An interview with Mr Fabien FRIGOSI, Bpifrance Paris Regional Director
Giving investors the confidence to generate tomorrow’s value
What are the key figures for Bpifrance in the Paris Region?
Bpifrance is a bank, an investment fund and a consultancy firm, 50% of whose capital is held by the French State and 50% by Caisse des Dépôts. Our businesses cover financing (short, medium and long term), start-ups (in particular with the plan Quartiers), support (with accelerators, Bpifrance Université), international development (prospecting insurance, 50% equity guarantee), investment, innovation (including the plan France 2030, for which Bpifrance is the operator on behalf of the State), as well as guarantees for banking partners (to facilitate the granting of credit and limit personal guarantees).
We support businesses in the Paris region through 3 regional offices: Paris, Fontenay-sous-Bois and La Défense. By 2023 we had mobilised €30 billion, including €11.4 billion in support for financing, guarantees and innovation allocated to 12,353 businesses through equity, regional funds and ERDF funds, and €11.1 billion for exports. 1,818 businesses have been supported by 7 thematic regional funds (including the hotel fund), 1,013 businesses have been accelerated and 17,239 entrepreneurs have been supported via a network of structures that we support (Réseau Entreprendre, Initiatives, etc.).
Could you tell us about the Deep Tech Plan?
The aim of the plan is to provide the tools that will enable disruptive technologies to emerge and generate the value of tomorrow. The aim is to support the renewal of the industrial fabric with the creation of industrial start-ups, to move from a company with little equity capital and few employees to a company equipped with a real production tool. This means overcoming a number of obstacles in terms of cash and advice on how to structure the company.
Inauguration of the Gron photovoltaic power plant with the mayor. A project costing over €20 million and covering an area of 14 hectares, with a capacity of 14.2MWp, it will prevent the emission of the equivalent of 992 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The facility produces 15,500 MWh/year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 5,167 homes (excluding heating).
Can you give us an example of a company in the Paris region?
I’m particularly proud of Vestack. This company was created in 2019 in Paris by 3 shareholders. It specialises in the construction of biobased modular buildings and relies on the digital twin to model construction and work directly on the construction phase. Thanks to this technology, construction is twice as fast and three times less carbon-intensive, with zero additional cost compared with traditional construction. A highly competitive solution! We supported the financing of the digital twin and then deployed our Nouvelle Industrie loan (€3m) to support the transition to industrial scale. This financing secured the investors and created leverage. The Île-de-France region provided substantial support for the project via its investment fund. This high-net-worth team got the bankers on board to complete the financing plan for the industrial plant and the CapEx (capital expenditure) for development. We hope to create more industrial sites of this type, invest in other breakthrough innovations, and encourage people to create other high added-value products and other industrial production tools.
What are the specific issues facing the Paris Region in terms of innovation?
I see two major obstacles to the creation of industrial facilities. The first is land, which is in very short supply in the region. As a result, more than 70% of the projects financed are set up outside the Paris Region, even though they have benefited from regional expertise to bring them to fruition. The second obstacle relates to operating permits. The time taken to process and issue authorisations is currently too long. Administrative time is not the same as business time. This time lag generates a major risk: the capture of an innovation by a competitor who will develop the project before the initial project owner. It’s time to put an end to delayed or aborted projects!
Visit to an EPC waste recycling site. Bpifrance provided several million euros in funding for its creation.
Originally published in ©Parlementaires de France Magazine, now ©Research Innov France.
