Specialized in smart-grids, Entech smart energies, created in 2016, has just taken another important step to pursue its ambitious development by raising 5 M€ from various partners
Entech smart energies
Located in Quimper, (France), Entech smart energies is specialized in conversion and storage of energy for smart-grids. Created in 2016, the company employs 35 people for a turnover of 3 M€ in 2018.
With ten years of experience and the realization of various projects of storage, conversion and production of renewable energy, Christopher Franquet and Laurent Meyer, created Entech smart energies in February 2016 with the aim of offering optimized energy conversion solutions as part of an alternative model and thus meeting the important needs of the smart-grids market actors. Entech smart energies carries out turnkey hybrid projects (mixing solar, photovoltaic, wind, storage and distribution) that integrate the trades of study, design, production, installation until commissioning and exploitation. The complexity of Entech’s job is within the conversion and storage of renewable energies, (among the cheapest in the world) in order to redistribute electricity in off-grid zones (islands) or in fast-growing emerging countries, for example.
Already enjoying a strong reputation, Entech smart energies is part of a representative association of French excellence and innovation capacity and recently participated in two delegations of the French government in the United Arab Emirates, next to president Emmanuel Macron, as well as in Ivory Coast and Tunisia with the Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Award winner of the GreenTech label by the ministry of ecology and solidarity transition, Entech also won the ADEME innovation contest, has been selected by InnoEnergy (the European accelerator of the energy transition) and is accompanied by BPI within the framework of the BPI Excellence and French Fab plan. These recognitions are the pledge of the technology mastery to the service of the systems competitiveness.
5 M€ to finance the development of Entech smart energies
To reach a new stage of the company’s development, the leaders of Entech smart energies requested Force 29, innovation capital funds of the Crédit Agricole and UNEXO Capital Investment, subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole, to durably accompany them in a minority way, and to reinforce equities of the company. The regional fund of the Crédit Agricole has the role of a local lender accompanied by banking groups CMB and CIC.
These various supports of 5 M€ in total, match perfectly with the development of Entech’s activity and will serve in particular three major stakes for the company, namely:
- Industrialization: after having devoted two years to develop the R&D, Entech smart energies will industrialize its know-how and considers the construction of an industrial tool, close to its head office in Quimper, to deploy its technology on a large scale. The amount of its order book now exceeds 10 M€.
- Recruitment: to serve this growth, the company has important needs in terms of recruitment. The managers of Entech wish to recruit around twenty people in the next six months, among which industrial IT engineers, electrical engineers, project managers and production / construction site technicians.
- The international development: the strong growth of the electrification demand in the emerging countries reveals an important potential for the smart-grids Entech intends to reinforce its market shares, in particular in Africa and Asia.
Christopher Franquet and Laurent Meyer, founders and leaders of Entech smart energies explain: “It is a big step for Entech which will enable us to massively deploy the solutions already developed and to intensify industrialization. Since our creation, we finalized significant achievements and our order book make us confident for the future. Our team is in the centre of these successes, that is why we wish to continue to bet on talents in order to maintain our course: to promote the integration of renewable energies. The meeting with Force 29 and UNEXO enables us to approach the challenge of a strong growth with great confidence, with agility and in the long run. It is a great satisfaction for us to be accompanied by a finance leader such as the Crédit Agricole group.”
“We met very early after the creation of the company and quickly understood each other. We perceived with Christopher and Laurent and in the project that they showed subtle alchemy between entrepreneurial spirit, complementarity, innovation and ambition. After two years of work, the promise is already fulfilled. Today, we join for a new step and to make Entech the reference mid-size company in the smarts-grids”, comments Didier Hamon, in charge of the participations at Force 29.
“We are proud to accompany Christopher Franquet and Laurent Meyer in this big step of the development of Entech smart energies. This jewel has the means to achieve its ambitions on every aspect: financial, industrial and human resources”, continues Maryan Deroo, director of participations at UNEXO.
Entech smart energies
Creation date: 2016
Head office: Quimper (Brittany, France)
Activity: Solutions of conversion and storage of energy
Turnover: 3 M€
Workforce: 35 employees
Directors: Christopher Franquet and Laurent Meyer
Website: www.entech-se.com
FINANCIAL INVESTORS:
FORCE 29 – Didier Hamon – Responsible of participations – didier.hamon@force-29.bzh – 02 98 76.05.29
UNEXO – Maryan Deroo – Director of participations – mderoo@unexo.fr – 02 99 67 99 02
DIRECTOR COUNCIL:
Fidal – Jean-Régis Gallizia
INVESTORS COUNCIL:
Apollo Avocats – Guillaume de Ternay, Bérangère Coussolle
BANKS :
Caisse régionale de Crédit Agricole du Finistère – Marine Hélias
Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne – Agence entreprises et professionnels de Quimper
CIC Bretagne – Agence Finistère entreprises
Bpifrance – Réseau Ouest-Brest
DUE DILIGENCE:
Grant Thornton – Stephan Bougreau, Olivier Calvez