Internationally, Citelum has strengthened its portfolio by entering into new contracts, in particular in Italy, Spain, and South America (see section 1.4.5.3.5 “South America”).
EDF Pulse Croissance is helping to prepare the future of EDF group by exploring new business models for energy and digital transition. Established in 2017, EDF Pulse Croissance is EDF group’s startup incubator. The purpose of EDF Pulse Croissance is to create new growth drivers for EDF by providing innovative and competitive products and services to households, businesses and local authorities. To create new business lines and services, EDF Pulse Croissance has developed a model based on two complementary activities: a corporate venture and a startup incubator. To address emerging needs and anticipate new political, economic, societal, technological, environmental, and legal trends, it has developed a customer and product-centric approach.
Since it was set up, EDF Pulse Croissance has invested about €250 million(1) in 23 startups and built up stakes in 16 investment funds.
Four areas will be prioritised:
EDF Pulse Croissance is a closely-knit team that works closely with R&D, EDF group’s business lines, and partner stakeholders working in startups and open innovation. In2020, EDF Pulse Croissance developed a new roadmap detailing its future investment and incubation priorities, in a collaborative undertaking entitled “Energy Transition: New Markets and New Business Lines” (Nouveaux Marchés, Nouveaux Métiers de la transition énergétique). This defines the most promising growth opportunities in terms of value creation, innovation, and carbon neutrality in connection with EDF group’s business lines that are consistent with its raison d’être.
EDF Pulse Croissance draws on EDF group’s ideas and expertise to design and develop new business and services. The incubator offers bespoke support for employees and enlists in-house and third-party experts to test, create, and develop business models. This support helps intrapreneur employees as well as EDF group asa whole, up skilling the workforce and participating in the Group’s transformation.
The EDF Pulse Croissance model provides incubated projects with an investment vision and constant exposure to markets.
EDF Pulse Croissance supports startups in a range of fields relating to the energy and digital transition:
To develop new business activities and innovative solutions, EDF Pulse Croissance can invest directly in fledgling startups or put them in contact with the Group’s ecosystem – particularly with some fifteen dedicated funds in which EDF PulseCroissance has a stake.
Startups in which EDF Pulse Croissance is a shareholder enjoy multiple benefits:
EDF Pulse Croissance can also create joint ventures with startups able to explore new business models and set out to conquer new markets in France or abroad. Essentially, investment is seen as part of a comprehensive business and industrial partnership.
Furthermore, EDF Pulse Croissance invests in venture capital funds to strengthen its position in the innovation ecosystem, reduce EDF’s financial exposure, and develop skills and synergies within EDF group.
This investment strategy is commensurate with the issues facing the Group, focusing on:
This strategy has resulted in the Group investing in about fifteen thematic funds, mostly in France, but also in Europe, North America, and China. In 2020, to further enhance its partnership strategy and expand its international portfolio, EDF Pulse Croissance invested in 2 new US funds.
In 2020, EDF Pulse Croissance invested in 5 startups, including one subsidiary derived from an intrapreneurial project.
Launched at the beginning of 2020, Urbanomy is the result of an intrapreneurial project incubated by EDF Pulse Croissance and a wholly-owned subsidiary of EDF. Urbanomy targets the market for smart cities internationally, more especially in the UK and Germany. It provides strategic, technical, and economic consultancy services to urban development stakeholders, notably private-sector stakeholders such as property developers, private developers, and investors. Its integrated offering is structured around six pillars: energy efficiency, energy systems, urban mobility, the environment, quality of life, and energy communities. Urbanomy was set up by 3 EDF employees from R&D in the UK, the International Division, and EDF Pulse Croissance.
Securkeys offers an anonymous site watch service and secure one-hour duplicate key delivery throughout France, 24/7. Securkeys customers send a copy of their keys in a sealed envelope to their nearest approved Securkeys security centre. If they lose their keys or find themselves locked out, they can ask for the duplicate to be returned by an approved agent. EDF Pulse Croissance has bought a share in the company alongside other financial and institutional stakeholders. In 2018, SecurKeys won aEDF Pulse Croissance Request for Proposals in home services.
TeepTrak specialises in monitoring industrial performance in real time. The company markets a solution allowing industrial companies to capture data about the performance of their production plant (speed, operating time, downtime, and overall equipment efficiency) and analyse this data to improve their productivity and yield. TeepTrak provides an affordable, easy-to-install solution (comprising both hardware and software in a turnkey package) compatible with all types of machinery used by VSBs, SMEs, and multinationals. In May 2020, EDF Pulse Croissance took a stake in the share capital of TeepTrak alongside Xange in order to enrich its offering in the field of Industry 4.0.
(1) Source: EDF Pulse Croissance Holding, financial statements as of 31/12/2020.
