From left to right: Marie Capitaine (TotalEnergies), Benoit Savattier (TotalEnergies), Antoine Delafargue (TotalEnergies), Jean-Marc Bally (Aster), Chama El Shamy (Aster)
Following a competitive process, Aster was chosen by TotalEnergies to take over most of the assets of its CVC arm, TotalEnergies Ventures. The portfolio is made up of minority stakes in about twenty companies, mainly located in Europe and the United States. This deal allows Aster to notably demonstrate once again its international experience, its expertise in technologies and innovative solutions contributing to carbon neutrality, and its capacity to support start-ups in their respective growth projects.
Aster is also pleased to welcome North Sky Capital as an investor in the specially created FPCI fund (Fonds Professionnel de Capital Investissement), and endowed with a significant share to support the portfolio companies in their future financing needs. For its part, TotalEnergies will maintain a close relationship with Aster and will be interested in the future performance of the FPCI. Jean-Marc Bally, Managing Partner of Aster “this unprecedented operation testifies confidence in the Aster model and in our ability to develop solutions fully tailored to the needs of our subscribers”.
This announcement is a concrete step towards the building of a broader approach to support players interested in transferring and monitoring their venture capital investments.
With this solid first experience, Aster positions itself as a new entrant in the private equity secondary market. Aster can offer several liquidity and/or support solutions tailored to a smooth transition, and above all aligned with the evolving needs of the strategy and positioning of venture capital players, including in particular industrial corporates looking for liquidity or a new balance for their CVC activities and investment portfolios.
According to Fabio Lancellotti, Partner at Aster, “the economic context, combined with the cyclicality of venture capital investments, create opportunities to take over minority positions held directly by players wishing to reposition themselves on their core activities. We want to energize the secondary market with a constructive, tailor-made approach adapted to the strategic changes of large corporates, particularly industrial ones”.
Beyond the secondary buyout of assets, Aster is able to articulate multiple and varied approaches to come to a proposal adapted to each context, and to each team. Whether it is an on-the-spot audit, the takeover of management -directly or via a service provider role-, or even the sale, the options are numerous to best serve the interests of players wishing to reorient or stop their initiatives in the venture capital area.
Aster is a venture capital firm based in Paris. Since 2000, we have managed several generations of funds raised from major industrial and institutional groups. We have built our expertise in Climate Tech with investments in the mobility, energy and industry sectors in particular. We finance start-ups at all stages of development, preferably from seed phase, and choose entrepreneurs who make the fight against climate change a priority mission of their projects. EkWateur (energy supplier that aims to accelerate the energy transition, sold in 2022) or Betterway (pioneer in the employee mobility solutions, sold to Edenred) are among our most recent success stories.
More broadly, Aster acts as a catalyst for its ecosystem, with Aster Class, a training organization that provides a framework for the dissemination of Aster’s expertise, and Aster Fab, a new kind of consulting firm unlocking the net zero transformation of hard-to-abate sectors by tapping into the startup gold mine.
We are proud to announce today our successful exit from Betterway, a fast-growing provider of employee mobility solutions. The exit took place as part of a new funding round of €4m with Edenred, a global leader in employee benefits.
We are extremely pleased with the growth and success that Betterway has achieved since our initial investment. We have been proud to support the company’s innovative approach to employee mobility solutions, and we are confident that their partnership with Edenred will continue to accelerate their growth and success.
Betterway’s platform enables businesses to provide their employees with seamless access to various forms of transportation, including public transit, ride-sharing, and more. This allows employees to have greater flexibility and autonomy when it comes to their daily commutes, while also helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint and transportation costs.
We believe that Betterway’s innovative approach to employee mobility is the future of the transportation industry, and we are proud to have been a part of their journey. We wish them success as they continue to revolutionize the way we think about transportation in the workplace.
At Aster Capital, we are committed to investing in innovative and disruptive companies that have the potential to transform Mobility. We will continue to seek out opportunities to invest in the most promising startups and entrepreneurs around the world, and we look forward to sharing more exciting news in the future.
We are thrilled to announce today our reinvestment in Hadean, a distributed computing startup that is revolutionizing the way the metaverse is powered.
