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

Capital raising

Co-founded by Tristan Maurel (E20), Umiami is raising €100M to produce ‘plant-based meat’ which offers the same taste and nutritional qualities as animal meat, while emitting significantly lower levels of greenhouse gases. Incubated by ESSEC Ventures and 2021 winner of the ESSEC Founders Day competition, the start-up wishes to pursue the industrialisation of its technology and thus accelerate commercialisation in Europe and its expansion to the USA.

Co-founded by Côme Fouques (E12) and Adrien Plat (BBA 08), Indy is raising €40M for its automatic accounting application for freelance professionals. This capital should enable the company to recruit 200 employees in 2024 and equip 1 million customers by 2027. 

Launched by Henri Desesquelles (E20), Osiris Agriculture is raising €2.15M to develop a robot capable of optimising the volume of water needed for crops via a technique of watering directly under foliage and by adjusting amounts according to soil moisture. This reduces water use by 10% to 30% compared to standard systems.

Co-founded by Martin d’Agay (E22) and Vincent Garcia (E22), Kikleo is raising €1.5M to help the collective catering sector to reduce food waste.  ‘In 2023 alone, we saved 150,000 meals, or 86 tonnes of waste, and avoided 520 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. We hope to reach a target of 1,000 restaurants with a 50% reduction in waste by 2025.’ 

Co-founded by Maxime Chaury (E18) in Australia, Upworth is raising $1M AUD for its platform which allows individuals to monitor their assets via a single interface, coordinate investments and optimise revenues.  

Co-founded by Alexandre Pinon-Jacques (E19) and Quentin Amaudry (E24), Mendo is closing its first round of financing for its training add-in, integrated in Excel and ChatGPT. This tool helps employees to learn to use key business software.

Rankings

Out of the 20 nuggets ranked by the LinkedIn Top Start-ups 2023 France, 6 were co-founded by ESSEC alumni! Electra, co-founded by Augustin Derville (E19), manufactures and installs rapid charging terminals for electric vehicles. Greenly, co-founded by Arnaud Delubac (M20), provides individuals with an application to calculate their carbon footprint by analysing their bank transactions, and offers a solution to help SMEs to steer and reduce their carbon emissions. Wethenew, co-founded by David Benhaïm (E18), connects limited-edition sport shoe buyers with resellers. Iroko, co-founded by Olivier van den Broek (E10) and Louis Duclert (E10), offers a responsible online property savings solution with ISR certification (socially responsible investment). Santé Académie, co-founded by Stanislas De Zutter (M11), offers a new approach to continuing medical education, with video courses by European experts, accessible on computers and smartphones. And we’ve already mentioned the sixth winner, Uniami! 

Station F awarded 2 ESSEC projects in the 2023 edition of its Future 40 ranking of the forty best start-ups present on its campus (out of 1,000). Co-founded by Max Herrmann (E20), Nopli is developing a solution to enable brands to launch their second-hand offer online, simply and profitably. Co-founded by Camille Bouget (M17), Scienta Lab applies artificial intelligence to precision immunology to accelerate the discovery and development of drugs for treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. 

Mergers, acquisitions, franchises and more

Co-founded by Jean-Noël Felli (E89), the Balthazar group has joined Colombus Consulting. Together, the two B Corp, mission-driven companies aim to become the leading provider in France of responsible transformation support, thanks to their 300 consultants. 

Created by Mathilde Le Roy (E99), KAZoART is teaming up with Rise Art, Europe’s leading online art gallery. ‘This strategic merger, born of a shared vision of art and its accessibility, will enable us to broaden our offer to more than 1,500 international artists.’ 

Launched by Norman Kolton (IMHI 14), Street Bangkok is developing an original franchise model with a central culinary laboratory ensuring the high quality of the Thai and South-East Asian gastronomy which underpinned the success of the historical brand. The company currently supplies 8 branches in the Paris area and ultimately aims to serve some forty establishments daily in major French cities. 

Crowdfunding

Founded by Rose Mariton (E15), Les Papilles Vertes is quadrupling its crowdfunding target on Ulule. This will enable the brand to officially launch its activity kits to introduce 3-to-6-year-olds to healthy, responsible eating.
Read the article (in French)

Created by Martin Hacpille (E14), EverEver is extending is crowdfunding campaign on Ulule to launch Albert, ‘the French-made dishwasher designed to last’, which has already reached 785% of its initial pre-sale target. It’s not too late to participate online!

Launched by Sébastien Plan (EXEC M21), the perfume brand Abstraction Paris has just launched its crowdfunding campaign on Ulule to enable you to participate in the development of its latest vintage. In exchange for your participation, you have the chance, among other options, to create your customised fragrance. You have until 20 December to contribute online.

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