Remember this name, because you’re likely to be hearing it a lot over the next few years: Borne For You is the new start-up created by Kenny Salem and Hocine Belabed, which has set itself the challenge of shaking up the electric charging station market. We caught up with Kenny, who has raised funds to strengthen his position in the hotel sector.
At the age of sixteen, Kenny Salem, from Bezons in the Paris region, was hired by a fiber optics company after dropping out of school. The young man quickly became the number-one influencer in the fiber sector thanks to his start-up Les Fibreux, specialized in digital infrastructures. By building up the largest network of installers in France, the company’s sales exceeded two million euros. An unexpected success for this entrepreneur, who admits: “I had neither the codes nor the networks to raise funds. No one ever taught me how to pitch. But that’s not so bad. The most important thing for a young company is to be able to turn one cent of investment into one euro of sales“.
From the outset, Kenny Salem’s journey has been documented on social networks, providing him with a solid community. This community will be there to follow him in his new adventure: Borne For You, to be launched in 2022. In response to the decline of the fiber optics market in France, its players need to find a new sector in which to redeploy. And Kenny Salem is offering them electric charging stations.
“There will be 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road in 2023, and 8 million in 2030” explains Kenny Salem in an interview with Entreprendre magazine. Yet there are only 100,000 home charging stations, even though they are up to 6 times cheaper than public ones. And his followers believe in the project, having raised over a million euros on social networks to finance it.
A special business model
What makes Borne For You special? It’s the leading French operator offering comprehensive charging solutions for both private and business customers. According to its partner, advertising executive Yann Dacquay, “Our aim is to offer our customers a turnkey solution. Our aim is not only to offer our BtoB customers the most appropriate charging station for their needs, but also to maintain this equipment in good condition, install it in the best possible conditions, ensure the best possible value for money, and beyond that, to support them through our design office on all their issues: land development, traffic creation, customer service, monetization, personalization and trade marketing. They retain their sovereignty, but behind the scenes they no longer have to wonder whether everything went well“.
Borne For You’s business model also sets it apart from its competitors, whose model generally consists of canvassing public places and promising them free installation of a kiosk, in exchange for which the company collects all revenues generated by the device. With Borne For You, it’s up to the company or individual to finance the installation of the kiosk. But they keep the profits generated, which can amount to as much as fifty thousand euros per bollard per year. “Today, a public charging point will charge around sixty centimes per kilowatt-hour. The kilowatt-hour is worth thirteen centimes at off-peak times, and around seventeen centimes at peak times. We’re here to benefit the customer,” continues Yann Dacquay.
A specialty in the hotel industry
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Front picture : © Borne For You
