The jury of the venture Kick award was impressed by WattAnywhere’s Fuel Cell system that delivers BioEnergy, electricity produced from BioMass, awarding the startup CHF 150’000 to further develop its technology.
Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are booming, meaning there are more and more EV owners in need of a solid infrastructure of ultra-fast chargers accessible in public spaces such as car parks, supermarkets, motorways, or rest areas. However, the deployment of this infrastructure requires enormous amounts of energy and the connection of the fast chargers to the high-voltage grid is both slow and costly: it can take up to three years and cost a minimum of CHF 500,000. In 2020, only 5% of charging points deployed in Europe power at 50kW or more.
In partnership with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), HES-SO, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Electronique et ses Applications (ENSEA), Elcogen, and Helbio, WattAnyWhere offers a unique solution: a mobile generator that uses solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) to convert pure renewable ethanol into high-power electricity by chemical reaction. It is ultra-silent, produces zero nitrogen oxide, and can be fully functional in any location in just a month. Roughly the size of a parking space, the generator allows ultra-fast charging of three thousand EVs with just 30m3 of ethanol.
Current supply chains mix renewable ethanol with gasoline to fuel conventional cars. As these cars are progressively phased out, WattAnyWhere’s solution upcycles the surplus ethanol to boost electric mobility.
Target customers worldwide
The startup’s target customers are charging point operators (CPOs) that install fast charging stations at supermarket parking lots and gas stations, such as OIKEN in Switzerland or SIPLEC (of the E. Leclerc Group) and VINCI Autoroutes in France. Current launch customers that expressed interest in WattAnyWhere’s solution represent a deployment of CHF 2.9 billion in Switzerland and France alone. Following these two markets, the startup plans to enter Germany, Poland, the UK, Italy, and Northern Europe. Discussions with representatives of the electric mobility sector in India and Thailand have taken place.
The startup will invest the CHF 150,000 awarded by Venture Kick in further R&D to finalize a demonstration between 2023 and 2024—specifically, a fast-charging point which is able to reach an 80% charge in less than an hour, aiming for a 300kW minimum viable product by 2025. The startup has also set its ambition on boosting further growth and establishing partnerships. “Right now, our focus is growth, accelerating our product roadmap with suppliers, and working closely with our customers to make sure we meet their needs and the needs of the continuously changing market,” said a spokesperson for the startup.
The co-founding teams comprise Didier Roux (CEO), Alexandre Laybros (co-CEO), Didier Roux and Alexandre Laybros (former Director of Strategy and Marketing at Honeywell Intl.). The executive team consists of Philippe Ruez and Olivier de Bruijn, who lead the R&D, systems integration, validation, and suppliers-related activities, and Patrick Brennan (CFO).
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