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.

Three awards to win

For startups in the most advanced stages of their development

For the youngest startups, in the early stages of their development (seed stage)

For the finalist startup with the most eco-friendly product

Key dates 

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).

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.

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.

Jury  – Grand Prix ACF AutoTech 2021

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

Press

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

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.

About ZIZ

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

About Energy Access Ventures

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/

About Schneider Electric

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.

About SolarX

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.

About Energy Access Ventures

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.

About CDC Group

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.

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.

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.

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. 

About PayGo Energy

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. 

About Saisan Company Ltd.

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. 

About Energy Access Ventures

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. 

Let’s face it, times are tough. We are in the midst of a major health crisis that, depending on its outcome, could lead to the biggest economic crisis in our recent history.

In this fight against Covid-19, we all have a role to play. In our article on our advice to the startups wanting to define the Next Normal, we advise the startups that can to transition parts of their business to support the war economy.

At Aster, we are delighted to see that our founders are showing such a sense of solidarity. In this article, we have chosen to shed light on 4 initiatives carried out by our Aster family.

1. Karos — Donated 100,000 carpool rides

Finance is an industry with few women and Venture Capital is no exception. They are scarcely found on startup boards, startup pitch nights and VC advisory committees.

According to the joint findings of Boston Consulting Group and Sista, women make up just 14% of all partners in the top VC firms in France; half of which have no female partners. Incidentally, only 2% of all VC investment since 2008 has gone to French-backed female-only founder teams.

Encouragingly, over the past few years, a host of new initiatives have sprung up supporting diversity and strengthening the presence of women in the industry.

The world’s largest global directory for women in venture capital to find each other, connect, and collaborate.

The Global directory of Women in VC is one such example. Created by Jessica Peltz-Zatulove and Sutian Dong, it’s the world’s largest directory for women in Venture Capital — which includes 1,700+ female investors across 46 countries. Their mission is to give women around the world the tools to better find each other, connect, and collaborate. This is how we connected with Costanza (Cathay Innovation) — having recently moved to Paris from the US — who wanted to meet other VCs.

In many cities across the globe, VC women meet through local communities — take Berlin, for example: meetups are organized every other month by Marie (Fly Ventures). There was nothing like this in the French capital.

That’s why we decided to build the first community of female VCs in Paris

We started by cold-emailing all the women in Paris-based VCs with a call to action — and we were thrilled with the number of positive responses! Gabrielle (Blackfin Capital) implemented a communication channel whilst Cecilia (Daphni) and Edna (360 Capital Partners) told us about their initiative with Tatiana (Sista) of launching office hours and meetups to support female founders in partnership with VCs.

We gave the community a name — Paris VC Ladies — and organized an official launch event on September 25, 2019 in which 100+ women with varying levels of seniority came together. It was the perfect opportunity to explain everything from the reasons for creating, and purpose of the community, through to the long-term plans to support diversity and inclusion.

We wanted to answer two questions:

1 — How can we thrive in a male-dominated industry?

2 — What can we do to support and empower female entrepreneurs?

We were honored to welcome Roxanne Varza (Director of Station F), entrepreneur Caroline Ramade (CEO of 50inTech) and investor Valentine de Lasteyrie (Partner at Fiblac and co-leader of Sista), who shared their success stories and engagement to close the gender gap. Their speeches were then followed by enthusiastic discussions about our next steps over refreshments and appetizers from Le Vélo du Soir.

So, what are the next steps we outlined?

• To arrange quarterly drinks to continue inspiring one another
• To organize training workshops delivered by partners of the community
• To help the community flourish by encouraging active involvement in sharing content (articles, recruitment and investment opportunities) through the Paris VC Ladies’ communication channel
• To support (in partnership with Sista) promising female entrepreneurs by giving them advice on their business plans and pitches

We truly believe the challenge of empowering female entrepreneurs and investors is one and the same. That is why Paris VC Ladies will be partnering with existing initiatives already supporting women entrepreneurs such as Sista, StartHer, Willa, etc.

We would like to thank French Tech Central, for kindly offering to host the event, and VC sponsors Aster, Blackfin Capital, Cathay Innovation, Demeter and Educapital for their support — without whom, this event would not have been possible.

ekWateur, the leading independent and alternative supplier of green energy, raises 10.6 million euros.

These funds, raised from Aster, historical and new investors (1 million come from its record collaborative fundraising on the Sowefund platform) will enable to accelerate its growth, develop new offers and above all continue to defend its vision of a successful ecological transition.

Swiftly  just raised a $10 million Series A round led by VIA ID, Aster Capital, Renewal Funds and Wind Capital to grow its software-as-a-service business for cities’ transportation agencies. lt works by helping cities manage their transit systems and identify points in the schedule or route that negatively impact service efficiency and reliability.

Swiftly also offers real-time passenger info that will “predict when the bus will arrive in a way that is much more accurate than the current system,” Swiftly co-founder and CEO Jonny Simkin. In fact, Simkin says Swiftly is up to 30% more accurate than current systems.

“It’s one thing to tell someone their bus is 10 minutes delayed, but if we can get to the root of the problem, it’s better for the city and stimulates the economy,” he said.

That’s where Swifty’s data platform comes in to gather insights and analyze historical data to rethink route planning and where to place stops. In one city, these insights led the customer to implement processes to change lights to green when a bus is running behind schedule.

Swiftly currently works with more than 50 cities and 2,500 transit professionals throughout the country. That comes out to powering more than 1.2 billion passenger trips per year. If you’ve never heard of Swiftly, you’re not alone. And that’s by design.

Swiftly is meant to be behind-the-scenes software that enables local transportation agencies to better manage their fleets and offerings to their respective riders. Swiftly’s customer is generally either a transit agency, a city or department of transportation.

“They buy our platform because they want to improve the passenger experience, and improve service reliability and efficiency,” Simkin said.

For the passenger, they experience Swiftly when they open Google Maps and look for transit routes or when they open a city’s specific transit service. One of Swiftly’s customers is the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose, Calif. Its CIO, Gary Miskell, says Swiftly is one of the authority’s early innovation partners.

“With Swiftly’s innovative product development, VTA has been able to improve our real time information accuracy and provide cutting edge data to our planning and operations staff thus improving our transit system performance,” Miskell said in a statement.

With the funding, the plan is to expand to several hundred cities in the U.S. and worldwide.

“Public transit is very important to our communities and cities and it’s something that needs to be more efficient,” Simkin said. “Public transit is this extensive piece of the community and there to serve everyone, but often times those tools fall short.”