In January 2021, the story of two students and that of ESCadrille Toulouse Junior Conseil crossed paths.
Hopper and ESCadrille decided to work together to carry out a needs analysis and an internationalization strategy in order to market their product. Accessible and eco-designed racing blades for amputees.
Discover in this article the first Business Case of our series where we retrace the support of one of our clients.
GLOBAL STRATEGY AND SUPPORT
Context of the project
Hopper’s story begins with a discussion between Jérôme (polyamputee) and Benjamin (Engineer at Airbus). The project was initially launched within the confines of Airbus Humanity Lab.
It was then offered to a group of engineering students from the École des Mines d’Albi, including Hugo Roche and Victor Prémaud, co-founder of Hopper.
The basis of their project is as follows: to improve access to sport for people with disabilities by offering them racing blades adapted to their morphology and made from Airbus A350 scrap.
The other advantage of these blades is the price positioning because it represents a competitive advantage. Indeed, it is expected that these racing blades will be marketed at the price of 2000€ , which is half the price of the traditional racing blades that are usually found on the market.
Our missions
We helped Hopper deploy his project nationally but also create an international expansion strategy.
For the first axis of the study, we carried out a Focus Group in order to understand the needs of amputees in terms of aesthetics and technicality.
Indeed, amputees are often not satisfied with the solutions on the market or are not informed of their existence.
For the second axis , we have developed an internationalization strategy targeting 7 countries: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom. We have analyzed the leading countries on the market using a weighted comparison matrix.
The latter highlights the countries with high potential in which we subsequently carried out Semi-Directive Interviews in order to understand the legislation and their health systems.
It is to allow the customer to market his product internationally that we have provided him, throughout the study:
- Regular support on your project
- Operational recommendations on the procedure to follow to effectively launch your project
Output
From simple student group work, the LISA project (Lame Innovative Sportive Accessible) has become a start-up recognized in the field of engineering for its innovative proposal. Hopper has won numerous awards:
- Coup de Coeur de la French Tech : this prize allowed Hopper to join French Tech and access funding.
- Pépite Occitanie : reward for student commitment.
- Syntec Ingénierie : rewards projects that accelerate industrial and social ecological transformations in France.
- SPORTUP SUMMIT : a congress that rewards national players in sportech.
These awards recognize the entire Hopper team for its work and advances in innovation and accessibility for amputees. ESCadrille places positive impact projects such as Hopper at the heart of its ambitions.
ESCadrille is proud to have been able to participate in obtaining these awards in its own way.
And after ?
The first objective to be achieved for Hopper is the marketing of racing blades by June 2022. The second is the implementation of a communication plan to increase their visibility during the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
ESCadrille helps you find new markets
ESCadrille is able to precisely define which are the growth markets for your project. For more than 44 years, we have been supporting start-ups and entrepreneurs in the project of their life, but also SMEs/VSEs and Key Accounts in the development of a commercial strategy .
Nominated in 2021 by Alten Junior-Enterprise with the Best Business Development Strategy, ESCadrille has the keys to best support you in your projects.
If you want to propel your Business ESCadrille will meet your needs in a 100% personalized way.