- Sylfen announces a €10M fundraising and brings in Groupe IDEC, Supernova Invest, Elaïs Orium and Crédit Agricole Alpes Développement (C2AD) alongside its historical shareholders CEA Investissement and InnoEnergy.
- The trust placed in Sylfen by these high-quality investors is a validation of the strength of the company and its solution in the field of hydrogen-based energy storage for buildings, industries and eco-districts.
- This round of financing will enable Sylfen to accelerate its recruitment, its commercial deployment, and the industrialization of its solution.
Making buildings a player in the energy transition
On a European scale, buildings account for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions. Every year, the building sector emits more than one billion tons of CO2, making it one of the key areas in the fight against global warming and the energy transition.
Sylfen, a French-based company founded in 2015, wants to make the building sector a player in the energy transition. To this end, Sylfen is developing integrated energy storage and cogeneration solutions for buildings, industries, and eco-districts. The aim is to enable building owners to store locally produced renewable energy and to reuse it when they wish – thus addressing the problem of intermittence of these local renewable energies.
Sylfen: a hydrogen technology with a high environmental and economic impact
At the heart of the Sylfen solution lies a disruptive technology developed at the CEA: the reversible electrolyzer. It works like an electrolyzer to store electricity in the form of hydrogen and then like a fuel cell to produce electricity and heat from this hydrogen or (bio)gas. Combined with batteries and a multi-energy software control system, it enables all of the renewable energy produced on site to be consumed directly and at a later date after storage.
Sylfen thus makes a major contribution to improving the environmental and economic performance of sites (reduction of CO2 emissions, reduction and control of energy costs, enhancement of the value of property assets) and promotes the development of autonomous and green buildings with the intelligent integration of renewable energy.
The ambition to contribute to the industrial revival of the region
Nicolas BARDI, President of Sylfen, wants to have a strong impact on the territory and the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region. 30% of the company’s suppliers are located in the region and the group’s first projects – via supplies and the use of subcontractors for certain work packages – have already contributed more than €500,000 to the local economy.
The company is therefore anchored locally, but has a strong global impact, since Sylfen helps to accelerate the energy transition and thus reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In a context of unprecedented global warming and in the face of the current geopolitical risks to Europe’s energy security, Sylfen offers a concrete, effective and replicable solution to promote a sustainable energy mix based on the use of locally produced green energy.
A €10M fundraising to increase the power of its solution and address logistics, industrial and eco-district sites
After having signed its first commercial contracts, Sylfen has now raised €10 million – including €7.4 million of equity capital supplemented by non-dilutive financing – and has brought in Groupe IDEC, Supernova Invest, Elaïs Orium and Crédit Agricole Alpes Développement (C2AD) alongside its long-standing shareholders CEA Investissement and InnoEnergy, who also subscribed to the capital increase.
This fundraising provides Sylfen with the necessary means for its commercial deployment in France and neighboring countries, and for the rapid growth of its workforce with the ambition of preparing the industrialization and increasing the power of its solution and thus being able to address logistics, industrial and eco-district sites.
Nicolas BARDI, President of Sylfen: “This fundraising, oversubscribed compared to our initial target, validates the relevance of Sylfen’s unique positioning to accelerate the energy transition with a solution that has a strong environmental and economic impact. We are delighted to welcome four new shareholders – Groupe IDEC, Supernova Invest, Elaïs Orium and Crédit Agricole Alpes Développement (C2AD) – who are committing themselves to us and joining our historical shareholders who have once again renewed their confidence in the company. This round of financing allows us to approach our acceleration and deployment phase with serenity and determination.”
For Patrice Lafargue, Chairman of Groupe IDEC: “This acquisition of a stake in Sylfen illustrates our desire to bring together innovative companies linked to renewable energy and decarbonization in a dynamic ecosystem. In the short and medium term, this will lead to some great joint projects and will strengthen our ability to offer a comprehensive range of services by integrating this strategic energy lever.“
Marine GLON, Investment Director at Supernova Invest, adds: “Sylfen has adopted an original positioning in the hydrogen sector, by providing a solution for energy storage in buildings. The strong technological breakthrough, originating from the CEA, the level of performance provided, the major contribution to the energy transition and the proximity of the market with the first contracts already signed convinced Supernova Invest to support the company in its development.”
Guy Van Der Mensbrugghe, partner at Elaïs Orium, comments: « Our investment in Sylfen is the result of a global review of the hydrogen sector and a direct approach of the company. We are enthusiastic to partner with the founders’ team at Sylfen, and the other shareholders, to develop this project which combines innovative vision on a key segment of the energy transition, differentiating technology, proven reality of the targeted market, and major potential in France and internationally. »