Félix Awards 2025: CentraleSupélec alumni committed to addressing major societal challenges
On Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at the CentraleSupélec Alumni New Year's reception, the Association presented the 2025 Félix Awards. Created in 2012, these awards recognize graduates each year whose entrepreneurial journeys and innovative projects have distinguished themselves through their impact and commitment.
The 2025 edition particularly highlights alumni who are mobilizing engineering, science and innovation to address major societal challenges: climate transition, inclusion, transformation of economic and social models.
Finfrog – Putting artificial intelligence at the service of more inclusive finance
CentraleSupélec alumni, Riadh Alimi, founder and CEO of Finfrogwas awarded the Félix Entrepreneur Award 2025.
Finfrog is a fintech company specializing in consumer credit. With its offering of small, short-term loans accessible via mobile, Finfrog uses artificial intelligence to promote fairer and more inclusive finance.
During the award ceremony, Riadh Alimi emphasized the symbolic significance of this recognition:
"It is a great source of pride to receive this distinction from a school that has trained successive generations of entrepreneurs and fostered pioneers who have lastingly shaped our industrial, economic, and technological landscape."
This Félix Entrepreneur Award comes at a key moment for Finfrog, as the company prepares to enter a new phase of development, after obtaining its financing company accreditation.
VERTUO – Rethinking the city through the reuse of rainwater
Le 2025 Félix Innovator Award was assigned to Baptiste Laurent, CentraleSupélec alumnus, co-founder and CEO of VERTUO.
VERTUO develops innovative urban solutions for rainwater harvesting, aiming to strengthen cities' resilience to climate challenges. The project proposes transforming rainwater, often perceived as a constraint, into a resource that benefits the city.
For Baptiste Laurent, this distinction resonates with the values upheld by CentraleSupélec:
“A big thank you to the CentraleSupélec Alumni Association for their trust and this spotlight on urban resilience, and to CentraleSupélec through Romain Soubeyran for his constant support of impact entrepreneurship within the community.”
Through VERTUO, engineering becomes a concrete lever to support urban and environmental transitions.
Youdy – Facilitating access to professional practice and training
Le 2025 Félix Coup de pouce Awardaccompanied by €2,000 in financial support, was awarded (jointly with Hydros) to Élodie Quach, CentraleSupélec alumna and founder of Youdy.
Youdy is a solidarity-based platform that allows trainees—often career changers—to gain practical experience in real-world conditions, without professional status, working with clients who contribute to the costs. The model is based on a circular approach that is useful, accessible, and humane.
Élodie Quach, founder of Youdy, sees this award as a continuation of the support provided by the School and its community: “I am particularly touched by this recognition. The CentraleSupélec Foundation had already reached out to me in 2023 with an entrepreneurial grant to launch Youdy. And I was supported by the 21st by CentraleSupélec accelerator. Today, this support accompanies a new phase of development.”
Hydros – Supporting businesses in the face of climate change
Le 2025 Félix Coup de pouce Award also distinguished Valentin Odde and Matthieu Annequin, young CentraleSupélec alumni graduates of less than three years, founders of Hydros.
Hydros is a young consulting firm that supports companies facing the challenges of climate change. The team has developed expertise in:
the analysis of risks related to water resources,
measuring the water footprint of companies,
the use of climate data to project a territory or organization into a context of global warming.
This work allows Hydros to formulate strategic and operational recommendations to help companies anticipate and adapt their activities to the impacts of climate change.
An engaged and innovative alumni community
Through the 2025 Félix Awards, CentraleSupélec Alumni highlights career paths that fully illustrate CentraleSupélec's mission: to train engineers capable of combining scientific excellence, innovation and societal commitment.
Whether it is inclusive finance, urban resilience, access to training or adaptation to climate change, these initiatives demonstrate the ability of CentraleSupélec alumni to transform their skills into concrete solutions for the benefit of society.
