FinMag meets Ronan Le Moal, co-founder of Épopée Gestion.
Founded in 2020 by Charles Cabillic and Ronan Le Moal, Épopée Gestion is much more than just an investment fund. Through an approach combining capital and operational support, Épopée Gestion supports the development of start-ups, SMEs and infrastructures in the French Atlantic Arc. Our ambition? To become a key player in local business financing and support, reconciling economic growth and environmental change.
Could you introduce us to Épopée Gestion?
Épopée Gestion is a company we founded five years ago with my partner Charles Cabillic. It has two main missions: to provide capital for companies and to provide operational support.
We invest in startups, SMEs and infrastructure, while providing strategic and practical support in marketing strategy, export, recruitment and other growth areas. Our aim is to maximize the impact of our investments by combining capital and expertise.
Today, we manage around 700 million euros of assets in four main areas:
- Innovation, with investments in start-ups and innovative companies.
- Development capital, to support the growth of SMEs.
- Real estate, especially office, industrial and logistics property, as well as hotels.
- Infrastructure, particularly in the fields of energy and low-carbon mobility.
Our ambition is to support the transformation and development of the French Atlantic Arc, our preferred region, by participating in the major ecological, environmental and economic transitions. This is the vision that has guided Épopée Gestion since its creation.
What is a regional investment fund?
The idea of an investment fund is to raise capital from a variety of investors, mainly large institutional players, but also other types of investors such as insurers, mutual insurers, banks and even private individuals via wealth management advisors (CGP).
This money is then placed in a dedicated investment vehicle, which deploys it according to a defined strategy, on a specific territory or in a specific activity.
In the field of innovation, for example, we invested in a Nantes-based start-up developing a collaborative shopping delivery service. This fast-growing company is revolutionizing urban logistics by optimizing journeys and interactions between individuals.
On the SME side, we are supporting a company specializing in the storage and intelligent management of renewable energies in France and abroad. A leading-edge player, Entech has developed unparalleled know-how and technological expertise, enabling the massive integration of renewable energies into the energy mix. And all from Brittany!
In the infrastructure sector, we have invested in a supplier of “slow” electric recharging stations for hotels and private parking lots. These intelligent charging stations adjust vehicle recharging times according to users’ scheduled departure times. In the future, they will even be able to return stored energy to the grid to help balance the electricity supply.
These are just a few examples from the fifty or so companies we currently support.
What triggered the creation of Épopée Gestion?
We’d had the idea of Épopée Gestion in the back of our minds for some time. Charles and I had complementary backgrounds: I had been CEO of a regional banking group for twelve years, while Charles had been a digital entrepreneur almost from the start of his career.
At a certain point, we felt the need to give meaning to our experience and to give back to the region what it had given us. We were convinced of one thing: France has immense assets, but it remains highly centralized. Spatial planning is often talked about as a political issue, but in reality, concrete actions are hardly visible.
We wanted to support our region through investment and business support. Our conviction was simple: by helping companies to set up and grow in their home regions, particularly in the French Atlantic Arc, we are directly contributing to their dynamism. A locally-based company creates jobs, structures an economic ecosystem and revitalizes its environment.
It was with this simple yet obvious idea in mind that we launched Épopée Gestion in 2020. Our approach has always been to start from an identified need in the local area, and to meet it through investment and support. We have gradually deployed our strategy: first in innovation, then in private equity, then in real estate, and finally in infrastructure. Step by step, we’ve built our growth to serve our local communities.
How do you support entrepreneurs in their development?
Our support is highly flexible and tailored to the specific needs of the companies we support.
This can be as simple as recruiting a CFO for a fast-growing SME. If the company is struggling to find the right person via its own network or the usual headhunters, we activate ours to identify the right profile and facilitate its integration.
This can also involve digital transformation. For example, a company specializing in physical retailing that wishes to develop an e-commerce activity but has no expertise in this field can benefit from the support of our team. We provide experts to help them define a strategy and lay the foundations for their digital shift, without necessarily making a long-term commitment, but giving them the tools they need to move forward.
Artificial intelligence is another key lever. We have in-house specialists who keep a close eye on innovations and help our SMEs and startups identify and implement the solutions best suited to their business.
Finally, our support can simply consist of opening commercial doors. Thanks to our business network, we facilitate access to major B2B customers and enable the companies we support to accelerate their development by connecting the right opportunities.
Every company has specific needs, and our role is to provide the resources, expertise and contacts needed to maximize their potential.
What makes Épopée Gestion special?
We define ourselves first and foremost as a fund of entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial DNA is at the heart of our approach, including in our own modus operandi. This proximity creates a real connection with business leaders, because we speak the same language. This enables us to build up a relationship of trust and remove certain barriers, particularly when it comes to opening up a company’s capital – an often sensitive process.
Another key element, which follows naturally from this, is our ability to provide operational support to companies. This positioning is not unique, but it is rare to find such a high level of involvement and relevance. We have a strong presence with the companies we support, and provide concrete solutions tailored to their challenges. As investors, we understand not only the financial dynamics, but also the day-to-day challenges of managing and developing a business. This dual expertise enables us to be committed and effective partners in their growth.
What are your medium and long-term ambitions for Épopée Gestion?
We want to become a one-stop shop for local businesses. We are developing the capacity to meet all their needs through a single entity: Épopée Gestion. The idea is to be an alternative or a complement to the banks, by offering comprehensive support, both financial and operational. This is the vision we want to make a reality in the years to come.
Once this model has been successfully deployed in the French Atlantic Arc, our aim will be to go even further with a multi-local approach. In concrete terms, this means replicating our model in other regions such as the South-East, the North of France, the PACA region or even Rhône-Alpes. The idea is not to impose ourselves from the outside, but to rely on local players, investors and entrepreneurs rooted in these regions, who share our DNA and our approach. We will make our infrastructure and methods available to them, so that they can apply this model with the same dynamism and proximity as we have done in the Atlantic Arc.