INICIO, THE STARTUP THAT'S ACCELERATING ENERGY TRANSITION, RAISES €1.5M
Created in 2022, Inicio makes it easier for solar developers to find land suitable for their activity and respects the local environment thanks to a unique prospecting algorithm combining Big Data and Machine Learning.
With its sights set on European leadership, the start-up is raising €1.5 million from ISAI, Kima Ventures, and Business Angels from entrepreneurship and energy.
This sum will enable the company to expand internationally and recruit 40 new staff over 18 months.
Speeding up the energy transition by digitalizing the process that is implemented to find the most suitable sites for solar power generation
In an ideal world, renewable energy producers would have easy, low-cost access to the land best suited to their activity but also to local economic issues and the needs of residents. In reality, however, access to land information is complex, making it impossible to take an overall view of solar development. To resolve this major obstacle to the energy transition, Inicio's founders, Thomas Moulia, Romain Batby, and Lucas Petigny, have developed a model for prospecting and making available land that reduces the risks associated with land acquisition and encourages partner developers to charge competitive prices.
The three engineers have developed an algorithm to identify the most suitable land for solar panels, acquire or lease it, assess the risks associated with the project, and make it available to solar power developers. The algorithm cross-references millions of geospatial data points from Open Data or produced by their Machine Learning models and prioritizes the most viable sites. Having identified more than 11,000 hectares of land, the Inicio team is helping to develop more than 400 MW of solar farms (ground-mounted photovoltaic, agrivoltaics) in various local contexts. The land managed by Inicio is also made available to local farmers looking for land to develop their farming activities, whether or not the solar farms are built. This is a model of agrivoltaics that enables land to be shared and synergies to be developed between its various uses.
For a sovereign and virtuous energy transition
At a time when the energy crisis has highlighted the need to accelerate the development of renewable energies, the European solar property market is growing steadily. It is expected to be worth between €5 and €10 billion by 2030. The Renewable Energies Acceleration Act has fueled this trend, passed on 10 March in response to the crisis in Ukraine and to make up for France's lag in diversifying its energy mix. Against this backdrop, the model developed by Inicio promotes the development of renewable, sovereign, and competitive electricity, which directly benefits the inhabitants of the countries where it is produced. To accelerate the pace of solar production across Europe, the start-up plans to expand into 4 new countries in 2023, including Italy and Poland.
A decisive step towards becoming Europe's leader in solar real estate
To support this European ambition, Inicio has raised €1.5 million from investment funds ISAI and Kima Ventures and Business Angels. This amount will enable Inicio to begin its international expansion, particularly in Italy and Poland, where its first customers are already present and where the local challenges are similar to those French developers face.
The funds raised will also enable the start-up to develop virtuous projects in conjunction with local stakeholders, and it is preparing to open an office in Toulouse to support its regional initiatives. The Inicio team currently consists of 10 people and is expected to grow to 50 by the end of 2024. Another objective is to develop the capabilities of its prospecting algorithm. Eventually, the results will be made available to government departments to encourage public support for renewable energy production projects.
"This round of financing is a decisive step in our development, but also a sign of confidence on the part of experienced players in the digital and energy transition sectors. It reinforces our ambition to become one of the leaders in securing solar land in Europe and to play our part in developing sustainable, sovereign electricity.
Thomas Moulia, Co-founder and CEO of Inicio
"We were convinced by the relevance of Inicio's virtuous model and the innovative vision of its co-founders. In its first year of existence, Inicio has proved its ability to meet solar developers' needs while helping preserve agricultural land. We are therefore delighted to participate in this financing round, enabling the company to roll out its offering even more quickly.
François Collet, Partner at ISAI
About Inicio :
Founded in 2022 by Thomas Moulia, Romain Batby, and Lucas Petigny, Inicio uses a unique prospecting algorithm to give solar developers easier access to land suited to their needs. It identifies, secures, and ensures the lease or sale of strategic land to develop sustainable, sovereign electricity.
About ISAI
Nearly 300 successful entrepreneurs, who have invested in ISAI funds, and more than 50 co-founders of start-ups supported by ISAI share the collective ambition of co-writing great entrepreneurial stories. ISAI invests in differentiated projects led by ambitious teams that it rigorously selects and actively supports. ISAI Gestion, an AMF-approved portfolio management company with more than €500m under management, aims to finance and support high-potential tech companies at the seed/post-prime stage (venture capital, €150k to €3m ticket with participation in successive rounds) or when they have already reached the break-even point (Tech Growth/LBO, €5m to €50m tickets).
Press contact
Jihane Teretal
jihane@jt-conseil.com
06 08 27 68 85