The French startup, Geosophy, which created the first SaaS platform for evaluating the resources of a subsoil in geo-energy, has just announced that it is raising funds of 1.75 million euros. We spoke with Alice Chougnet, CEO at Geosophy, to learn more about her career and her future projects.
Everything you need to know about Geosophy
Who are you ?
I am a physicist by training, graduated from the Higher School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry (ESPCI), an engineering school which has the particularity of being oriented towards research. In 2006, after completing my doctorate, I joined Schlumberger, one of the world leaders in oilfield services. So I started my career on a drilling rig with a hard hat and safety glasses. By moving from drilling operations to R&D programs, I was able to evolve while remaining at the interface of the academic dimension and product transformation.
At the same time, I also formed a deep conviction: if the Earth has numerous resources, wisdom today dictates that we only exploit those that are renewable. We launched an intrapreneurship approach within Schlumberger before creating Geosophy in 2018, in order to massively develop the use of geo-energy and accelerate the decarbonization of real estate.
What does Geosophy do?
Geosophy allows real estate players and construction professionals to determine the geo-energetic potential of the basement of a building to be renovated or constructed, and to be supported in the exploitation of geo-energy. Geo-energy is a local, sustainable, non-carbon, discreet and silent energy, coming from the shallow subsoil. However, this renewable energy is under-exploited: it is available on 90% of the territory, it could cover 50% of thermal needs, but only 1% of buildings in France are equipped.
We therefore created the first Saas platform for evaluating subsoil geo-energy resources: a search engine which allows, from a simple address, to analyze the potential of a site. Our solution then gives the return on investment: our customers can divide energy consumption by 5 and reduce the carbon footprint of a building by up to 90%. For companies with significant real estate, for real estate companies, developers or social landlords, the return on investment is rapid. And, finally, we support our clients at all stages of project management to bring these projects to fruition.
Today, Geosophy supports around thirty clients, numerous real estate companies (Covivio, Gecina) and a large number of large owners, such as Covea Immobilier or SNCF Immobilier. Our solution was selected by the General Secretariat for investment in its France 2030 Future Investment Program, it was labeled “Greentech Innovation” by the General Commission for Sustainable Development and we have just received the Europe 1 Trophy from the Future in the Environment category.
Geosophy’s fundraising
Why did you raise 1.75 million euros?
This raising of 2 million euros, including 1.75 million in equity, should allow Geosophy to accelerate its development. This includes commercial development, the development of our R&D, because we want to ensure the monitoring of operations in our offer. We also want to attract new talents: hydrogeological engineers, data scientists, developers, sales engineers. And we want to spread the use of our software abroad, in particular to meet the demands of our international customers.
This fundraising should also allow us to support very strong demand, in the triple context of climate change, strong tensions on energy prices and a clear dynamic of political and regulatory support for surface geothermal energy.
Why did you choose to bring these investors into your capital?
Geosophy has chosen to bring UI Investissement, Noria, Coalescence, Finance & Technologie as well as business angels into its capital.
Noria and UI Investissement provide us with expertise that is both very specific and completely complementary. UI Investissement has been involved for more than 50 years with SMEs, ETIs and DeepTech startups who are building the industry of tomorrow. Noria is a fund that finances the emergence and growth of companies engaged in carbon-free energies, in France and internationally. We were also able to count on the renewed support of four business angel networks: BADGE – Business Angels of the Grandes Écoles, Coalescence, Finance & Technology, INSEAD BA. They have been with us since the beginning and have all decided to continue their commitment to Geosophy, which is extremely rare in this type of industry. Our investors will be involved in the governance and strategy of Geosophy since representatives of UI Investissement, Noria and BADGE join our strategic committee.
What will Geosophy look like in 5 years?
Geosophy wants to become a major player in the decarbonization and energy transition of buildings. Carbon neutrality by 2050, the increase in gas prices, the pressure on capital holders to direct their investments towards CleanTechs have profound consequences for real estate professionals. The sector must completely rethink its heating and cooling methods by moving towards more local, more sustainable and economically viable solutions. We are there and we will be there to provide them with solutions and enable them to adjust their energy strategy.
To give you two figures of the impact we want to have within five years: 370,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent avoided – which represents 7% of Paris emissions – and 1,400 non-relocatable full-time equivalent jobs, directly involved in the downstream sector.
Finally, what we want to do by increasing the use of geo-energy is to act directly on the summer comfort of buildings. We want to help reduce the urban heat island effect. With their impermeable streets, the dark surfaces, the density of the buildings which store heat, more than 25 million people according to INSEE are particularly concerned. Should we cook, flee or act? For us, we will have to do everything and forget nothing.