Hadean has just closed its latest funding round, raising an impressive $30 million in capital. High profile investors including Epic Games, Tencent, Alumni Ventures alongside existing investors Molten, Entrepreneur First, ourselves and other strategic partners participated to the round.
We are incredibly excited to continue supporting Hadean and the company’s mission of building the infrastructure that will enable the next generation of online experiences. Hadean’s unique approach to distributed computing and their focus on scalability, efficiency, and flexibility make them the perfect partner for some of the markets that we serve as we look to invest in companies that are driving innovation and disrupting traditional industries.
With this new funding, Hadean is well-positioned to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the metaverse. The company’s technology has the potential to unlock new levels of creativity and interactivity in online experiences, enabling users to participate in truly immersive virtual worlds.
At Aster Capital, we are proud to be a part of Hadean’s journey and look forward to seeing the company continue to grow and succeed in the years to come. We believe that Hadean has the potential to transform the way we think about computing, and we are excited to support them as they build the infrastructure of the future.
Iceotope, a deeptech portfolio company focusing on immersion liquid cooling for DCs, has secured a growth equity round led by ABC Impact.
We are excited to announce today the closing of a $36m growth equity round led by ABC Impact on our portfolio company Iceotope, a deeptech company focusing on immersion liquid cooling. Other notable new investors are nVent, the US headquarters Corporate, large UK impact funds Northern Grid Stone, SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust, Pavilion Capital and British Patient Capital. Existing investors also participated to the round.
It has been quite a journey since the first days of our initial investment back in 2014: investing in a handful people shop proved to be challenging but we have realised over time that the initial investment thesis holds quite a bit. Increasingly the datacenter market – the initial focus for the company – represents a growing portion of the electricity consumed around the world. As the impact of CO2 emissions worsen with major meteorological disruptions across the globe, the major cloud, colo and IT players are confronted to stricter regulations to reduce both water and energy consumption to run increasingly powerful compute workloads. The arrival of crypto/blockchain, the pervasiveness of AI applications – metaverse and auto-generative conversational bots such as Chat GPT – are making the situation increasingly worse. That’s where Iceotope is playing a crucial rule, by enabling datacenter investors and operators to reduce the power efficiency of those machines (Power Usage Effectiveness is the golden standard in this industry) down to world record 1.03[1] while new born datacenters are typically 20-40% more energy eater (and legacy installations are 100-150% more).
During more than 5 years of research backed by leading research universities such as Leeds and Sheffield (UK), Iceotope has developed a leading immersion cooling solution that is protected by about a hundred patents, and it is now commercialized with some of the largest players of the cloud and datacenter industry.
According to Gartner, Immersion cooling systems can deliver better cooling efficiency than the widely used passive and forced-air cooling systems. It is also more effective than the traditional liquid cooling solutions that route liquid coolant to specific high-power components within the server. This enables high-performance compute systems to be operated in very dense configurations or environments where air-based cooling may not be viable or effective, such as edge infrastructure deployments in a non-data center environment.
With the new money raised and the support of a global set of investors who share the same commitment to enable a digital revolution that doesn’t cost the earth, Iceotope will double down on its US and Asia presence while pushing to keep ahead of competitors through continue recruitment of talent engineers both in the UK and in the US.
At Aster, we are proud to have been one of the earliest backers of Iceotope and look forward to seeing the company continue to grow and succeed in the years to come. We believe that the Company has the potential to transform the way we design and operate cooling in computing, and we are excited to support them as they can massively contribute to a digital revolution that respects our planet.
[1] Meaning for each kWh of compute power, 1.03 kWh are effectively absorbed by the grid
Grand Prix ACF AutoTech is now the leading competition in the automotive industry. Since 2018, the Automobile Club de France and ESSEC Automobile Club have been promoting, rewarding and supporting the most innovative French and international startups in automotive use, commercialisation, manufacturing and design.
Featuring a high-profile panel of judges made up of leading entrepreneurs and top figures from the automotive industry, this large-scale event acts as a springboard and accelerator for new technology and transport.
