The public fund SPI (industrial project companies) created in 2015 by Bpifrance has made it possible to invest some 550 million euros and to build 17 factories in France in innovative fields, the public investment bank said on Wednesday.
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SPI has financed start-ups looking for funds to launch their first manufacturing plant, but also SMEs wishing to modernize their facilities in France, with the rule of always remaining a minority stake.
This public fund, intended to reindustrialize France and to allow innovative start-ups to avoid the “
valley of death
” when they have large capital needs and cannot find any investor, is closed after six years. 'activity.
16 year lifespan
"
We have not found an equivalent to our action in support of industry elsewhere in Europe and we are regularly asked by development banks to study our support model
" declared Magali Joessel, director of the SPI fund at the meeting. 'a press conference.
“
We like to be approached by British actors who ask us how we have done in terms of private equity,
” added Pascal Werner, program director of the General Secretariat for Investment.
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Since its inception, the fund has exited four of its first investments. But, with a lifespan of 16 years, it claims to be able to support even its most recent investments over a period long enough to allow them to take off. Giorgio Anania, CEO of the start-up Aledia, which has just laid the foundation stone for its Led plant in Grenoble, praised SPI's action while evoking a "
much greater
" need for capital. "
Why doesn't the fund have 8 billion euros?
"He said," the
whole European industry is underfunded
.
"
We can undoubtedly do a little more, and we will try to do it
" in a possible future SPI2, replied Pascal Werner.
“
But in the current context, I'm not sure I will get eight billion euros if I ask for it,
” he added.
Magali Joessel indicated that a future fund "
would remain in the deepening of the sectors
" explored by SPI.
The fund has notably enabled the emergence of a whole ecosystem of green chemistry start-ups (Carbiolice, METabolic EXplorer, Afyren, etc.) which produce bio-based molecules to replace molecules from petrochemicals or tackle plastic recycling. .
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“
At the beginning, we noted a form of condescension of the traditional chemical industry towards this green chemistry sector seen as a niche market, but in front of the customers' appetite for bio-based products, we now see that the chemical industry is starting to look at the subject with new eyes,
”rejoiced Magali Joessel.