Hyères-based startup Wise Integration will boost chargers

Even though the location is charming, in the heart of a tiny business park in Hyères, the small Wise Integration team is still considering moving... just a few hundred meters away. Because the Var-based startup, poised to revolutionize the world of high-power electric chargers, is keen to remain anchored in the region, where it has its headquarters and where a third of its staff work.

Yet it has a foothold across the Atlantic, and another in Asia, through a development center and a subsidiary, and of course part of its production in Rhône-Alpes, the cradle of the company. Within the Leti laboratory of the CEA, in this case, which allowed its 4 co-founders, Thierry Bouchet, CEO, Dominique Bergogne, Florian Couvin and Rym Hamoumou, to embark on the entrepreneurial adventure, 5 years ago, to develop a disruptive technology: the use of gallium nitride (GaN) to develop more powerful, smaller, and less energy-consuming chargers.

And while today the use of this material has become widely democratized, Wise Integration has managed to stay ahead of the curve. To the point of recently marketing its own GaN digital controller, in other words the "brain," which will run the component at full power. " Our WiseWare is already in development with 9 customers," proudly emphasizes Thierry Bouchet, who left the CEA at the end of last year and now leads a team of 37 employees. The startup had already managed to put itself in the spotlight at CES in Las Vegas in 2022: its electric bike charger integrated into the battery on a two-wheeler had won over the Rhône-Alpes cycle manufacturer Savoy.

Raising 15 million euros

This ensured great visibility, and a few months later, successfully raised €15 million from Supernova Invest, BNP Paribas Développement, Région Sud Investissement (RSI), Creazur, CASRA Capital, and Angels for Greentech. This discreet nugget doesn't target consumer products, but rather the most energy-intensive uses, such as electric vehicle chargers or data centers.

"We want to be a French player committed to reducing the impact of data centers, which are particularly energy-intensive due to the heat they emit," the manager recalls. And after five years of development, the second generation of high-power charging solutions is now operational.

The code behind the software that makes WiseWare smart was developed in Hyères and Grenoble, then implemented, still in Grenoble, on a component manufactured by STMicroelectronics in Rousset in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (the STM32G4). "We then deliver the component to the customer with instructions. 10,000 have already been produced," emphasizes the entrepreneur, proud to attract flat-screen manufacturers in particular, because WiseWare allows for very thin chargers.

Wise Integration's presence in Asia, through its Hong Kong subsidiary, allows it to approach major names in the sector, relying on local subcontractors.

But the opening of a branch in Ottawa, Canada, last November opens the door to new developments, and especially new markets. "We were able to recruit four people locally; it's a pioneering territory for technology," says the entrepreneur. By 2026, WiseFusion will be released, the new generation of components combining the intelligence of WiseWare and the performance of GaN combined with that of silicon, the development of which the Canadian subsidiary has mastered. Enough to become a global leader, with a new round of fundraising planned for the coming months.

On the way to becoming an SME

Meanwhile, a second controller is due out in September. "It's a fully integrated energy converter, whereas the first model in production is a brick that our customers integrate themselves," the entrepreneur explains. Discussions are underway in Germany with a car manufacturer. "We're talking about more compact and lighter on-board chargers that will increase the vehicle's range."

The Hyères-based startup, which plans to recruit three people in the coming months, is on the verge of becoming an SME. It will soon have a merchant website where consumers will also be able to find consumer products, such as small, high-performance chargers. This will further showcase the expertise of this gem, whose near future could well be an IPO on Euronext, while establishing itself as a strategic and sovereign player in the development of the French artificial intelligence sector.