Hiboo is a company specializing in the collection and exploitation of data incorporated in fleets of industrial machinery and vehicles, and emitted by them. Its technology makes it possible to measure performance and consequently improve it, from both an environmental and financial perspective. This produces a 20% reduction in the carbon footprint left by large construction sites, which mostly use diesel-powered machinery. The market has shown its trust and enthusiasm with regard to the value of this service, for Hiboo has raised €9.3 million in the Series A round of funding. The major construction companies have been following the operation with particular interest.
Hiboo has concluded funding arrangements with Emerald and Nabtesco, ISAI Build Venture, Future Industry Venture, Ring Capital and Citizen Capital. It has been assisted by investment bank Chausson Finance and law firms APE and Jones Day. The capital raised will serve to underpin the company's development along three main lines:
• Technology. Hiboo's products will be developed so as to make data more accessible and more intelligent. Aside from collecting and making best use of data, Hiboo will be able to imbue it with meaning, enabling it automatically to generate warnings, reporting, etc. The benefit for clients will be in gaining automated control of their fleets.
• Resources. New talents will be recruited, in both Tech and sales, to enable the company to continue to grow, and to maintain its leadership as an innovator.
• International development. This will meet the needs of Hiboo’s clients, whose operations are often trans-national.
Exploiting unused data in construction plant and machinery in order to create value
The average idling rate of construction plant and machinery has been estimated at 37% by the French National Federation of Public Works Contractors. Some machinery even operates at a 70% idling rate, which means a great deal of energy going up in smoke. It is Hiboo's vocation to improve the productivity and energy efficiency of companies' fleets of mobile industrial machinery, by making use of the data emitted by the equipment.
The data collected is presented on a dedicated platform or is integrated into the main management software used by companies (SAP, Salesforce, BLG…). Thus, companies can access indicators concerning the use and exploitation of their equipment (idling, fuel consumption, anomalies…), measure their actual CO2 emissions, and reduce them by up to 20%.
Hiboo's SaaS solution, used by many companies in the construction and equipment rental sectors, processes data from 63,000 pieces of connected equipment from 90 integrated sources in over 100 countries. The company currently employs 45 people.
Up to now, the data generated by each piece of equipment or vehicle, whatever the make, has not be used systematically, because those who manage the machines have lacked the necessary understanding or awareness. With Hiboo enabling them to learn about data use, they can achieve a solid rationalization.
Hiboo's technology meets two major issues that the industrial sectors are concerned with: profitability and energy-saving. This funding shows that the market and industrialists are hungry for solutions that enable the latter to have a better vision – and therefore better control – of their fleet, so as to use it in a way that costs as little as possible, both financially and environmentally.
Preparing a low-carbon future
Against a background of increasing energy costs and more pressing environmental concerns, industrialists are showing a growing interest in the data emitted by their equipment, with a view to improving their control of operations and measuring real CO2 emissions. Furthermore, they now have to comply with new restrictions that oblige them to have this visibility, whether it be with regard to non-financial reporting or to declaring their CO2e emissions (CO2 equivalent) when it comes to tenders. The fact that the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) came into force on 1st January 2024 adds a further dimension to these priorities, compelling companies to standardize and improve their non-financial reporting, particularly with regard to ESG criteria.
Hiboo’s solution meets this need, and fits in with the principle of technology that takes major financial and societal issues into account. By 2027, the company aims to help its clients save over 1.3 million tons of CO2. Hiboo wants to shape the future of equipment management, and to increase its market share in Europe and the rest of the world, by becoming the authority with regard to data management of heavy equipment.
"This round of financing marks a turning point in Hiboo's development, as it demonstrates the confidence that investors and our customers have in our product. It will enable us to continue to develop both technologically and in human terms, particularly internationally. Technologies such as the one proposed by Hiboo make it possible to continue an activity while reducing energy wastage: a prerequisite for the development of a low-carbon industry", commented Clément Bénard, CEO of Hiboo.
"The next step for the construction industry is going to be to harness the data from its machines for faster response, clearer insights and improved overall management", says Mehran Zaker, Investment Manager at Emerald. "Hiboo is perfectly positioned at the forefront of this exciting transformation."
"Hiboo perfectly embodies our investment objective defined in partnership with the Bouygues Group a few months ago: to accelerate the decarbonization of the construction sector through the emergence and adoption of new technologies. Hiboo has what it takes to become a category leader, and we're proud to support them in this round of financing", says Arnaud de Scorbiac, Partner at ISAI.
“We are very proud to contribute to the development of Hiboo, which offers an effective solution for measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of construction, one of the sectors that emits the most greenhouse gases. Our investment in Hiboo is in line with our impact strategy, which includes financing technological enablers of the transition that, like Hiboo, help accelerate the decarbonization of entire sectors of the economy. We welcome Clément Bénard and his team to the Ring Capital ecosystem", says Laurent Babut, Partner at Ring Capital.
"Reliable, comprehensive data is the prerequisite for any goal to reduce waste in an industry. In a sector like construction, which concentrates a major share of greenhouse gas emissions, initiatives like Hiboo are therefore key to identifying and activating the right decarbonization levers. Hiboo has impressed us with its ability to become the backbone of all its customers' operations, and we are proud to support it in its mission to make this industry more sustainable", explains Olivier Mougenot, Partner at Citizen Capital.
