Paris-based H2 joint venture HysetCo raises €200 million

HysetCo specialises in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings in and around Paris, delivering almost 30 tonnes of H2 to its customers every month and managing a fleet of over 500 hydrogen vehicles. The capital increase will now enable the company to expand further – including to other European cities.

In addition to the Hy24 hydrogen fund, Raise Impact and the Eiffel Investment Group were also involved in the financing round. The joint venture does not specify who is contributing which share of the 200 million euros. However, Hy24 will become HysetCo’s largest shareholder as part of the investment and will join existing shareholders Air Liquide, Total Energies, Toyota France and Kouros.

The funds will “accelerate the deployment of HysetCo’s integrated hydrogen mobility solutions to decarbonise urban intensive transport,” Hy24 writes in a press release. HysetCo offers customers a network of H2 refuelling stations, vehicles and fleet management as a package, taking care of everything from procurement to maintenance, repair, insurance and training. As part of the investment news, there is also an update on the scaling of the project. HysetCo is said to now have around 500 professionals – mainly taxi drivers – who have “successfully converted” to its solution. Almost 30 tonnes of hydrogen are distributed to their fleets every month.

With the completed financing round behind them, the company has ambitious plans. By 2025, the joint venture wants to set up a dozen new H2 stations, “serving several thousand hydrogen vehicles.”

The beginnings of the project date back half a decade. In February 2019, Air Liquide, Idex, Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP) and Toyota had created HysetCo as a joint venture. At the time, the partners named as their goal the development of hydrogen mobility in the Paris region in general and the further development of the world’s first hydrogen-powered taxi fleet called Hype in particular.  The latter has been active in the Île-de-France region since 2015. The Hype project was designed to demonstrate that the use of hydrogen vehicles in urban mobility is feasible on a large scale. Hype is not directly mentioned in the current communication.

According to Loïc Voisin, CEO of HysetCo, the current fundraising marks the beginning of a new era “where we will expedite our expansion across France and Europe, thereby making an even more significant contribution to a tangible, swift, and effective transition toward a low-carbon society.” The confidence of investors not only “not only validates our mission and ambition but also amplifies our capacity to deploy hydrogen mobility on a grand scale.”

Pierre-Etienne Franc, co-founder and CEO of Hy24, added: “The decarbonisation of our energy system remains incomplete, particularly in the transport sector where reliance on fossil fuels is most pronounced. We believe that transitioning to hybrid electric and hydrogen models, especially for intensive and heavy-duty engines, is the best solution for operators, as it offers the advantages of electric power without compromising the user experience.” HysetCo is a pioneer in the introduction of comprehensive zero-carbon mobility solutions. And: “HysetCo’s model is replicable and scalable across all major cities seeking to adopt cleaner and more efficient transport systems. HysetCo is perfectly positioned to lead this transformative effort to decarbonising our transport systems.”

hy24partners.com (PDF)