Capgemini becomes a shareholder of EIT InnoEnergy

Headquartered in Paris, France, Capgemini operates in almost 50 countries, with 270,000 employees. Driven by the desire to be part of the climate change solution, Capgemini has become increasingly involved with EIT InnoEnergy over the past 2 years. After several successful collaborations including events and project initiatives, they have cemented their working relationship by making Capgemini an EIT InnoEnergy shareholder.

“As a leader in technology and digital transformation, there is no better partner than Capgemini to support the energy transition,” said Richard Biagioni, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy France.

“Like us, Capgemini sees it as their civic responsibility to help address carbon emissions and support the energy transition. The investment, coupled with their expertise in digital technologies, will help us jointly deepen our contribution to solving this major societal problem, at a time when the climate crisis continues to intensify. Our coming together will help us to play our part in speeding up the transition to a low carbon future.”

Speaking on why they chose to invest in EIT InnoEnergy, Cyril Garcia, CEO of Capgemini Invent, the digital innovation, consulting and transformation brand of the Capgemini Group, and member of the Capgemini Group Executive Board, said:

“Sustainability is at the core of everything we do at Capgemini. Capgemini invent notably launched an ambitious initiative called Invent for Society to turn this environmental sustainability priority into reality, for our clients and for ourselves. Partnering with EIT InnoEnergy is a major opportunity for us, to create synergies through a dynamic community of start-ups and partners.

This partnership initiated few months back, and now our investment in EIT InnoEnergy can be seen as part of our duty, as responsible organizations, to use our expertise and disruptive technologies to identify and create innovative solutions to fight against climate change. With Capgemini contributing as the leader in digital transformation, technology and engineering services, the shareholders base of EIT InnoEnergy is now representative of the entire ecosystem it aims to transform.

“With this new step, we look forward to extending the circle of energy innovation across Europe through research, solutions, projects and talents.”

One initiative that Capgemini and EIT InnoEnergy have already shared success in is that of French start-ups Alpinov X, Sylfen,Nawa Technologies and Arol Energy. While EIT InnoEnergy provides round the clock support, each start-up has also benefited from the specialist expertise of a Capgemini consultant on a short-term secondment. The secondment allowed each start-up to develop varying aspects of their business including market strategy, operational excellence and customer engagement.

EIT InnoEnergy has also gained support from Capgemini Invent to structure and support the activities of the EBA250 initiative in building a competitive European battery sector. The support includes identifying business opportunities, implementation of innovative projects along the value chain, and building industry expertise in minerals mining and recycling.

EIT InnoEnergy provides funding and expertise to help shorten start-ups’ time to market. In addition to direct involvement, EIT InnoEnergy runs a flagship competition – Global Call for Start-ups – where the very best innovations within the cleantech space can win a seat in one of the support programmes and even a cash prize to support their developments in sustainable energy fields such as renewable energy, mobility and smart cities.

EIT InnoEnergy supports more than 55 start-ups and innovations in France and a further 305 across Europe. The business has invested more than €500 million since it was founded in 2010.

About EIT InnoEnergy

EIT InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe.

We support and invest in innovation at every stage of the journey – from classroom to end-customer. With our network of partners, we build connections across Europe, bringing together inventors and industry, graduates and employers, researchers and entrepreneurs, businesses and markets.

We work in three essential areas of the innovation mix:

• Education to help create an informed and ambitious workforce that understands the demands of sustainability and the needs of industry.
• Innovation Projects to bring together ideas, inventors and industry to create commercially attractive technologies that deliver real results to customers.
• Business Creation Services to support entrepreneurs and start-ups who are expanding Europe’s energy ecosystem with their innovative offerings.

Bringing these disciplines together maximises the impact of each, accelerates the development of market-ready solutions, and creates a fertile environment in which we can sell the innovative results of our work.

InnoEnergy was established in 2010 and is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).