Nova incubator

Eight months after the start of the Nova adventure and the launch of the first cohort, the incubator is starting to see the first results of this collaboration. GRTgaz has just announced a new call for applications in order to help innovative start-ups engaged in the industrial, energy and ecological transition with their growth, while at the same time creating synergies with the gas industry.

In November 2023, the Nova incubator will welcome a new cohort of up to five start-ups for a 12-month period. The winners will get shared working areas at GRTgaz's premises. They will also enjoy the support of its RICE research and innovation centre in the Hauts-de-Seine region. This will include access to testing areas and input from researchers for internal tests. Furthermore, the Nova incubator will provide the start-ups with bespoke technical, methodological and entrepreneurial support (market studies, economic studies, intellectual property, etc.). 

Although GRTgaz is focused on finding innovative solutions to meet the strategic challenges associated with the third gas revolution, the work also focuses on the company's practices and approaches to generating shared value in relation to the fields in which we are involved.   

Within the framework of the energy transition, GRTgaz is working on speeding up the development of hydrogen and renewable gases, and adapting its infrastructure. The Nova incubator needs to enable companies using it to test their own solutions, while at the same time helping GRTgaz to find solutions for achieving net zero by 2050.

“We are mutually helping one another: we – Lium, Ylssen, Lynx and Alhomna Systems, the four companies currently using the incubator – are helping GRTgaz with its transition and we are getting its teams accustomed to how start-ups operate. Nova, meanwhile, is helping us to achieve a level of development that we hardly dared hope for. We are looking to raise capital – just like all other start-ups. Investors sometimes ask to meet our clients. When they do, GRTgaz teams are keen to come with us and highlight our added value. They function as ultra facilitators”, says Guilain Yvon of start-up Lium (first Nova cohort).