Women currently account for less than 30% of employees in the industrial sector and only 43.7% of business founders. In February 2025, Ecollant took part in Ambition Day, organised by Les Premières Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, a day dedicated to industrial entrepreneurship and the journey from an idea to an industrial project. It was an opportunity to share our experience as an industrial Deeptech start-up and exchange with women entrepreneurs looking to turn an innovation into a concrete solution.
2026 update: Ecollant became REC in 2026. The company is now pursuing its industrial development from its site in Joigny, following several years dedicated to research, development and the scale-up of its polyamide recycling technology.
A Day Dedicated to Turning an Idea into an Industrial Prototype
In February 2025, we took part in Ambition Day, a day designed to support women entrepreneurs during the early stages of developing an industrial project. The event was organised by Les Premières Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with the support of Eléonore Blondeau, an expert in industrial start-up development and the circular economy.
The objective of the day was very practical: to help participants better understand the different stages required to transform an idea into an industrial product, prototype or process. For a company such as Ecollant, now REC, this type of event strongly resonates with our own journey.
Developing an Industrial Project: The Many Steps Before the Prototype
Turning an innovative idea into an industrial solution requires much more than a good idea. An industrial project must progressively answer a number of questions:
- What problem needs to be solved?
- What technology needs to be developed?
- What research and development is required?
- Which technical or industrial partners should be involved?
- What equipment will be needed?
- How will the different stages be financed?
- How will the prototype be tested and validated?
- How can the project then move from prototype to scale-up and ultimately to industrialisation?
These stages can seem complex when starting a project. Understanding them, however, helps build a clearer development pathway and identify the necessary expertise and partners more quickly.
The Experience of an Industrial Deeptech Company
Ecollant’s journey illustrates this progression. Our project began in 2019 in Auxerre, with a technological challenge: how can the polyamide contained in complex textiles made from multiple fibers be recovered and recycled?
To address this challenge, we progressively developed our technology, carried out experiments, characterised materials, worked with scientific and technical partners and prepared for scale-up. The development of an industrial Deeptech company is therefore built step by step, combining research, experimentation, validation and industrialisation.
Today, this journey continues under the name REC.
A Panel Discussion on the Experience of Women Entrepreneurs
During the event, we also took part in a panel discussion dedicated to the development of industrial projects, alongside women entrepreneurs who shared their experiences. These testimonials are particularly valuable in highlighting the realities of industrial entrepreneurship: periods of uncertainty, technical challenges, fundraising, partnerships, strategic decisions and, above all, the successive steps that enable a project to grow.
Sharing these experiences helps make entrepreneurial journeys more accessible and demonstrates that an industrial project is rarely developed in a perfectly linear way.
Encouraging More Women to Pursue Careers in Industry
The Ambition Day also focused on the important issue of the role of women in industry and entrepreneurship. Women remain underrepresented in many industrial professions and in industrial entrepreneurship.
Creating opportunities for women to meet entrepreneurs, experts, technical partners and members of the wider ecosystem is therefore an important way to encourage the emergence of new projects. For us, it is essential to contribute to these discussions and share our experience whenever it can be useful to other women entrepreneurs.
From Ecollant to REC: An Industrial Development Journey
Since our participation in Ambition Day, our own project has continued to evolve. Ecollant became REC in 2026, and the company is now based in Joigny, Burgundy-Franche-Comté.
After the first years of research and development, we are now continuing our journey towards the industrialisation of our technology for recycling polyamide contained in complex textiles and materials. This evolution illustrates precisely one of the messages we wanted to share during the event: an industrial project is built over time and through successive stages.
Discover REC’s history and journey
Thank You for This Day of Exchanges
Thank you to Les Premières Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Eléonore Blondeau for this initiative and for creating a space where women entrepreneurs could meet, learn from one another and share their experiences. We were delighted to share our experience and contribute, in our own way, to raising awareness of the realities of developing an industrial project.
From idea to prototype, from prototype to scale-up, and from scale-up to industry: every stage matters. And above all, every project begins with an idea and with the people who decide to move it forward. 🚀
