Nîmes: the start-up Load Stations helps companies manage their fleet of electric vehicles

Helping companies with the transition to electric energy. This is the mission of the start-up Load Stations, based in Nîmes, and hosted in the city’s incubator, Bic Innovup. The start-up was founded in 2022 by two former Engie Énergie engineers, after three years of development.

“We are primarily a software publisher and offer companies global management solutions for electric mobility explains company co-founder and CEO Virgile Arène. Our software allows you to connect and manage the company’s fleet across all electric vehicle charging stations available on the market, both at the company and at employees’ homes.”

In concrete terms, the company has invented a connected socket that adapts to a normal socket, allowing the employer to reimburse only the electricity used when charging at the employee’s home. This means he does not have to install a terminal at the employee’s home and he retains a general view of his network. “By using our connected home socket solutions, large groups divide their costs by 10 and gain flexibility. In fact, installing electrical terminals in the home would cost them €2,000,000 for 1,000 employees, allowing them to make a big saving.”

A recent fundraising of 1.2 million euros

The company publishes an application that allows employees of client companies to edit expense reports resulting from vehicle upgrades. “Our software mainly makes it possible to connect charging stations with each other, even if they are public, for example in a parking garage or a gas station, and for which you have to pay. This way, the employer retains an overview of price management, both with a credit card and with another device.”

The company, which currently has eight employees, announced last February that it had raised 1.2 million euros in funds. To this end, business angels contributed €670,000 to the company’s capital, an amount supplemented by a loan of €200,000 from the innovation arm of Crédit Agricole, and a further €300,000 from BPI France. An amount with which the company can recruit people in the city and elsewhere for software development and commercial services. This brings the number of registrations to 14 by the end of the semester.

A new, more important fundraising event should take place towards the end of the year. It will enable the company to realize its international ambitions. “The electricity market is far from saturated, we are only at the beginning”, assure the founders, who are confident in their integrated solution. This allows them to project their activities in North America and Morocco, the first country they target for their marketing.