Ilias El Gabli

Ilias El Gabli, 26 years old, shares his experience of the Pépite program at Sorbonne University

What is your background?

I completed a master's degree in science, technology and health with a specialization in engineering sciences at Pierre and Marie Curie University in 2017. I started out as an intern, and was recruited by Safran, a major French industrial and technological group specializing in aerospace and defense. But for many years I'd wanted to develop a project through entrepreneurship. That's why I left Safran in 2019 to start creating "Find Your Teacher". This is a geolocalized platform designed to find a private tutor quickly and close to where the user lives. After having participated in numerous "meet-up" type social networking platforms, I needed to be as close as possible to my target audience: students. This observation naturally led me to apply to the Pépite at Sorbonne University.

How did you decide to launch your project? How did you get the idea?

This idea took root many years ago, when I was the general secretary and volunteer of a "Tera" association working for the academic success of young people in the city of Osny where I grew up. I quickly realized how difficult it was to bring together students who wanted to give classes and parents looking for tutoring, without a dedicated platform. How can we simplify this connection? That's how I got the idea of "TrouveTonProf". I developed this project and was convinced it had potential at a time when educational technologies are being developed to facilitate teaching and learning (Edtech).

How did you get organized?

I drew on my academic and professional experience to develop my analytical approach to each problem encountered. I set up what we now call a "lean start-up". This is a specific approach to starting a business activity and launching a product or service that best meets consumer demand with minimal initial investment. I have also been greatly enriched by reading about entrepreneurship, by listening to podcasts structuring the activity of a startup and by watching entrepreneurship education programs (Koudetat, Ammar). The last step was the creation of a team to accompany me in this project in order to develop the online platform technically.

How does it work?

"TrouveTonProf" (TTP) is not only innovative in its action but also conveys strong social values. I believe in new forms of learning and knowledge transmission and in this TTP truly embodies self-actualization and attachment to knowledge and learning. Our three creeds are: culture and knowledge enable individual emancipation; the transmission of knowledge is essential; failure should not be experienced as fatal. The subjects we are committed to are eminently topical and directly echo the reform of national education, particularly on the modalities of grading the baccalaureate and the importance of continuous assessment. This context is conducive to a new offer for private tutoring. "TrouveTonProf" connects teachers with students ranging from first grade to post-graduate in all subjects and at lower prices than others on the market.

Have you modified your business activity to adapt to the health crisis?

In the context of the Covid-19 crisis, we are participating in the national solidarity chain by ensuring free educational continuity for all via a system of videoconferences and discussion forums. This system was made possible thanks to volunteers.

What has student entrepreneurship brought you?

Without hesitation, I can say that it brought me a network! It allowed me to exchange with people who contributed to the advancement of my project. The courses I took helped me structure my understanding of entrepreneurial concepts.

What are the possible areas for improvement?

We would like to develop and expand our community of teachers and students and to improve our platform to make it more intuitive.

What other support have you received?

We are "incubated" within the "La Turbine" support structure for business creation projects in Cergy. It provides us with support in terms of training, advice, tools and financing. At the same time, we are supported by "Les Déterminés", an association that helps develop initiatives and entrepreneurship in the suburbs and rural areas. We are part of the EdTech France & TechForGood labels that promote companies whose technologies and innovations are useful to primary, secondary and higher education and lifelong learning. Finally, we have established several partnerships with players in the educational and entrepreneurial sectors.

What are your prospects?

In the short term, we would like to have users all over the region of Ile de France, in the medium term we would like to be able to roll out nationally and in about ten years' time become the market leader in private tutoring on a national scale.