France’s Ecotechnologies invests €10M in hydrogen storage company McPhy

20 January 2013

France’s Ecotechnologies fund made a €5-million (US$6.7 million) investment—on a total €10-million (US$13.3 million) round—investment in McPhy Energy, an company dedicated to hydrogen production and to low pressure hydrogen storage for industrial and energy players. The equity investment aims to support the commercial development of the company following the acquisition of Piel, an electrolysis equipment production unit based in Italy.

This investment, Ecotechnologies’ second in the France-based McPhy, is part of a €10-million capital increase completed by the company’s historical investors: Emertec Gestion, Sofinnova Partners, Gimv, Arevadelfi and Clipperton Finance.

McPhy Energy was created in 2008 to develop and bring to industrial scale a solid-state hydrogen storage solution based on metal hydrides, which represents a major technological breakthrough stemming from the CNRS research work. Clients are industrial players using hydrogen and energy companies, hydrogen being used as a mean for energy storage.

Endowed with €150 million (US$200 million) within the framework of the implementation of the actions of the Program of Investments for the Future (PIA) entrusted to the Ademe, the Ecotechnologies fund is managed by CDC Entreprises, a subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts. The Ecotechnologies fund invests from €1 million to €10 million in co-investments with private players, in the capacity of a well-informed investor. It is targeting equity capital and quasi-equity capital operations, for acquisitions of minority stakes in innovative SMEs primarily established in France, and non-listed.