There are no small savings. This is especially true in 2022, with soaring energy prices and uncertainties surrounding the sector. Energy self-sufficiency has therefore become a luxury to which a whole continent will aspire once winter arrives. And hot water remains the primary consumption point for households.
However, to date, the integration of renewable energy solutions into conventional buildings has been a real headache and generally expensive, even with subsidies.
How can we combat fuel poverty and offer an economical and profitable alternative that is compatible with renovation? The solution can be summed up in five letters and comes from an architect who founded WANIT, a start-up specialising in photovoltaic self-sufficiency.
Launching with hub.brussels
Sometimes you have to take the long way round to get started. It was a trip on a fully energy self-sufficient sailing boat that gave Christian Bayet the idea for WANIT. Along the way, he was joined by his partner Nicolas Grosjean; he contacted electronics engineer Pierre Secret to give it shape and several private and public institutions, including hub.brussels, to bring it to life. Two years and a few dozen developments later, the patented innovation was born.
On the financial side, hub.brussels:
- provided Christian with legal and financial advice
- told him about the different grants and aids available for WANIT
- told him about the existing support at European level for innovative projects via the Horizon Europe programme (NCP Brussels)
- supported WANIT in its visibility phase and the preparation for its fundraising, with coaching for its investor pitch and exclusive participation in the Euroquity online pitching event
- encouraged him to participate in the Fundtruck, a pitching competition organised in partnership with BPI France & EuroQuity on board… a food truck! Winner of the Brussels stage and then the national stage, WANIT got back on board on 17 November 2022 in Paris, alongside five French start-ups, for the competition’s grand finale.
Christian Bayet
Founder of WANITThe hub.brussels consultants helped us with a combination of professionalism, support and expertise in many different skills, and with great kindness. And it was all done directly and without fuss. In short, exactly how we do it in Brussels!
WANIT earns its place in the sun
WANIT seems to have the answer to everything, as it is compatible with conventional photovoltaic installations, easy to install, affordable and accessible to everyone. And it certainly has an answer to the current need to reduce electricity, gas and fuel oil bills to avoid cold showers, literally and figuratively.
The marketing phase is now underway and nothing seems able to stop the start-up, whose objective is to achieve more than 5,000 sales per year within five years. This growth should have a beneficial effect on employment, as today WANIT has just 3.5 full-time equivalents but it could employ between 10 and 15 Brussels residents within five years.
And the future for WANIT is bright, as after Flanders, the start-up is already planning to target northern France from 2023, followed by the rest of the European market. Looking into the bright future, the hub.brussels teams are closely following the growth of this Brussels nugget, which has definitely (re?)invented hot water.
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