5 questions to Yxir about EDF Pulse Ventures' investment in its capital

Yxir's adventure began with 18 months in the EDF Pulse Incubation entrepreneurship programme. At the time, our project was called Industr.IA and it was challenged every three months by GO/NO GO phases. During this period, our offer became clearer and more mature, until we won the investment decision in March 2022. Three months later, the Yxir subsidiary was created. 

The EDF Pulse Ventures teams followed us throughout our incubation: Nicolas Ambrosioni, Investment Manager, was on our Advisory Board and Guillaume Lesueur, then Head of EDF Pulse Ventures, was on our Sponsors Board. 

Their support was invaluable during the incubation period. They enabled us to meet other startups and benchmark the competition. They also encouraged us to pivot, which is not a very usual approach for a large Group like EDF. Their external view helped us to grow and gain confidence in ourselves. When Yxir was set up, we were delighted to have Guillaume Lesueur join our Board. It gave us real continuity. 

The first year helped us to structure ourselves, sign our first contracts and build up the confidence of our customers. Our sales have been multiplied by 10 between 2022 and 2023, and we are continuing to grow.

It means that the EDF Group is our sole shareholder. It was EDF that created Yxir and invested in its capital: this shows the confidence the Group has in our project. 

It also means that all strategic decisions for Yxir are taken by the Yxir and EDF teams. This makes the decision-making process simpler than with a multiple shareholder structure, and ensures that we are always aligned with the Group's raison d'être.

I can see three main advantages in being a subsidiary of the EDF Group. The first is the legitimacy it gives us. In some sectors, being a subsidiary of the EDF Group helps us to gain credibility and attract the trust of customers. This is the case, for example, in the aeronautics industry. 

The second is access to the Group's various experts on specific subjects. For example, we use the Group's cybersecurity services to monitor our application and protect our data, which is very reassuring for us and our customers, as EDF is one of the safest Groups in the world in terms of security and cybersecurity. We can also draw on the expertise of the Group's legal and human resources teams, particularly when it comes to contracts. This support is very important, and enables us to move faster without making any mistakes. 

Finally, being an EDF subsidiary facilitates certain synergies within the Group. Many decision-makers are sensitive to the fact that contracting with Yxir also means "playing within the Group".

The EDF Pulse Ventures teams open doors for us at the right level, both within the EDF Group and within their ecosystems. They give us access to networks of well-identified decision-makers, which speeds up and facilitates decision-making. 

They also help us to benefit from an outside perspective on our offering, for example by putting us in touch with partner funds able to tell us how Yxir is positioned in relation to the startups in their portfolio and on the industrial market. 

Finally, as a member of our Board, the EDF Pulse Ventures teams have a broader vision than just Yxir's current business model. They have access to our longer-term vision of Industry 4.0, which makes them valuable support and ambassadors to all our stakeholders.

Yxir's mission hasn't changed: we offer an artificial intelligence solution for the non-conformity management process to improve quality for manufacturers. 

Over the first two years, we've put in place a number of processes and developed our structure. Manufacturers have also matured in the face of new technologies and artificial intelligence. We are now at the dawn of a very strong bottom-up phase that will enable us to transform industry. And I'm convinced that we - Yxir and industries - are ready to bring this vital transformation to fruition.