GRAND PRIX ACF AUTOTECH
For startups in the most advanced stages of their development
PRIX PIONNIER ACF
For the youngest startups, in the early stages of their development (seed stage)
MENTION GPACF GREENTECH
For the finalist startup with the most eco-friendly product
5 OCTOBER 2020 – Applications are open
Organisations eligible to enter the Grand Prix ACF AutoTech: Automotive service and technology development companies that have registered their business activity on or after 1 January 2011 in any country worldwide, with at least 50% of the share capital owned by one or more private individual(s).
Applicants compete to win one of the three awards and prizes (worth a combined total of more than €200,000).
27 NOVEMBER 2020 – Application deadline
9 FEBRUARY 2021 – 6 finalists announced
Competition organisers announce the six startups selected for the final round of Grand Prix ACF AutoTech 2021. These finalists will receive guidance from the consulting firm Humeaning in preparing their speech, developing business relationships and promoting their image at the awards ceremony.
15 APRIL 2021 – Finalists announced and awards ceremony
The final round and awards ceremony will be held at the Automobile Club de France on Place de la Concorde in Paris. In attendance will be jury members, finalists and 300 guests from the automotive, high-tech and digital industries, business and media leaders, as well as partners joined this year by Michelin and La Tribune.
President of the Jury
Louis Desanges, President of Automobile Club de France
Thierry Peugeot, President of ESSEC Automobile Club
Anne Asensio, Vice-President Design of Dassault Systèmes
Patrick Blain, Former Executive Committee member, Renault-Nissan
Yann Bodéré, Managing Director of IoT.Bzh, Grand Prix ACF 2020
Eric Bourdais de Charbonnière President of the Automobile Club de France Endowment Fund
Félicie Burelle, Managing Director, Plastic Omnium
Béatrice Duboisset,President of Humeaning and Founder of Paris TedX Women Champs Elysées
Patrick Koller, CEO of Faurecia
Gilles Le Borgne, Executive Vice President Engineering, Renault Group
Elisabeth Lecuyer, President of Paris Business Angels
Frédéric Mazzella, President-Founder of BlaBlaCar
Christian Peugeot, Vice-President of Automobile Club de France
Alexis Poinsard, Corporate M&A Partner, Fidal
Romain Stutzmann, President of France AutoTech
Agence VLC
Valérie Leseigneur – Tel: + 33 (0)6 68 80 37 35 – valerie@agencevlc.com
Joy Lion – Tel: + 33 (0)7 62 59 65 86 – joy@agencevlc.com
GPACF AutoTech
Richard de Cabrol – Tel: + 33 (0)6 51 38 16 38 – richard.decabroldemoute@essec.edu
ZIZ has been leading the energy access revolution in the 5th largest country in Africa, with a 10% electrification rate, and is now expanding in Chad and beyond. EAV is proud to be backing an African team with an outstanding track record of executing in one of the world’s most fragile environments.
Founded in 2006 by Ibrahim Zakaria, a Chadian engineer, ZIZ rapidly emerged into one of the national leaders in electrical equipment distribution, EPC services, and energy services for secondary cities and commercial and industrial (C&I) clients.
Having successfully operated diesel-powered sites in several Chadian towns for the past decade, ZIZ is now developing MW scale ‘metro-grids’ by hybridizing these sites through solar and storage to extend their distribution network and increase population coverage and operating hours.
In addition, ZIZ is expanding its electrification efforts across new cities in Chad, North Cameroon and other Central African countries. The company is leveraging their 13 years of experience and profitability to lead the C&I, grid extension and rural electrification efforts in the region.
We are excited to welcome EAV to Chad. EAV’s investment allows us to execute on our vision of decentralized green energy for Central Africa and our mission to be the main vector in Chad.
We believe that companies like ZIZ are best positioned to champion universal clean energy access efforts in frontier markets. Our investment in ZIZ marks an important step in the acceleration of the energy access revolution across Central Africa’s frontier markets. We are proud to back Ibrahim Zakaria, a Chadian entrepreneur who wields deep knowledge, operational skills and networks. ZIZ team navigates dynamic business contexts and nascent regulatory landscapes to become the clear leader in the region.
