EODev, a French hydrogen-based energy technologies developer, is currently studying target dossiers in France and Europe to improve its strategic position, founder and CEO Jeremie Lagarrigue told Mergermarket.

The Paris-based company is analysing the dossiers of companies, with sizes of up to 40 employees, which will bring added value to its current products, help in its technological advancement and strong expertise, and accelerate growth, Lagarrigue said. An ideal acquisition could also help to improve EODev’s hydrogen distribution, he said.

The company is also receiving target dossiers directly from bankers of hydrogen sector targets which were not able to raise funds last year, and need to find an investor to scale up, the executive said.

The sector has been impacted by the economic and geopolitics contexts, which have slowed down the market. However, French and worldwide regulations will enable the market to accelerate in the next few years, so EODev needs to be structured now to answer to its potential clients’ demand, Lagarrigue said. Hydrogen offers the best answer to public health concerns about pollution and the carbon neutrality objectives, he added.

Potential acquisitions will be financed with part of the last round in 2023, a Series B of EUR 46m, the executive said. The company will decide on deals with its strategic committee in 2024, he added.

EODdev has raised EUR 66m to date, in two rounds in 2023 and 2020, from TiLT Capital Partners (a subsidiary of private equity firm Siparex Group), Supernova Invest, CapHorn and PULSE – CMA CGM Energy Fund, Accor [EPA: AC], Amfil, Thelem assurances, Monnoyeur, and Toyota [TYO: 7203].

The company still has ambitions to reach the unicorn status in the mid-term, Lagarrigue said. Several exit options will be on the table by then, including an IPO or an exit via a sale to a strategic player, he said.

The company received approaches from large industrials willing to purchase EODev, however, Lagarrigue and shareholders decided it was still too early to sell the company, as it has a high development potential ahead. The company has a score of 20 out of 100, according to Mergermarket’s Likely VC Exit predictive algorithm.*

Led by Lagarrigue and chairman Thierry Best, EODev has a team of more than 90 people spread between Issy-les-Moulineaux, Montlhery, and Lyon.

The company achieved EUR 11m turnover in 2023, of which 85% is generated outside France, especially in Northern Europe, the US, Australia, Canada, and UAE, the CEO said.

The company went from four power generators delivered in 2021 to more than a hundred units sold worldwide in 2023, and will open a plant in Anthony, near Paris in the upcoming weeks, Lagarrigue said. The company also plans to build more commercial partnerships worldwide with manufacturers, in line with the partnership it recently signed in Oceania with Toyota Australia, which has become the first EODev franchisee to assemble and sell GEH2® in this region, he added.

Created in March 2019, EODev plans to accelerate the industrialization and commercialization of sustainable, reliable, innovative, and accessible energy solutions, the CEO said. Its products are distributed in 30 countries through distribution partnerships, local franchises, and licensing agreements, he added.

EODev’s products address the entire energy chain: medium-power hydrogen power generators (GEH2®); on-board hydrogen energy systems (REXH2®) for maritime and river use (propulsion and hotel load), and mobile floating hydrogen refueling stations (STSH2) for the production and distribution of green hydrogen. Its clients include industrial groups such as Toyota, GL Events as well as data centers, the CEO said.

*Mergermarket’s Likely VC Exit predictive analytics assign a score to VC-backed companies to help track and predict when an exit could occur through M&A, an IPO, a direct listing or a deSPAC transaction.