup Launchpad helps student entrepreneurs launch their startup in just 11 weeks. The program is open to students from HEC Paris programs such as X-HEC Entrepreneurs, Data Science & AI for Business, Sustainability & Social Innovation, and Digital Innovation & Acceleration, as well as participants from partner institutions like Paris Saclay University, NYU Stern, and ESA Business School—bringing together a diverse and dynamic cohort. New this year, the program also welcomes refugee entrepreneurs from war-affected countries through the Imagine Launchpad initiative, created in partnership with HEC Imagine Fellows. But beyond a program, the Startup Launchpad is a thriving and supportive community of 170+ experts, mentors, entrepreneurs, coaches, and venture capitalists.

Crédit musique : Track: Good Times — Waimis [Audio Library Release]

Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: • Good Times — Waimis | Free Backgroun... Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/good-timess

Track: The Dream — Next Route [Audio Library Release]

Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: • The Dream — Next Route | Free Backgro... Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/dream