14.10.2025
Singapore, a city-state firmly oriented toward the future, is not only a financial or technological hub, it is also fertile ground for entrepreneurs. Since 2022, ESSEC has been developing a unique ecosystem there, focused on innovation and impact, anchored in its Asia-Pacific campus. At the center of this dynamic lies the ESSEC APAC Center, a driving force of the school’s international entrepreneurial strategy.
At ESSEC, entrepreneurship is not limited to a specialization. It flows through every program, from the BBA to the Executive MBA, and is deeply embedded in the pedagogy of the Singapore campus. The guiding principle: learning by doing.
Students work in project-based formats, often mentored by professors who are themselves entrepreneurs or former founders. The Executive MBA, for instance, features a Capstone Project, a true entrepreneurial laboratory that has led many participants to launch their own ventures upon graduation.
“We are not aiming to turn every student into an entrepreneur, but rather to instill fundamental entrepreneurial skills essential to any future leader: agility, initiative, and the ability to navigate uncertainty,” explains Julien Salanave, Director of the Entrepreneurship program in Singapore. These skills are now widely recognized by students themselves as indispensable, regardless of their career path.
Inspired by the ESSEC Ventures model in France, ESSEC Ventures APAC was launched in 2022 to support students and alumni in their first entrepreneurial steps. The program stands out for its flexibility: no formalized project is required at the outset. The goal is to explore, test, and learn.
On average, around ten projects are incubated each year, a number intentionally kept small due to the mobility of students (many stay in Singapore for only a few months) and the scale of the campus. Yet the impact is already tangible.
Some emblematic projects include:
“The priority is not volume, but the quality of support and the creation of positive word-of-mouth. The incubator is gradually becoming a landmark for students eager to embark on the entrepreneurial journey,” notes Julien Salanave.
In a Singaporean landscape dominated by powerful institutions, ESSEC has strategically positioned itself around social and environmental impact entrepreneurship, an area still relatively underdeveloped. This choice reflects both the school’s DNA and its mission to train responsible leaders.
To strengthen its local standing, the campus has launched several initiatives:
These initiatives enable ESSEC to embed itself in Singapore’s dynamic ecosystem while cultivating its distinctive identity: a school where ideas are transformed into projects, and projects into solutions for tomorrow.
In Singapore, as on every campus, entrepreneurship at ESSEC means taking a decisive first step toward changing the world.