Schneider has worked closely over the years with ZIZ, the certified national distributor for Schneider in Chad. The company’s energy as a service model perfectly embodies Schneider’s long-term energy access vision in frontier markets. We are excited to expand our partnership with ZIZ across its various business lines including distribution, C&I, EPC services and in particular, the metrogrid hybridizing project.
ZIZ was established in 2006 by Chadian engineer, Ibrahim Zakaria, starting off as an electrical EPC company. The company quickly diversified into rural and urban electrification, electrical equipment distribution, EPC and energy services for C&I. The company has 60 employees and has been operating profitably. ZIZ also has a presence in North Cameroon where it provides electrification services.
ZIZ was advised by FieldFisher for English law documents, LPA-CGR Avocats, Kreich Avocats SCP and Venture Law Ltd for French, Chadian and Mauritian law, respectively. For more information, please visit www.ziz-energie.com
Energy Access Ventures is an investment firm in Africa. With over 40 years of investment experience in Africa, EAV is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the emerging smart, distributed, cost-effective infrastructure market segment. EAV has carved out a reputation as a hands-on investor that works closely with its portfolio companies to capture the significant opportunity in Africa. EAV’s first fund (“EAV I”) was raised in February 2015 and is €75,000,000 in size with 9 investment professionals. The fund is sponsored by the leading French multinational Schneider Electric and is managed by Aster Capital in Paris. Its investors are CDC Group (UK), managing funds for the UK Department for International Development, the European Investment Bank, the Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en Afrique (FISEA) held by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and managed by Proparco, the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), administered by AFD, Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Netherlands Development Finance Company the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and Schneider Electric. For more information, please visit https://eavafrica.com/
Schneider Electric is a European multinational company providing energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, software and services.
For more information, please visit https://www.se.com
SolarX focuses on West Africa, a region where electricity access remains expensive and unreliable for many commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses. This presents a significant opportunity for solar energy given the region’s vast solar radiation coverage. SolarX unlocks this opportunity by offering a one-stop shop solution for clean energy services – providing reliable and affordable energy which allows end-users to operate more efficiently in challenging environments. With this financing, SolarX will focus on developing and operating projects in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
As energy generation in our target market comes from costly, difficult-to-get and volatile fossil fuels, most C&I clients are looking for cheaper, more reliable and cleaner energy. Despite the market demand, attracting financial partners had been a challenge before engaging with EAV. The EAV team has been instrumental in supporting us to set up the company, define the right business model, put together operational structures and develop connections with relevant partners prior to their investment. We are eager to lead the way in growing the renewable energy sector in West Africa.
We are proud to continue to foster the development of C&I solar, investing in experienced local teams and innovative business models across underserved, frontier markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. With decades of combined operating experience in Mali, the SolarX team has the right expertise and execution capabilities to create a leading regional franchise with an appropriate and comprehensive C&I offering.
As a champion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, CDC is committed to supporting innovative companies that are working to increase access to affordable and clean energy in Africa. SolarX is providing a much-needed solution for C&I companies and is well-positioned to ignite the renewable energy sector, which remains a critical pillar for development on the continent. We are excited to see the EAV team enter frontier markets and we’re pleased by their support of SolarX as they grow in Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and beyond.
SolarX is a renewable energy company focused on providing reliable, clean and affordable energy solutions to commercial and industrial clients in West Africa. By offering a one-stop shop for commercial clients, the company provides easy access to financing and energy efficiency services, while allowing the companies to focus on their core business and operate on environmentally friendly and cost-efficient energy sources.
The company was founded by Omnium Invest’s management team, who have been operational in Mali for the past 20 years and have experienced similar pain points given their nature of business. Their focus on the manufacturing sector opened their eyes to the need for cheaper, reliable and efficient energy sources.
Energy Access Ventures (EAV) is a leading early-stage investment fund in Africa. With over 40 years of investment experience in Africa, EAV is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the emerging smart, distributed, cost-effective infrastructure market segment. EAV has established a reputation as a hands-on investor that works closely with its portfolio companies to capitalize on the significant opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa. EAV’s first fund (“EAV I”) was raised in February 2015 and is €75,000,000 in size with nine investment professionals. The fund is sponsored by the leading French multinational Schneider Electric and is managed by Aster Capital in Paris. Its investors are CDC Group (U.K.), managing funds for the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), the European Investment Bank, the Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en Afrique (FISEA) held by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and managed by Proparco, the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), administered by AFD, Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Netherlands Development Finance Company, and OPEC.
