French startup Inicio identifies prime locations for successful solar and agrisolar projects across France and Europe. The rapidly growing company has secured €4 million in new funding from ISAI, EDF Pulse Ventures, and Cap Horn to accelerate its European expansion.

Founded in 2022, Inicio has developed a proprietary site-selection algorithm that identifies optimal locations for solar installations, assesses project risks, and connects these opportunities with developers. 

The company has completed its latest funding round with backing from several prominent investors, including EDF Pulse Ventures1 (EDF Group's venture capital division) and Cap Horn, who join existing investors such as ISAI and Kima Ventures.

€4 million to drive strategic growth

This capital infusion will allow Inicio to double its engineering teams and expand field operations, significantly increasing available land opportunities for clients while strengthening its position in the French market. Simultaneously, Inicio is accelerating its international expansion, already enhancing its Italian operations while planning entry into additional European markets later this year. 

To better serve its clients, including EDF, Inicio continues enhancing its platform and predictive AI algorithm with new capabilities, particularly a tool to fercast grid connection capacity for projects. This feature will be available to clients within weeks.

This investment marks a significant milestone for Inicio and will fuel our continued expansion across Europe. Securing this new round with both our existing investors and industry leaders validates their ongoing confidence in our company and the unique value of our solution.

Thomas Moulia , CEO of Inicio

Our investment in Inicio perfectly aligns with EDF's mission to advance clean energy production. Inicio's platform serves as a powerful accelerator for deploying our solar projects at scale. Through this investment, EDF Group strengthens its renewable energy portfolio while accelerating progress toward our climate commitments.

Julien Villeret , EDF Group Chief Innovation Officer

We are thrilled to continue backing Inicio's growth journey and welcome EDF Pulse and Cap Horn as co-investors. We have been particularly impressed by the founding team's ability to attract exceptional talent and evolve their offering to precisely address market demands.

François Collet , General Partner at ISAI

We were instantly impressed by Inicio's founding team, their exceptional execution capabilities, and strategic vision in a sector where land acquisition remains a major bottleneck. Their approach, which seamlessly blends advanced technology with boots-on-the-ground presence, addresses a critical pain point for solar developers. This is exactly the kind of differentiated, scalable, high-impact business model we seek to support at Cap Horn. We knew immediately we wanted to join this venture.

Alexandre Pelletier , Partner at Cap Horn

1 EDF Pulse Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) arm of EDF Group, identifies innovative startup solutions for strategic investment to jointly create a carbon-neutral future. Investments are managed through EDF Pulse Holding, a venture capital and support structure dedicated to innovation.