In case you read French and want to see how it's been done on the other side of the pond, check out Agoranov: http://www.agoranov.com/ http://www.agoranov.com/

In case you read French and want to see how it's been done on the other side of the pond, check out Agoranov: http://www.agoranov.com/ http://www.agoranov.com/ It's designed to incubate faculty or student projects from the Paris metro area. They're 100% seeded with public funds (from the Regional, National & European levels). They incubate software, web but also electronics, green tech and life sciences projects. They're not run by faculty or students but by a dedicated team with professional and entrepreneurial experience. Now, to be honest, I'd probably say they have had mild success so far. I know it's far from being a true indicator of “success” in this field but for example, they haven't incubated a company anyone would know about outside of the local start-up scene. But they've been at it for 9 years and they're still growing. They offer real workspaces in a handful of offices they operate around the Paris area. If you have any questions about them, I can try to answer or put you in touch with the team.