CDC Group is the U.K’s first impact investor with over 70 years of experience of successfully supporting the sustainable, long-term growth of businesses in South Asia and Africa. CDC is a leading player in the fight against climate change and a U.K. champion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – the global blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for us all. The company has investments in over 1,200 businesses in emerging economies and a total portfolio value of £5.8bn. This year CDC will invest over $1.5bn in companies in Africa and Asia with a focus on fighting climate change, empowering women and creating new jobs and opportunities for millions of people. CDC is funded by the U.K government and all proceeds from its investments are reinvested to improve the lives of millions of people in Africa and South Asia. CDC’s expertise makes it the perfect partner for private investors looking to devote capital to making a measurable environmental and social impact in countries most in need of investment.
PayGo Energy, an Energy Access Ventures (EAV) portfolio company, has secured a strategic investment from Saisan Company Ltd (Saisan), a leading Japanese energy company.
As part of the partnership, PayGo will launch its proprietary Cylinder Smart Meter across Saisan’s Gas One retail network to provide Asian households with access to pay-as-you-go liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for the first time. PayGo will leverage Saisan’s investment capital to establish a foothold in the region.
For PayGo, the partnership provides a footprint in fast-growing emerging economies in South Asia, and a clear path to scale; leveraging Saisan’s extensive distribution and retail network, and the company’s deep expertise in downstream LPG.
At EAV, we are extremely proud of the PayGo Energy team who have collectively delivered on strategic milestones in East Africa with great skill. We believe Saisan’s investment and partnership mark the next phase of PayGo’s growth, and we are excited to help the team make their truly game-changing technologies a reality for customers across emerging markets
EAV has been a true growth partner since day one, adding value far beyond its capital to support us all the way from piloting our proof of concept to reaching this critical milestone. In Saisan we have a partner with generations of LPG experience and a trusted retail brand. We’re excited to work with Saisan to bring our technology to households across the region
For Saisan, PayGo’s technology enables the company to expand its LPG business and to strengthen its reputation as a driver of digital innovation in the LPG sector.
We’re thrilled to be pioneering PayGo’s innovative smart metering technology in Asia, and to provide our customers with the world’s best gas service.
PayGo has also secured investment from the Japan-backed VC fund, Kepple Africa Ventures. Kepple helps blue-chip African startups raise funds from and form strategic partnerships with large Japanese corporates.
The deal sees PayGo continue to build momentum as the company gears up for its Series B raise in the coming months.
PayGo Energy is a venture-backed technology company, founded in Nairobi, Kenya in 2015. PayGo’s vision is to ‘Unlock Clean Cooking for the Next Billion’. PayGo builds hardware and software solutions to help grow early-stage markets for LPG. PayGo’s patented Cylinder Smart Meter (CSM) is an IoT device that accurately measures the flow of gas from an LPG cylinder in the customer’s home, enabling households to pay for gas in small amounts using mobile money. The PayGo CSM is the only LPG smart meter on the market that is certified under ATEX directives.
Saisan is a vertically integrated energy business, headquartered in Saitama, Japan and founded in 1945. Saisan’s vision is to become a premier company of general energy and living support businesses. in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. Saisan is the eighth largest LPG distributor in Japan, and holds downstream investments in 9 other Asian markets (Mongolia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand Laos and India) under its Gas One Group.
Energy Access Ventures is a leading early-stage investment firm in Africa. With over 40 years of investment experience in Africa, EAV is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the emerging smart, distributed, low-carbon infrastructure market segment. EAV’s first fund was raised in February 2015 and is €75,000,000 in size with 9 investment professionals, and 13 portfolio companies to date. The fund is sponsored by the leading French multinational, Schneider Electric, and is managed by Aster Capital in Paris. Its investors are CDC, European Investment Bank, Proparco, Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial, FMO, OFID and Schneider Electric.
