Pelican Cycles offers cargo bikes for efficient and environmentally friendly professional logistics. The startup Reveleo is developing a decision-making tool for a living environment that respects health and the environment.
Reveleo, a decision-making tool for a healthy and environmentally friendly living environment
The start-up Reveleo was created in July 2020 and has been incubated on the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Paris since March 2021. Its founders believe that the criteria for choosing a place to live must change. Their challenge: to gather complex information about buildings and their surroundings, from the neighborhood to the municipality, in order to make it understandable to everyone and enable them to make better choices about where to live.
Moving beyond energy labels and thinking differently
Today, energy performance diagnostics are limited solely to energy labels. However, this is not the only factor to consider: for example, if you decide to have a well-insulated, energy-efficient home but have to travel 10 km to buy bread, the carbon footprint is rather negative...
The idea behind this start-up is to reveal the characteristics of a location in a given environment, primarily for residential purposes but not exclusively. The aim is to provide information on the living environment, acoustic and air quality, the presence of green spaces, soft mobility, and services, enabling people to choose the most health-friendly and environmentally friendly place to live.
The ultimate goal is that, once these characteristics are brought to the attention of as many people as possible, they will be systematically taken into account when choosing where to live.
The flagship tool for the business: an algorithm integrated into an application
Reveleo has developed an app (available on iOS and Android) that uses a specific algorithm to serve as a guidance tool for individuals in the housing sector, allowing them to rate designated locations. The updated version of the app will be available in April 2022 on the App Stores. Reveleo also caters to public and private professionals in the service sector, through specific studies and deliverables.
The information is sought from organizations whose scientific quality is recognized, particularly with regard to noise and air. It is obtained by collecting open data accessible in formats that are difficult for the non-specialist public to interpret. The idea is to make it clear so that as many people as possible can use it. This requires ongoing work to verify the relevance of the information in order to adapt it to provide the most accurate and realistic solution possible.
Five passionate founders
The Reveleo team consists of five partners, each working in a specific area:
- development, Pierre Baux, energy engineer at theÉcole Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et d’Aérotechnique (ENSMA) ;
- algorithms and environmental/health criteria, Aurélien Alfaré, fundamental physics engineer, holder of a Specialized Master's® in Renewable Energies and Production Systems from the Arts et Métiers Institute Arts et Métiers Bastia;
- data science, Matthieu Engles, energy engineer from the École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et d’Aérotechnique (ENSMA);
- marketing and mobile solutions development, Florian Leblanc, a graduate ofESCP Business School ;
- Communication, Juliette Baux, graduate of theEcole Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur (ESCE).
Alongside this start-up, they all have other jobs, mainly in consulting and research.
The founders of Reveleo share the same conviction: the tools to bring about change in our lifestyles are already available. Their goal is therefore to make them understandable and accessible to everyone, so that each person can, at their own level, make more informed and positive choices for their health and the environment.
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Pelican, cargo bikes for efficient and gentle professional logistics
The lockdown linked to the health crisis has sometimes been a period conducive to self-reflection. This was certainly the case for Thomas Borie and Alex Jacquelin, founders of the start-up Pelican, incubated on the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Paris, which distributes and also manufactures bicycles suitable for all professional uses.
A story about bikes
Pelican is a startup that combines two activities:
- the distribution of bicycles to professionals (known as cargo bikes): "We are forming partnerships with brands (manufactured in Europe) and promoting them in France, on our website and on our social media channels."
- Design: "We develop our own bikes, and once the design is finalized and production is up and running, we'll sell them through our distribution business."
Thomas Borie is an Arts et Métiers engineer Arts et Métiers Me209). Alongside this degree, he obtained another in industrial design fromENSCI - Les Ateliers. He worked for eight years at Fabernovel, a consulting firm specializing in the creation of new digital products and services. During lockdown, he and Alex Jacquelin, his partner and fellow designer fromthe École Olivier de Serresand 2012 graduate ofthe LCPI's Master's in Engineering and Innovation, came up with the idea of starting their own business. At the time, Thomas Borie was still working atFabernoveland Alex Jacquelin atDecathlon.
The time available during this period allowed them to set up a project based on cycling, their shared passion. "It was really cycling that brought Alex and me together. We officially met in the school bike parking lot... ." They came up with a new, particularly practical bike concept, which they developed on the Paris campus: "At first, we wanted to make bikes for the general public, but we ended up making bikes for professionals. It's a new market with good opportunities. We returned to the same school ten years after leaving, and it's been a pretty nice experience."
The choice of name for the start-up is significant: "The name Pelican comes from the bird and in particular its beak, which allows it to store food temporarily. In the same way, our bikes allow you to store and transport food or packages." " Indeed, Pelican's goal is to create, design, prototype, and manufacture bikes that can meet all the needs of professionals: "We are taking advantage of the design and industrialization lessons we learned at the School, which is one of the reasons we came to Arts et Métiers, particularly to have access to the School's workshops."
A start-up with access to a mini-factory on the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Paris with 2CRP
Pelican joined the Campus Arts et Métiers incubator Arts et Métiers Paris in May 2021 when the project was sufficiently mature. The start-up will be incubated there for a year and a half, but this period could be extended: "We appreciate having offices in Paris, and the incubator provides us with a network and advice that we couldn't have obtained on our own. In addition, having access to workshops and a mini-factory close to our offices is an undeniable advantage."
On campus, the start-up collaborates with the Prototype Design and Production Center (2CRP), using their various tools and machines to work on prototypes: "We currently have a prototype bicycle that we received from a manufacturer, and there are some minor modifications to be made (cutting, welding, machining) that we are doing ourselves to save time. We also do maintenance in the workshops. Cargo bikes can be very heavy to lift, and the 2CRP allows us to do all of this."
With Alex Jacquelin living in Lausanne, an additional market is being targeted in Switzerland, as well as in other French-speaking neighboring countries. As stated on the start-up's website: "Pelican's missionisto make cycling truly practical and safe, so that it becomes the best means of everyday transportation, forever."
