9-figure funding rounds, ambitious upscaling, acquisitions by major multinationals… Join us for a recap of some of the stand-out successes enjoyed by ESSEC entrepreneurs over the past few months.

Fundraising

Launched by Benoît Marrel (E06), Breega recently raised €250 million for its fourth investment fund, which will be devoted to supporting 20 European start-ups operating primarily in the fields of fintech, proptech and insurtech. The firm has thus doubled the value of its assets under management, currently split among 83 businesses across 7 different countries. Find out more 

Co-founded by Augustin Derville (E19), Electra has raised €160 million to build a French champion in electric vehicle charging networks, capable of competing with the biggest European rivals in this field. “We are opening new stations every week, all over the country, and we will have 8,000 charging points up and running by 2030.” Find out more (in French)

Co-founded by Louis Carbonnier (E05), Hokodo has raised $40 million to become Europe’s leading provider of buy-now-pay-later solutions for online shopping. The company is already focused on the next steps in its rapid development: doubling its workforce and breaking into the Italian, Scandinavian and Polish markets. Find out more 

Co-founded by Joan Burkovic (E11), fintech firm Bridge has raised €20 million to become France’s leading name in open banking, specialising in B2B digital payment services. The start-up now plans to reinforce its aggregation and data enrichment technologies, recruit 40 collaborators and branch out into 7 new countries. Find out more (in French)

Founded by Philippe Notton (EXEC MBA 08), SiPearl has attracted a grant of €2.5 million and an equity investment of €15 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC), as part of a funding round which is expected to hit €100M. The goal is to develop the microprocessors that will be used in Europe’s future supercomputers, components of immense strategic importance to the EU’s sovereignty. Find out more (in French)

Co-founded by Nicolas Guinebretière (E17), Vestack has raised €10 million to transform the construction sector with new design software which makes it easier than ever to build with bio-sourced materials, proving that affordability and low carbon emissions are not mutually exclusive. “We are going to recruit more talent, open a new location and form new partnerships to boost our production capacities.” Find out more (in French)

Co-founded by Alexia Cordier (E13), Fifty has attracted investment of $10 million in its eDoing coaching solution, designed to steer behavioural change within professional organisations. “Our client list already includes half of the CAC 40 along with many other large French companies. Our services are available in 5 languages all over the world, with a retention rate of 90%. All of our users have been won over by our method, which combines elements of behavioural science (nudge) and technology. This new chapter in our development will allow us to enrich our platform with extra functions, triple our workforce and accelerate our growth in Europe.” Find out more

Founded by Thomas Laurent (E07), Micropep Technologies has raised a further €8.75 million less than a year after its first funding round of €8.5 million. Micropep offers specialist solutions for crop protection, based on plant peptides which go to work on the crops’ RNA. This innovative, sustainable technology looks set to revolutionise the market in herbicides and fungicides, and earned Thomas Laurent a place in Le Point magazine’s Top 100 French Innovators of 2022, in the category “Inventing the food of the future.” Find out more (in French)

Co-founded by Benjamin Cohen Aloro (E21) and Jeremy Pinto (E22), Just has raised €3 million to further develop its innovative payment system, which simplifies the checkout process and boosts the conversion rate of online sales platforms. Find out more (in French)

Co-founded by Benoît Chatelier (E00), MeltingSpot has raised €2.8 million to support the development of online communities using its SaaS platform, giving businesses an alternative to the usual social media channels which allows them to establish, manage and grow their networks of clients, prospective clients, partners, users and investors. “We want to greatly expand our interoperability with other CRM and marketing tools, as well as strengthening our team and getting the jump on Europe’s fastest-growing markets.” Find out more (in French)

Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales…

Led by Ella Etienne-Denoy (E12), consulting firm Green Soluce has become the latest addition to the CBRE Group. “As a consulting firm specialising in the environmental transition of the property and town planning sectors, we could not have dreamed of a better way of expanding our impact than joining the global leader in our industry. Together we are going to be able to upscale our work, multiplying and accelerating our impactful actions.” Find out more (in French)

Co-founded by Boukar Sall (BBA 17) and nurtured in the ESSEC Ventures incubator, young start-up Plaiz has been bought out by Watiz. It feels like a natural fit: a French social network which brings together fashion brands, professionals and enthusiasts – dispensing with the usual ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ to promote greater creative and stylistic freedom – and France’s first visual shopping app, which allows users to track down the item they are looking for from any online store using just a photo. Find out more (in French)

Crowdfunding campaigns

Co-founded by Laure Zamiara (E19), Rafale Collective, a leading label bringing together bright young fashion designers, recently completed a Ulule crowdfunding campaign which achieved twice its initial target. The collective now has its sights set on the long term: helping young creatives to develop their brands in an environmentally-friendly manner, with an emphasis on upcycling, natural materials, “Made in France” etc. Find out more (in French)

Founded by Ivan Jouravleff (E99), Gamelle is an application which analyses pet foods and gives them health ratings akin to the human-focused Nutriscore. The company recently conducted a successful Ulule crowdfunding campaign, with contributions from almost 100 investors. Find out more (in French)

Did you spot other ESSEC startups in the news recently? Let us know

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