Call for projects “Sustainable mobility in rural settings

To propose innovative solutions for improving mobility in rural areas that could be developed with the assistance of the Gacilly Digital Attic

Winnings and benefits for selected projects:

The winner will receive:

• a 1000 euro prize
• free space/development assistance from the Gacilly incubator for a period of 6 months
• assistance from subsidiaries and experts from the ENGIE group to help develop and realize the project

Purpose of the call for projects

To propose innovative solutions for improving mobility in rural areas that could be developed with the assistance of the Gacilly Digital Attic

Deadline for submissions: October 15^th, 2015

Winnings and benefits for selected projects:

The winner will receive:

• a 1000 euro prize
• free space/development assistance from the Gacilly incubator for a period of 6 months
• assistance from subsidiaries and experts from the ENGIE group to help develop and realize the project

Detailed description

With rural housing in mind, the goal of the competition is to propose innovative solutions to help improve mobility in rural areas.

The proposed solutions must respond to the following two issues:

• Offering residents innovative solutions to allow residents of such areas commuting to reduce constraints related to work-home distances the impact of transportation costs on their purchasing power;
• Allow companies to improve mobility for their employees and also lead to new production and channeling the latter towards metropolitan areas, consumer areas or exportation outside the territory.

Applicants will be able to rely on existing tools (electric cars, etc.) or suggest completely new solutions; these can be innovative on either the technological or user-related fronts.

Evaluation criteria

Winners will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Appropriateness for the subject at hand
• Innovative characteristics of the project
• Economic and financial feasibility of the project
• Existence of a market
• Reasons for creating or developing a company
• Job creation and potentials

Projects that include a sustainable development component (whether organizational, social, environmental or other) will be given particular attention.

Selection procedure

Applications will go through an initial administrative evaluation to ensure they conform to the rules, then a second evaluation related to whether they meet expectations about the project’s product definition, market, organization and strategic orientation.

Applications must include:

• A description of the product, procedure or service and/or its competitive advantages;
• The project’s state of advancement, development or development plan;
• The level of awareness of the project’s environment, whether on the qualitative or quantitative levels;
• Depending on the state of advancement, a definition of the project’s main strategic orientations;
• If relevant, a financial program including predicted operating accounts for three years, a financial plan;
• the CV of the creator and main associates, with information about each person’s level of involvement and contribution to the project.

The selection process will take place in two phases:

First phase: initial selection of finalists;

Second phase: finalists will be invited to present their project for a selection committee. Deliberations will be conducted behind closed doors.

Candidates will be individually informed of the selection committee’s decision.

Provisional calendar

Deadline for submissions: October 15^th 2015

Application evaluation and selection of finalists: week of October 5^th-9^th

Announcement of finalists: week of October 12^th-16^th

Presentation of projects: week of October 19^th-23^rd

Announcement of winners: the announcement will be made during an event being prepared with the St. Malo Agglomeration planned for November 21^st

Selection committee

The organizers of the competition will choose the members of the jury.

On the day of the project launch, the selection committee will be composed of representatives of the following entities:

• The Agglomeration Community of La Gacilly
• ENGIE and/or one of its subsidiaries
• Yves ROCHER
• The Rennes Tech Association

Partners of the call for projects

Creating an energy-positive area and helping project owners developing their projects are the two main themes that the Community of Communes of La Gacilly has been working on for the last several years.

The Community of Communes has already examined several subjects that could help make the area self-sufficient in terms of energy. It now wants to explore the issue of transportation and seek out innovative solutions in this field.

The Community of Communes has developed a process for assisting project owners and business creators. Starting in 2014 with a competition held by Yves ROCHER, an incubator called The Digital Attic has become an important vector for the area’s economic development.

It has chosen to work with ENGIE on this call for projects.

ENGIE’s overall innovation strategy aims to co-develop tomorrow’s solutions in ways that involve the entire spectrum of innovative players: startups, innovative companies, inventors, and others.

To promote open innovation and be fully present in this ecosystem, the ENGIE Group has developed a number of levers for action, including the ENGIE New Ventures investment fund, which has a budget of over 100 million euros and is aimed to take minority stakes in startups in their development phases.