Funding Disruptive Innovation: How Is EDF Pulse Ventures Transforming the Industry?
The full podcast
Yann Coic
Our role is not merely to provide funding, but to become the leading customer and industrial partner for startups in the energy transition.
An expert in innovation financing with a strong track record at the EDF Group, Yann Coic now leads EDF Pulse Ventures.
This corporate venture capital entity serves as the group's primary vehicle for identifying and supporting promising global technology startups.
Its mission is twofold: to generate financial value while creating significant strategic synergies to accelerate decarbonization, from green hydrogen to long-duration energy storage.
Program Summary
CVC as a driver of industrial transformation
Corporate venture capital (CVC) differs from traditional venture capital in its strategic dimension.
Beyond providing capital, it enables large corporations to integrate disruptive technologies (deep tech) that they would not be able to develop in-house with the same agility. It serves as a tool for active market monitoring and operational transformation.
The investment thesis focused on carbon neutrality
Investing in decarbonization requires a long-term vision and a deep understanding of the physical challenges of energy.
The priorities focus on low-carbon electricity generation, smart grid management, and energy efficiency.
The goal is to build a portfolio of solutions capable of addressing the climate crisis.
Supporting Startups: From Pilot Projects to Scaling Up
The success of a collaboration between a large corporation and a startup depends on the transition from proof of concept (POC) to full-scale deployment.
The CVC provides "business value" by offering entrepreneurs exclusive access to testing grounds, technical experts, and an established network of international clients.
Addressing the Technological Challenges of Deep Tech
Deep tech is characterized by long development cycles and high capital expenditure (CapEx) requirements. To succeed, investors must be prepared to accept longer exit horizons.
Synergy among public funders, private funds, and industry is key to overcoming the "valley of death" and scaling up disruptive innovations.
Deep In Tech by Dynergie
Deep in Tech is driven by a core belief: to understand Deeptech, you have to listen to the people who are building it.
Behind every disruptive innovation lie demanding journeys, difficult trade-offs, and successes that often go unrecognized.
The podcast gives a voice to entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry leaders at the intersection of science and the market.
At the heart of the Deeptech ecosystem’s challenges, Deep in Tech lifts the veil on the behind-the-scenes of a world as complex as it is strategic. Industrialization, financing, the transition from lab to market…
These journeys, often fraught with obstacles, are recounted candidly by those who experience them firsthand.
The podcast offers an authentic look at the inner workings, tensions, and collaborations that shape both the successes and failures of French Deeptech.
A space to understand the reality on the ground, from the perspective of those involved, far from formulaic narratives.
Florence Caghassi Jouni
With Deep in Tech, I meet the people who are shaping the deep tech landscape every day. They share their journeys, struggles, challenges, and successes with me—unfiltered. I created this podcast to help everyone understand and navigate the complex and exciting ecosystem that is deep tech.
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