The wind is turning.
And Asmaa Chakir Alaoui takes this upward breath, sure of her course.
"Nobody took us seriously at the start, but today, delivering by bike makes perfect sense," rejoices the 35-year-old entrepreneur.
We are on May 10, at the headquarters of
Le Figaro
, in Paris.
Standing on stage, the co-founder of VelyVelo pitches with ease in front of the jury of the Business with Attitude Prize.
Assured, she answers the questions of the jurors with precision, does not evade any.
And recalls his ambition: “To think of a green, uncongested city, where our children breathe air free of fine particles.
»
By tracing the contours of another city, Asmaa Chakir Alaoui draws her own story.
That of a passionate, long-time manager at EY, admiring the entrepreneurs she supported.
And who ended up taking the plunge in turn to build his own territory and get involved in his own way.
Precise, determined.
Already last year, she was a semi-finalist for the Business with Attitude Prize.
This June 2, 2022, it was she who, after six months of competition, received her trophy to the applause of a packed house, during a ceremony in Paris.
In video, dive into the making of the Business with Attitude Award
The fruit of a year of growth and success, undoubtedly accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic: the confinements and the explosion of home deliveries have reminded us of the urgency of relieving congestion in cities, of reducing the environmental impact of transport and to better protect delivery people, who are too often precarious.
Since the creation of VelyVelo in 2017, Asmaa Chakir Alaoui designs, manufactures and offers tailor-made electric bicycles for long-term rental for delivery professionals and individuals, insurance, breakdown assistance, maintenance and fleet management software included.
"Having integrated the entire value chain is our strength in this market", underlines the founder.
She did not choose this sector by chance.
In 2017, therefore, Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, a native of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, former student of the French Lycée Descartes, of a Grenoble preparatory class then of the Sorbonne, who became a chartered accountant and auditor, is a manager at EY.
Meanwhile, her husband, Othman Razine, and his business partner, Jamil El Garti, owners of several franchise restaurants, face stiff competition from delivery platforms.
Themselves have replaced the thermal scooters of their deliverers with electric bicycles.
Cheaper, safer, silent and clean, the model has proven itself, on their scale.
The idea emerges: why not offer restaurateurs tailor-made bikes, adapted to their needs?
The two men, who learned everything on the field,
grope and assemble first prototypes.
Asmaa Chakir Aloui, she puts on the CEO hat, lays out the finances, builds the business model and imagines the VelyVelo brand.
In video, the portrait of Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, co-founder of VelyVelo
Express growth
"My husband needed me and I needed to fulfill myself, to give meaning to my life," she sums up.
Five years later, 4,000 bicycles, in circulation in Paris, Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille, have made it possible to avoid the emission of 40 million tonnes of CO2 and generated 4 million euros in turnover in 2021. Solid results, thanks to which VelyVelo is preparing its upcoming launch in Belgium, Spain, Italy and Morocco, and is contributing, through negotiations with its customers, to better working conditions for delivery people.
In early 2021, the company supported JustEat, a global heavyweight in the sector, convinced it to equip 4,500 delivery people with its ergonomic bikes and, above all, to hire them on permanent contracts – several hundred of them have since been made redundant.
Same thing for the 200 VLove deliverers.
Despite everything, pending the adoption of new legislation, most of VelyVelo's customers, such as UberEats, Deliveroo or Gorillas, still resort to autoentrepreneurs.
“We push them as much as possible to get out of models of precariousness and to offer equipment adapted to their deliverers, specifies Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, and we apply the same requirement to ourselves.
VelyVelo thus employs 40 people on permanent contracts and has created a training center for the repair of electric bicycles, dedicated to people in retraining.
“We push them as much as possible to get out of models of precariousness and to offer equipment adapted to their deliverers, specifies Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, and we apply the same requirement to ourselves.
VelyVelo thus employs 40 people on permanent contracts and has created a training center for the repair of electric bicycles, dedicated to people in retraining.
“We push them as much as possible to get out of models of precariousness and to offer equipment adapted to their deliverers, specifies Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, and we apply the same requirement to ourselves.
VelyVelo thus employs 40 people on permanent contracts and has created a training center for the repair of electric bicycles, dedicated to people in retraining.
Awareness of the urgency to change our delivery methods is spreading.
We will be there when the time comes.
Asmaa Chakir Alaoui, co-founder and CEO of VelyVelo
Lasting impact
In short, the start-up is growing and taking root in the landscape.
Like its founder, who took on the role of patroness in a sector – logistics – that is essentially male.
“She has acquired a very business-like posture, solid and frank,” underlines eloquence coach Martine Guillaud, who accompanied our finalists in the preparation of their pitch.
But this assurance also hides a real simplicity, which gives it all its depth.
And a seat, on which Asmaa Chakir Alaoui leans to take new steps.
“If we made the delivery men get off their scooters, why wouldn't we be able to convince carriers to abandon their vans in favor of our tricycles and cargo bikes to deliver their parcels?
» VelyVelo s'
is now attacking the famous last-mile delivery, responsible for around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to traffic jams and noise pollution.
Replacing vans means transforming cities in depth.
The market, in full expansion, leads to a race for growth.
Competition is all the tougher as foreign start-ups raise much more money, and faster, than French start-ups.
The Australian Zoomo, present in the United States, thus raised 80 million euros last November.
The founders of VelyVelo, for their part, have already carried out two fundraisers, including one of 4 million euros, and are preparing a third, from 10 to 15 million.
“Zomo is established in vast territories where we do not wish to go for the moment, underlines Asmaa Chakir Alaoui.
To an exponential acceleration that would burn a lot of cash, we prefer good growth, measured and moderate.
Which in no way prevents the dual ambition of success and a deep, lasting impact.
“Awareness of the urgency to change our delivery methods is spreading.
We will be there when the time comes.
“We trust him.
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And the partnership of EY, Nespresso, Google, BNP Paribas, Engie, The Ladies Bank by Oddo BHF, Maje, Bpifrance and franceinfo.
