TH, a French company specialising in the off-site construction of low-carbon modular homes, announces an €8 million fundraising
Located in the Haute Savoie region, the French company TH, which specialises in off-site construction, has just welcomed Saint Gobain and the Banque des Territoires within its capital, as they participated in an €8 million financing round, alongside existing company shareholders, including Odyssée Venture.
Founded in 2014, the company has developed a unique positioning between material manufacturers and construction developers, as it supplies on site fully finished sub-assemblies that are ready to be connected. TH currently has around 60 employees and generates €7 million in annual turnover.
The company has already helped manufacture 100 homes and delivered 300 low-carbon modules, with wood being their main material. TH recently partnered with Bouygues Construction to develop a student housing programme, the first phase of which began in April 2023.
This fundraising should help the company cope with its very strong growth, as it plans to open a second assembly site in the Aisne department at the end of the year. Its technology centre is based in Annecy and its first 5,000 m² factory is in Dole, in the Jura.
Driveco raises €250 million euros to develop a European charging station network
In May, the French startup Driveco announced a fundraising of €250 million from the Dutch pension fund APG, with the aim of making electric vehicle charging stations more accessible. For this, the startup, which developed its first charging stations in 2014, wants to develop a fleet of terminals throughout Europe.
The company has been profitable since 2019, employs around a hundred people and already operates the second-biggest charging network in France. Its goal is now to increase from 8,000 stations (currently deployed in France and Belgium) to 60,000 by 2030, in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Its main challenge today is to secure strategic locations with landowners, setting up its charging stations in shopping centres, hotels and hospitals. However, there is a lot of competition from the likes of Electra, NW Storm, Bump and Jolt. That said, the market is large: in France alone, the government has set the goal to create a network of 400,000 terminals across the country by 2030. There are currently only 100,000 terminals.
British startup GIM receives $1 billion to develop low-carbon, waterless cements
The University of Manchester startup Graphene Innovations Manchester (GIM) has just received a billion dollar investment from the Dubai-based company Quazar Investment, to set up a joint venture in the United Arab Emirates.
The aim? To develop and mass manufacture graphene building materials. More eco-friendly, these materials are designed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the construction industry. GIM’s vision is ambitious: it’s neither more nor less about removing cement from construction.
To achieve this, GIM has developed Neo Concrete, a type of concrete that doesn’t require water and can be made from a combination of graphene, polymers and additives. This proprietary concrete manufacturing process eliminates 88% of CO2 emissions because no cement is used. GIM announces that this material achieves a compressive strength four times greater than that of traditional concrete, that it is 30% lighter and that it cures in two to four hours with no heat.
This partnership between Quazar and GIM is one of the first attempts to commercialise graphene on a large scale. Discovered by scientists at the University of Manchester in 2004, this material has so far only a limited use, being used cover small goods such as shoes and tyres, improving their performance and durability.
A manufacturing plant in the UK is in the pipeline, as well as plans to develop the company’s activities in Europe and the US using the partnership model.
There’s more…
Israeli startup Swapp raises $11.5 million for its AI-powered solutions for architects
Integrated Projects’ BIM solution raises $3 million in Seed for scanning buildings in 3D
