Two students invent power generator of the future

​A graduate of the SKEMA Master in Management (PGE) and the MSc Project and Programme Management and Business Development, Yann Cousin is a young alumnus full of drive. After a semester on the Belo Horizonte campus, he decided to embark upon an entrepreneurial venture and he came up with a power generator designed from used batteries* from electric cars. This idea came to him when he was in Australia, on a gap year.

In 2019, half the country was on fire. The population was thus deprived of electricity and had to use fuel-guzzling power generators. This situation made the student wonder. "I thought that the fires were exacerbated by global warming, which is itself partly caused by carbon dioxide emissions. Returning from my semester in Brazil, I figured that we could re-use the used  batteries from electric cars to design an emission-free power generator", says Yann Cousin.

An important encounter

From his academic semester on the Belo Horizonte campus, the student brought back an idea and also a friend: Alexis Claeys, also a Grande Ecole programme student, but on the MSc Corporate Finance Management. A very timely friendship. "I was looking for someone to take care of the financial and administrative components, whether this was in terms of auditing or financial management", says the graduate. It was decided that Yann would look after the business and commercial side, and Alexis the financial and administrative aspects.

SKEMA Ventures to structure the project

To start writing their story, the two students called upon the advice of Franck Hanoh, SKEMA Ventures manager on the Lille campus. "SKEMA Ventures helped us get a foot on the ladder, with Franck Hanoh very quickly putting us in contact with Centrale Lille so that we could make the most of their technical expertise for our project. In addition, being incubated at SKEMA Ventures enabled us to correctly structure the basis of the Swoop Energy project", says Yann Cousin. As time went on, the two SKEMA students gleaned precious advice here and there about the business plan and the technological aspect of their project.

After the first crucial stage with SKEMA Ventures, they were incubated within the Euratechnologies incubator on the GreenTech track, which brings together the finest green entrepreneurs in the Métropole Européenne de Lille (MEL – the Lille European Metropolis). "That then enabled us to challenge our business plan and look for partners to work with. It was also during this time that we met Karl Terral, an ECAM Rennes graduate, who has a strong engineering profile. Thanks to Karl, we could manufacture a prototype of our product and develop the technical aspect", says the 'alumnus.

Students as players in the 3rd industrial revolution

Co-developed with the rental company Kiloutou, which will ultimately offer this eco-friendly and emission-free device for hire, the emission-free power generator designed from recycled car batteries aroused the interest of the Rev3 initiative in the Hauts-de-France region. Via this initiative, the SKEMA students were able to benefit from six months of support via a specific incubation programme. During this period, Yann, Alexis and Karl were able to immerse themselves in the flourishing batteries sector in the Béthune region and meet the company that will produce their power generator from the batteries verified and selected by Swoop Energy. 

The young company  recently benefited from the Fonds Régional d'Amplification de la Troisième Révolution Industrielle (Fratri — 'Regional Fund for the Expansion of the Third Industrial Revolution') in the Hauts-de-France region. In July 2023, Swoop Energy plans to raise capital and to develop new products such as stationary energy-storage solutions, to store renewable energy production.

*The batteries received must have 70% capacity remaining.