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On 22 May 2026, IÉSEG and the Ceetrus Foundation celebrated two socially driven entrepreneurial projects at the 2026 CRÉENSO Awards ceremony: Maison Daddy and Le Salon d’Ariane. Both ventures are firmly grounded in their local communities, addressing real needs by offering services that support well-being and inclusion.

Earlier in the year, 11 entrepreneurs had been selected to benefit from the commitment and support of Master’s-level students from IÉSEG’s Grande École Program. Over several months, students worked individually or in groups on key strategic challenges: business models, communications, commercial development, funding research, and more.

Following this initial selection phase, the entrepreneurs pitched their projects to a jury, which nominated the two overall winners of the 2026 edition.

Maison Daddy: reinventing senior housing to foster social connection through café-bistros

The 2026 CRÉENSO Award, endowed with €25,000, was awarded to Maison Daddy, a project led by Philippe ALBANEL (Grande Ecole Program graduate, class of 2012), which reimagines housing for senior citizens in town centres. Far from isolated retirement facilities, Maison Daddy offers modern, purpose-adapted homes in the heart of communities, with a café-bistro (Chez Daddy) on the ground floor, open to everyone.

The goal of these living spaces is to support ageing in place while creating local, intergenerational social bonds and combating the isolation of older people. Through convivial spaces and tailored services, residents can remain active members of their neighbourhood, build meaningful relationships, and benefit from a natural spirit of mutual support.

With locations already up and running in Lyon, La Madeleine (near Lille), and Autun, Maison Daddy sits somewhere between traditional home care and full residential care — a third way for people who want to age well, on their own terms, surrounded by others. The project has also opened six intergenerational café-bistros independently from its housing sites, with an ambitious goal of reaching 30 cafés by 2030.

“We really weren’t expecting to win, so this is a huge deal for us. For a project like ours, recognition like this confirms we’re on the right track — and it gives our model a real boost of credibility. We currently have six cafés open, and we’re aiming for thirty by 2030. The prize money will help us build a stronger foundation: better support functions, more structured growth, and ideally a Head of Development to help steer the way.”

Philippe ALBANEL, Founder of Maison Daddy

Maison Daddy was supported by IÉSEG students Hana HASANEFENDIĆ, Arthur LAVERAN, and Agathe LIGET, who focused on engaging the investor community and strengthening communications.

“We’ve built a solidarity property fund backed by some truly generous philanthropic investors. The IÉSEG students were a huge help in thinking through how to keep that community engaged — they even helped us design a quarterly newsletter to keep investors in the loop on everything we’re doing,” Philippe ALBANEL added.

Le Salon d’Ariane: a safe haven for women going through cancer

The 2026 “Jury Award”, worth €5,000, was awarded to Le Salon d’Ariane, an inclusive hair salon based in Fromelles, near Lille. Founded by Marie ROBBE — a hair prosthetics specialist and social hairdresser — the salon welcomes any woman looking for a haircut, while offering something more profound to those going through cancer: a caring, dignified space where they can feel like themselves again during one of life’s hardest chapters.

Nicolas LOPEZ and Lou-Swann BOUHOURS supported the project, working on online visibility, competitive analysis, and business model structuring to help ensure its long-term sustainability.

“I’m overwhelmed with emotion and so grateful for this prize — it will make a real difference to my cash flow, which as any entrepreneur knows, is the lifeblood of a business. The students also did brilliant work on my Google presence, which is so important for getting known in the social hairdressing world. They threw themselves into the competitive research, gave me solid strategic advice, and helped me think about the future in a grounded, thoughtful way.”

Marie ROBBE, Founder of Le Salon d’Ariane