A round-up of recent highlights from the world of ESSEC entrepreneurship

Rankings

Co-founded by Augustin Derville (E19), Electra has entered the Next40 ranking of the forty most promising French Tech start-ups. This champion of "rapid charging terminals for electric vehicles" is seeing rapid growth in the spread of its network, with 170 openings planned for 2023 and €400 million in investments forecasted for the years to come, to enable its expansion across France and into Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Spain.
Find out more (in French).
Read our article (in French).

ESSEC is also the school boasting the highest number of graduates among the Next40, with no less than 93 start-ups, including many other founders who have featured in several editions of the ranking – Jonathan Cherki (E11) and his online customer conversion optimisation solution, Contentsquare; Guillaume Alary-Raisonnier (M08) with his platform 360Learning; or Alexis Angot (E08) with Ÿnsect, which transforms insects into proteins and fertiliser, among others.
Find out more (in French).

Capital raising

Co-founded by Coline Burland (E11), Omie & Cie raised €15M for its platform which offers food produced through regenerative agriculture. This form of farming is more virtuous and respectful in terms of climate, biodiversity, pesticide use and animal care, in addition to the health and working conditions of producers. The company’s aim is to launch around one hundred new offers, enhance the technological interface and break into the European market.
Find out more (in French).

Run by Alexandra Griffon (E17), BlueCargo raised $11M for its technological solution to optimise the flow of shipping containers in port terminals. "The disruptions to international trade caused by the COVID-19 pandemic attracted operators to our offer. We are already saving millions for our 1,200 customers. Our present aim is to expand our activities throughout the USA, perfect our proprietary algorithms and double the number of employees.’"
Find out more.

Co-founded by Jean-Bapiste Lenoir (EXEC MBA 12), the cleantech Qotto raised €8M to roll out its solar power kit in rural African communities. This latest round, a twofold increase on the previous raising, should enable the start-up to commence operations in the Ivory Coast, following Benin and Burkina Faso, and to reach 25,000 customers by the end of 2023.
Find out more (in French).
Read our article (in French).

Co-founded by Nicolas d’Aligny (M20), Vinidaily raised €650K to develop its application which uses artificial intelligence to help you choose your wine according to your tastes and preferences. "These funds will enable us to open our own marketplace and consolidate our team of 7."
Find out more (in French).

Investment funds

Co-founded by Alban Oudin (E15), the investment fund Otium Capital is launching Resonance, a new venture capital vehicle endowed with €150M.  "We're going to invest seed and series A tickets ranging from €100K to €10M, all over Europe, in the fintech, SaaS and consumer sectors." The investment fund is already behind international successes such as Payfit and Owkin.
Find out more.

Crowdfunding 

Co-founded by Emilie Vanpoperinghe (E04) in the UK, Oddbox has raised more than £5.5M through Seedrs for its hampers of unsold fruit & veg sourced directly from producers and delivered to committed consumers. "We’re hoping to save 90,000 tonnes of food in the coming five years and to redistribute it all over Europe."
Find out more
Read our article (in French).

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