EuroBreath: Green Innovation to society services

A REMARKABLE CAREER :

Ouarda BOUZIANE was born in Colombes in the Hauts-de-Seine in France, her parents are from the great plateaus of Aures in Algeria.

Ouarda Bouziane started working at L'Oréal in 2002 in the Research and Innovation department, specifically in the Metrology department specialized in physical measurements. Her role was to accompany the laboratories (international Research Hubs) in the launch of innovative products and to develop new instrumental methods of performance characterization: always in contact with metrology instruments. She worked with all product qualities and specifications, participating in the launch or development of more than 15 new products during her professional experience at L'Oréal.

After 15 years, she decided it was time to rethink her purpose in life (IKIGAI) and to renew her professional and academic skills. Therefore, in 2018, she started the Master 2 Innovation and Research Valorization (IVR) which offers training in research valorization and technology transfer. This training was a tipping point in her career and her life in general and opened her eyes to define the foundations of her start-up EuroBreath.

She received training in: economics of innovation, management, law (intellectual property) and marketing of innovation, teamwork, intermediation, and accompaniment through her professional career. Thanks to Anne Plunket (thesis director and Co-responsible of the Master 2 IVR), François Plais (Professor of research valorization and technology transfer in the Master 2 IVR) and Nicolas Soulié (Co-director of the Master 2 IVR); Ouarda discovered new perspectives and professional careers and thus decided to face the challenges of the world with her new 360 approach and working method.

At the same time, she participated in a European Hackathon "EUvsVirus" in April 2020. This experience allowed her to develop her network and to meet researchers and professionals from different fields and sectors internationally. Thanks to this, she was able to participate in a call for a Horizon Europe Consortium project led by Spain. This experience enriched her knowledge on how to prepare a proposal to receive European funding and allowed her to learn about the excellence and quality that this type of call requires.

Ouarda also began to participate in major European events such as "The Research and Innovation Days 2020 and 2021" and "Matcher Green Deal Edition 2021" where she discovered the European challenges concerning the Agenda 2030 and the objectives for 2050. At that time, she had already decided to get out of the cosmetic sector and to try and solve big problems related to energy. According to her, the pandemic has accelerated digitalization and climate debate and it has also created new challenges. Continuing her transformation, Ouarda has done trainings on this matter including blockchain, machine learning, and cloud computing at Stanford University.

Throughout her professional career, she has always passed on her knowledge in order to ensure continuity and to make the most of her experience. At the end of 2021, an opportunity arose for her to acquire a new title of educational trainer 2.0 that she practices within her company. She has also given a first training to doctoral students at the UTT in Troyes. This training is entitled "The steps to create innovative start-ups".

 
EUROBREATH.

"Time to Market": a favorable regulatory context where society is demanding more and more green energy and with more than 2 million electric + hybrid cars registered in Europe, Ouarda understood that it was the right time to launch her start up in this field. The EuroBreath solution combines hybrid production management, traceability, and exchange to improve the management of surplus or under production of energy between economic agents. It is a systemic and innovative vision that is about to become a reality with the EuroBreath project.

Between February and June 2021, the startup did a Proof of Concept thanks to the data of a company practicing open innovation and that operates in Spain and Portugal, which allowed EuroBreath to apply and win the Prêt d’honneur and both pépite and French Tech grants. With this funding, adding her own, and also offering training and consulting services, Ouarda has managed to finance the activity of the start-up, hiring a team of 6 people to develop its first prototype.

One of her great successes as an entrepreneur has been precisely the recruitment of staff. Ouarda has built a creative and disciplined team. She prides herself on positively influencing them to take on their own projects. One of her Master of Marketing graduates is currently undertaking an entrepreneurial project.

Focusing on the start-up structure, Ouarda relies on two experienced advisory boards with 20 to 40 years of experience to advise the project, namely Sylvain Lemercier and Xavier Dufermont. She thanks them for their time.

The prototype of EuroBreath is called SmartMeter. It is both a software and a physical measurement network. They are building an exchange platform based on smarts contracts and Proof of Capacity and Proof of Regulation blockchain. This must be supported by the various players in the energy sector to: trade surplus or under energy production, calculate the level of green energy production, and bring the European Union closer to its goal. In this sense, the international development of the EuroBreath project is being planned through well defined strategies.

What motivated its integration into the X-TECH incubator at the Ecole Polytechnique? The main reasons are: to gain visibility, to expand their network and to develop their prototype. Events such as SPRING Paris Saclay where the startup was present, the innovation ecosystem of the Ecole Polytechnique and more broadly of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and the X-Novation incubator's X-F4B prototyping space are contributing to the achievement of its objectives. For the end of the year, the goal is to obtain new customers, and especially beta test the solution with energy producers.

Finally, the start-up is looking to establish partnerships and the research laboratory of the UTT in Troyes could eventually become one.

 
THE ENTREPRENEUR.

A concrete valorization of the contributions of the 2018-2019 class of the Master 2 Innovation and Valorization of Research from the University of Paris Sud with a company creation, 3 apprenticeship contracts in digital marketing and UX at master level, 7 engineering internships (data science, mechatronics, blockchain), and potentially a patent before the end of 2022.

Ouarda is a true example of an entrepreneur who is passionate about her method and her idea: to carry out the first phase of the innovation process, the conceptualization, in order to develop systemic solutions to large-scale societal and environmental problems. The EuroBreath project is the result of a first application of this vision.

She was familiar with the private sector but not with the public sector, especially laboratories. The biggest obstacle she encountered was to integrate the public research ecosystem in France and to support the valorization of public research work, in particular through the experiment she is conducting within her company. To enter this sector, she is conducting research on the economy of distributed infrastructures to find solutions for constructive approaches with the GAFAMs (which occupy practically all the layers of the OSI model up to the bottom layer, innovative cabling), and to remove the brakes on innovation for start-ups, particularly through decentralization. "This may allow her to apply in front of a jury and get her doctoral status!"  

Motivated by her experience and her way of working, Ouarda is delighted to share her journey to serve as an inspiration to new generations and positively influence them towards solving the problems we face in Europe, in the World.

She presents herself as a risk-taker and a confident entrepreneur. A unique personality who takes the motto "action" and learning by doing to the extreme. She is fearless and faces problems with resilience and boldness.