• More than €80 million in funds were raised thanks to the arrival of four new financial partners, which have joined HysetCo and Hype: RGREEN INVEST, Mirova (an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers), RAISE Impact, and Eiffel Investment Group
• Acceleration of the development of the Paris region’s network with the commissioning of new refueling stations in 2021, with a view to having 20 stations by 2024
• The transformation of Slota’s fleet means replacing 600 more Parisian diesel taxis into zero-emission vehicles.

Paris, January 19, 2021 – HysetCo, an asset management firm devoted to the development of hydrogen energy, which owns the world’s largest fleet of hydrogen taxis, operated by Hype, today announced the acquisition of Slota Group, a long-standing Parisian taxi operator.

In order to finance the acquisition of Slota Group through investment fund Naxicap, and to build two new hydrogen refueling stations, HysetCo and Hype put together a group of leading financial partners, including RGREEN INVEST, Mirova, RAISE Impact and Eiffel Investment Group. As part of this deal, Air Liquide has also increased its commitment. Thanks to this fundraising campaign, HysetCo and Hype have now raised over €100 million in investment.

The diesel vehicle fleet currently operated by Slota will progressively be replaced by the Toyota Mirai – a fuel cell sedan – and will be operated by Hype. The expertise of Slota’s teams will enable HysetCo to achieve its objectives and ramp up its growth.

In order to supply this growing fleet, new hydrogen refueling stations will be added to the existing network in 2021, including one at Porte de Saint-Cloud, on a site operated by the City of Paris. This rollout will receive financial support from the ADEME1, as well as the Île-de-France Region and the FCH-JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking2). HysetCo also plans to operate approximately 20 hydrogen stations by the end of 2024.

Through this key step, the partners have reaffirmed their ambition to ramp up the transition of passenger transportation to a zero-emission model, in line with the environmental objectives of the city of Paris and the Île-de-France Region, in particular regarding the reduction of air and noise pollution: “Zero-emission taxis and VTCs by 2024”. HysetCo also aims to promote the parallel emergence of other relevant hydrogen mobility solutions, as well as replicating this model in other regions.

The Vice President of Air Liquide’s Hydrogen Energy World Business Line, Pierre-Étienne Franc, said:

“With the acquisition of this key player in Parisian taxis, Hype/HysetCo is taking an important step in the transition to clean mobility using hydrogen. Since 2015, Air Liquide is proud to support this project, which is now entering a new phase of development in the Île-de-France region, and will help support the deployment of the project in new geographies.”

The CEO of Toyota France, Frank Marotte, said:

“This acquisition will demonstrate, on a large scale, that a new model for shared, zero-emission mobility is possible. This initiative will create the largest fleet of taxis in the world using energy as a hydrogen as an energy source. We are particularly proud to be involved, and thus to increase Toyota’s investment in France. France, which is already home to our production, commercial, and design activities, will now showcase Toyota’s know-how in terms of hydrogen mobility around the world. More generally, for Toyota, it is an important contribution to the path that will make us a zero-emission mobility society.”

Read the entrire press release here.