Epyr raises €15M Series A to electrify European industrial heat at scale

Epyr (Paris) has raised a €15 million Series A led by SlateVC. Existing investors AENU and Daphni are doubling down from the €3M pre-seed; WEPA Ventures, OVNI Capital, and Aurum Impact join for the first time. The company was founded in 2024 by Léa Dardenne and Bastien Oggeri.

The technology and the business model

Epyr's system is straightforward in concept and capital-intensive in execution. During periods of low-cost or negative electricity prices — which the founders say have been more frequent in France in 2026 than in 2025 — smart controls run electric resistors that heat air, which heats firebricks to very high temperatures. The bricks store the energy and release it as steam whenever the production process demands it.

The full stack is sold as Heat-as-a-Service: Epyr covers technology, system integration, energy management software, and, where needed, third-party financing. Industrial clients pay for steam delivered, not equipment acquired. That contract structure moves the capital and technical risk to Epyr and removes the procurement barrier that has historically slowed industrial decarbonisation.

The target sectors — paper, food and beverage, chemicals — are large consumers of mid- and high-temperature steam and have been among the hardest to decarbonise because no affordable electric alternative existed until recently. The combination of falling renewable costs and rising gas prices is changing that calculation faster than most energy models predicted.

The reference installation and what it proves

Epyr's first commercial system was commissioned at WEPA Group's paper mill in Troyes in May 2026, in under six months from contract signature. It now supplies up to 25% of the site's steam requirements. Andreas Krengel, a member of WEPA's management board, confirmed publicly that "the first installation has demonstrated the value of both the technology and the partnership."

That reference matters more than the round size. Industrial buyers in energy-intensive sectors move slowly and demand operating proof, not pilot results. WEPA is a credible reference: it is a large European consumer tissue manufacturer, not a captive test site. The Troyes unit also helped Epyr secure the next deployment at Papeco's Orval-sur-Sienne site — set to become France's largest thermal energy storage project at 35 MWh — with national energy flexibility specialist Energy Pool supporting the project through to operations.

Why the timing now

Sébastien Léger, co-founder and GP at SlateVC, pointed to market size: the firm sees Epyr as a potential European leader in electrifying what it calls the "€100bn industrial heat market". That figure captures a structural reality: industrial process heat is a large, durable market that has not yet attracted the capital flows that went into utility-scale solar, wind, or even battery storage.

The Series A runway funds Epyr through the Papeco deployment and several additional projects currently in commercial development. The co-founders have identified more than enough project opportunities across France; the constraint over the next 18 months is the ability to deliver simultaneously, not the size of the pipeline.

This edition carries the Epyr story after it was first noted in the 13 October wire and held while additional detail was gathered.