Why is disruptive innovation not (really) taking off in France?

🇫🇷 A French paradox

France innovates. A lot.
It ranks among the world’s top 10 countries for so-called “disruptive” patent filings.
And yet, it struggles to turn innovation into reality.

The issue is not a lack of creativity.
It is the ability to industrialize innovation.
To move from prototype to productive reality.
To turn a risky idea into a reliable solution.

The numbers that hurt

• 6th worldwide for disruptive patent filings
• 14th for industrial exploitation of those patents
• Less than 3% of French SMEs engaged in disruptive innovation projects
• 80% of innovation projects fail at the scaling stage
  

France knows how to invent.
But it does not know well enough how to deliver.

And when innovation gets stuck, it creates neither value nor impact.

Disruptive innovation: what are we really talking about?

Disruptive innovation is not about doing things a little better.
It disrupts. It breaks existing models.
It creates new uses. It changes the rules of the game.

It can:

• Reinvent a product or a function
• Create a new need or a new market
• Transform an entire industry
  

But it also brings major risks technical, economic, regulatory that most SMEs cannot bear alone.

Where it gets stuck: scaling up

The problem is not upstream.
Labs, research, and ideas are there.

The blockage lies in the productive link where innovation must become an industrial solution.

Why does it stall?

French SMEs are too isolated to face the challenges of industrialization on their own. They lack:

• Industrial testing and prototyping facilities
• Time for strategic perspective
• Reliable technical partners committed to results
• Financing adapted to the specific risks of disruptive innovation

What they do have, however

👉 Decision-making agility
👉 Proximity to real-world constraints
👉 Practical, usage-driven intelligence

Real industrial innovation is born in the workshop, not in the lab.

But without an ecosystem capable of industrializing the idea, it never goes beyond the prototype stage.

BIBUS Solutions: turning ideas into reality

At BIBUS Solutions, we start from a simple principle:
Innovation only matters if it runs.

We don’t deliver slide decks.
We don’t bill endless hours of theoretical studies.

We co-develop integrable, robust, tested, ready-to-operate systems.

Our role: to be the reliable industrial partner that helps you cross the gap between idea and production.

A structured method designed for SMEs

Our approach is built around five clear steps:

1. Technical audit of the disruptive potential
2. Co-design with commitment to feasibility
3. Industrial prototyping using our in-house resources
4. Support through integration and ramp-up
5. Post-delivery follow-up to adjust, secure, and document
   

No technological over-engineering.
No “POCs” left on a shelf.

Just solutions designed to operate in real, constrained industrial environments.

What we believe at BIBUS Solutions

Disruptive innovation is not a marketing statement.
It is a reliable, simple, maintainable system that creates value from day one of operation.

We commit our responsibility to results.
And that changes everything.

The 5 success conditions we see in every project

• Leadership that truly believes in it without strategic alignment, there is no disruption
• A real prototyping environment, not a theoretical one
• The ability to test, adjust, and validate quickly
• Continuity between R&D, production, and market
• Commitment to a functional, durable solution
  

This is what we deliver, alongside French SMEs, every single day.

You have an idea? We turn it into an operational system.
📍 Go / No-Go decision in 7 days
📍 Functional design with constraints built in
📍 Delivery of a ready-to-use system
📍 Measurable ROI from day one

Contact us for a free project audit