ESSEC Entrepreneurs Are On a Roll

Upscaling, internationalisation, innovation, industrialisation… An overview of key activities by ESSEC entrepreneurs in recent months.

Fundraising, investments, financing…

Created by Kamel Naït-Outaleb (EXEC PROG 15), fintech company OnlyOne has announced a commitment to invest €35 million in transforming its solution for analysing the carbon emissions relating to bank card transactions into a full-blown eco-friendly neobank. This is a promising market with a great future: according to Deloitte, two thirds of French customers do not want their savings to fund fossil fuels, and 71% would be more inclined to choose a bank that has a positive environmental and social impact.
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Launched by Saskia Fiszel (E14), Virgil has raised €15 million to help first-time buyers acquire property by investing alongside them. ‘We are creating a new way of becoming a homeowner by breaking through barriers. Our aim is to fund €50 million in transactions every month in France and Europe.’
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Created by Aurélien Duval-Delort (E05), Bizao has raised €8 million for its solution that enables companies operating in Africa to accept all the means of payment available across the continent, despite their hugely fragmented nature. ‘Since we launched in 2019, we have signed 30 partnerships with telecom operators, banks and mobile money operators across ten countries. This means that we are already covering 200 million end customers via a hundred or so companies.’
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Co-founded by Guillaume Prigent (BBA 15), The Oasis House has raised €7 million to develop its network of country houses devoted to organising corporate seminars and team trips. This service combines real estate with the hospitality business, and seeks to offer a suitable setting for new ways of working.
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Launched by Harold Guillemin (M19), FinX has raised €6 million to industrialise its biomimetic nautical propulsion systems, which are set to revolutionise maritime transport. ‘We are replacing the propeller with a membrane that undulates like a sea animal, enabling energy savings of 20 to 30% compared with standard propulsion, while also offering a quieter, safer solution.’Project supporters include: Hervé Gastinel (E87), the current CEO of the Ponant cruise company and former director of Bénéteau, and Didier Boullery (E80), co-president of the Business Angels Club for ESSEC Alumni.
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Co-founded by Morgan Hilmi (E12), Beebs has raised €6 million for its resale platform for second-hand children’s items, after increasing its turnover eightfold in a single year and reaching a million users. ‘Our aim is to give purchasing power back to families and help boost the circular economy. ‘
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Co-founded by Sébastien de Hulster (BBA 04), the Bellevilles responsible real estate company has raised €3.75 million to increase its investment in architectural and real estate innovation to enable social and environmental transition. ‘We acquire and renovate existing buildings and operate a policy of affordable rents to encourage involvement by committed stakeholders whilst also combating the artificialisation of spaces.’
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Co-founded by Clément Foucher (M17), Metav.rs has raised €3 million for their CMS platform that helps companies manage their metaverse presence more effectively. ‘Our white-label solution enables NFTs to be created and sold via websites, in e-shops or in dedicated marketplaces, as well as allowing the creation of enhanced customer experiences. We believe that this market could reach up to $13 trillion worldwide.’
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Launched by Michaël Obadia (E06), the Upward recruitment agency obtained funding of €2 million to double in size over three years. ‘We currently have eight specialist brands and nearly 50 employees, making more than 250 recruitments and meeting over 1,500 candidates per year. The result: growth of nearly 30%, and much easier access to funding than our very first loan of €5,000!’
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Co-founded by Johann Molinari (E09) and Quentin Demeestère (E09), Popwork has raised €1.5 million for its application to help managers and their teams to work together more effectively. ‘Poor management has a significant human and economic cost: 50% of employees who resign do so because of their manager, and poor management practices represent a cost of €15,000 per employee per year. We offer methodologies and tools for the two in three managers who state that they need help to achieve their goals.’
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Co-founded by Juan Londoño Leon (E18 & M19), Yeasty has raised €1.4 million to ramp up production of its protein ingredient made from unused beer yeast, providing players in the food industry with a vegetarian alternative to meat. The aim is to construct the first industrial facility with a 5,000-ton capacity by 2025.
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Co-founded by Léa Zaslavsky (E13), Jobs_that_make_sense has raised €500,000 for its platform that puts talent and social entrepreneurs together, linked up with the makesense associative ecosystem devoted to the impact economy sector. This is an unusual initiative for a structure of this type, which does not offer or seek to offer the profitability levels found in Silicon Valley, yet has still managed to win over committed investors with a tailored shareholding model combining veto rights for capital decisions, ESUS approval, governance in line with the principles of steward ownership, profit controls and more.
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Mergers, acquisitions, partnerships…

Co-founded by François Roth (E12), Alexandre Martin (E12) and Amaury Courbon (E12), Colonies has signed a €200 million partnership with CDC Habitat to develop co-living in areas where housing rental markets are under strain. The aim is to open some twenty residences across major French cities in five years, each able to accommodate 100 to 300 tenants – whether students, young workers or families.
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Co-founded by Adrien Ledoux (E06), the JobTeaser platform – combining orientation solutions and an internship and employment platform for students – has acquired Graduateland, the Danish market leader for young talent recruitment in Nordic countries. The transaction has reinforced the company’s position as the European market-leader, with an ecosystem that now includes more than 250,000 partner companies and five million users from 750 schools and universities.
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Co-founded by Justin Bignon (E00), the Batibig group has joined forces with the Helios group and ten traditional construction companies to create an entity with a turnover of more than €150 million. Specialising in maintenance and renovations, the company is already handling more than 100,000 operations a year and conducting an ambitious organic growth strategy, with 17 acquisitions over the past two years.
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Crowdfunding 

Co-founded by David Stoikovitch (E15), Moona sailed past its initial target of $25,000 to reach $150,000 on Kickstarter to launch its new generation of intelligent products improving quality of sleep.
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Launched by Audrey Destang (E14), Popee, a brand of clean, recycled hygiene products that are made in France, reached 1000% of its initial target on Ulule with more than 1,600 pre-sales for its new cleansing gel.
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Co-founded by Martin Herbelin (BBA 14), Le Food Trip reached more than 500% of its initial target on KissKissBankBank and collected nearly 1,300 presales for its pass offering access to 30 food products to enjoy from the best artisans in Paris.
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Created by Robin Emptaz (E21), Konkuru, ‘France’s top manga magazine’, doubled its initial target on KissKissBankBank thanks to nearly 500 backers wanting to help showcase new manga talent in France.
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Launched by Jeimila Donty (E17), the Koraï initiative to protect coral, mangroves and seagrass beds in Africa achieved its goal on KissKissBankBank. The total raised will enable the opening of Madagascar's first educational and recreational aquarium to boost awareness among the local population.
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Did you spot other alumni in the news recently? Let us know!  

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