Less than five years after it was founded, Waga Energy has completed its second funding round for €10 million. Around half of the capital came from two new investors, funds Noria and Tertium. Noria, based in Lille, France, is a family-owned energy and climate investment fund. Tertium is a growth-capital fund that invests in France-based companies with high growth potential.
This is Waga Energy’s second round of fundraising since the company was founded in 2015. The first funding round brought in €1.8 million from three investors:
- Air Liquide Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Air Liquide, one of the world’s leading providers of gases, technologies, and services for industry and healthcare
- Ovive, a France-based industrial wastewater and sludge treatment provider
- Starquest Capital, an investment fund that supports innovative companies from seed to A/B series funding
These investors and Waga Energy’s founders also contributed to the second funding round.
Waga Energy’s solution is the only one of its kind on the market. WAGABOX® landfill gas purification units take the biogas naturally produced by decomposing organic material buried in landfills and purify it into utility-grade biomethane, which can be injected directly into the local gas grid, where it replaces fossil-based natural gas. This fights climate change not only by capturing a source of atmospheric pollution, but also by transforming it into clean, locally-produced, renewable energy. This innovation eared Waga Energy a grand prize in the French government’s climate change awards in 2016*.
Waga Energy finances, builds, and operates WAGABOX® units under long-term landfill gas supply contracts with landfill operators and generates revenue from the sale of biomethane to energy utilities. The company’s first unit was commissioned in February 2017 at a landfill operated by Coved-Paprec in Saint-Florentin, France. The solution has been adopted by major waste-management companies, including Suez and Veolia, and public-sector waste-management authorities. Waga Energy currently has six units up and running in France with an additional five units under construction. And, with an installed base of more than 100 GWh/year, Waga Energy is already supplying 16,000 households with renewable gas, avoiding 20,000 tons of CO2 equivalents per year.
Mathieu Lefebvre: “We are building the energy infrastructure of tomorrow”
This new round of fundraising will position Waga Energy to speed up the rollout of its WAGABOX® units across Europe and address markets in North America, where Waga Energy has two subsidiaries: one in Philadelphia, and the other in Shawinigan, Quebec. “There are around 250 landfills in France and more than 20,000 worldwide. So, 98% of our market is outside France”, said Lefebvre.
Mathieu Lefebvre, Waga Energy cofounder and CEO: “This round of fundraising marks a new chapter in our development. We have successfully demonstrated the performance and reliability of the WAGABOX® solution in France and are now laying the groundwork for our international expansion, both to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and—our generation’s biggest challenge—to fight climate change. We are thrilled to have earned the support of progressive investors in France to help us build a leading global renewable energy company.”
Christophe Guillaume, Noria co-CEO: “Waga Energy possesses an unrivalled end-to-end solution for producing biomethane from landfill gas. The company’s unique approach to producing green energy and eliminating potential greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most compelling on the renewable energy market. Over the past three years Waga Energy has demonstrated operational excellence in the construction, commissioning, and operation of its WAGABOX® units. This is the vision Noria is supporting, and we will be behind Waga Energy as the company rolls out an ambitious growth strategy that aligns perfectly with our climate objectives”.
Stéphane Assuied, Tertium cofounder and CEO: “The solution developed by Waga Energy is not only innovative—it is also powerful. We are thrilled to stand with talented entrepreneurs making a real impact on the energy transition”.
*French energy agency ADEME and French Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Maritime Affairs: Grand prix de la lutte contre le changement climatique 2016.