Leonard’s acceleration programs involve 44 new projects in 2022

Leonard, the VINCI Group's foresight and innovation platform, has presented the 44 start-ups, innovative companies and VINCI employee teams selected to join its four acceleration and support programs in 2022. These projects provide pioneering solutions covering environmental transition, safety, productivity and competitiveness across construction, mobility, property development and energy. They will start working with Leonard in January 2022.

Leonard has been leading a community of innovators for almost 5 years. They come from a variety of backgrounds and have been playing a growing part in the transformation of construction, mobility, energy and real estate. VINCI’s foresight and innovation platform runs four acceleration and support programs to help start-ups, employees and Group entities succeed in their entrepreneurial projects.

The juries made of VINCI executives and Leonard partner investors have selected 44 projects focusing on the environment, safety, productivity and competitiveness of VINCI’s companies and activities.

The variety of projects mirrors the creativity of the entrepreneurs working in VINCI’s areas of expertise:

  • Construction and operation automation (robotics, cobotics),
  • Remote worksite and infrastructure monitoring (drones, satellites),
  • Predictive maintenance and support for project design and management (parametric design, scheduling, etc.),
  • Collaborative project management and materials sourcing platforms,
  • Optimising projects’ energy efficiency and reducing their environmental impacts, – circularization of construction materials,
  • Massive deployment of electric vehicle charging,
  • Electrification of construction equipment,
  • Valorisation of vacant buildings.

Julien Villalongue, Leonard’s Managing Director : “We are convinced that technology is one of the necessary levers for transforming the construction, mobility, real estate and energy industries. In particular, Construction Tech (Contech) are enabling us to build at controlled costs, in more sustainable and safe ways. The 44 entrepreneurial projects supported by Leonard in 2022 more generally echo the strengthened commitment of all VINCI business lines to environmental transformation, which once again appears to be a key driver for disseminating innovation within our activities.”

Four ambitious programs to meet the challenges of transforming the businesses of cities and infrastructure

Leonard’s four acceleration and support programs are open to start-ups, innovative companies, VINCI employees and companies from the Group that are determined to play their part in the transformation of the businesses of construction, mobility, energy and real estate.

  • The SEED program supports early stage startups for 6 months, to help them get off the ground, grow and find funding for their projects. The 2022 cohort will include 9 projects. They will receive a €30,000 capital injection, training leading to certification delivered by the Stanford Center for Professional Development, one or more internal VINCI mentors, a network of external experts and contacts with our network of investors. This 6-month intensive program will end with a Demo Day open to investors and decision-makers from the VINCI Group.
    >> Discover the selection of the 3d cohort of the SEED program
  • The AI Program aims to identify and develop projects using AI technologies, with a high return on investment for the business units of the Group. It is designed to help business units of the group to initiate and develop their AI strategy to maintain or increase their competitiveness in the future. After supporting 8 projects in 2020 and 13 in 2021, the AI program will support 15 new endeavours in 2022.
    >> Discover the selection of the 3d cohort of the course Artificial Intelligence

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