“lt’s a true revolution for systems seeking very high performing options and very long lifetimes”

JEC Composites Magazine: Can you tell us, in a few words, about the Hycco adventure (date founded, teams, fundraising campaigns)?  
Romain Di Costanzo: In 2019, Hycco was founded by three people: Alain Fontaine (CTO), Ludovic Barbès (CFO) and myself, Romain Di Costanzo (CEO).  In 2017, after around ten years working in the space and oceanography industries, I decided to direct my efforts towards the green transition. Before the promise and potential of hydrogen technologies, I came up with a solution that    would increase the power densities of current systems and at the same time, extend their lifetime.  Alain Fontaine, PhD in fluid mechanics and heat transfer, came on board quickly after to contribute his skills to the R&D part of the project. Finally, Ludovic Barbès joined us in 2019 to handle the production and company management aspects. He holds an MBA and has ten years of experience in onboard systems; he spent five years guiding the change management at a paper mill.

The startup was first incubated in 2018 by IMT Mines (engineering school) in Albi, under the supervision of Olivier De Almeida, research professor at the Clément Ader Institute (ICA) . The MIMAUSA platform was instrumental in enabling us overcome the first technological hurdles; it also helped us on the initial proofs of concept. Following very promising results, we founded the company in 2019.  We were successful on several first calls for proposals, in particular thanks to BPI’s DeepTech programmes. In 2021, we were recognised by ADEME’s iNov programme. Coupled with our first fundraising campaign, we were able to secure €1.8 million. The funds served to create a team of 15 people, roll out our first prototype production line in Toulouse, and sign our first contracts.  

JEC Composites Magazine: How did the idea for your technology or product come about? What role do composite materials play in it?  
Romain Di Costanzo: The idea stemmed from a pretty simple observation: if fuel cells want to compete with internal combustion engines, facilitate decarbonisation of heavy mobility, then the lifetime of these systems and their power density had to change. Bipolar plates are a key component of fuel cells, represent 75% of their weight and 30% of their cost.  Current technologies (metal, graphite or composite) all have restrictions, and are the reason behind slow take-up on heavy mobility markets. The use of continuous long carbon fibres (rather than shredded fibres, as is the case in conventional compounds), as both a medium for electronic transfer and mechanical reinforcement, appeared to be an obvious solution. Long fibres ensure continuity of the electronics, and safeguard the electrical properties of our materials. A certain number of thermoplastic matrices were qualified in order to meet the chemical requirements of target systems (proton-exchange membranes, or PEM; high and low temperatures; redox flow batteries; direct-methanol fuel cells, etc.).  

JEC Composites Magazine: Explain why your innovation can be considered a game changer for hydrogen batteries.
Romain Di Costanzo: Our materials increase fuel cell lifetime dramatically (> 30,000 hours, more than 3x metal), can amp up their power density (up to 7 kW/ kg, or an 85% gain on metal), while providing a drastic reduction in weight (46% less than a metal-based fuel cell). It’s a true revolution in the world of materials, for systems seeking very high performing options and very long lifetimes (as is the case in the aeronautics, rail and maritime industry).  With these products, we can approach any type of market, but remain focused on heavy mobility applications, because that’s where hydrogen makes the most sense.

Have you been, or are you, in contact with potential customers who are interested in your product and technology?
Romain Di Costanzo: Two collaborative projects were key to helping us secure our first  clients. The first involved drone fuel cell development for Delair. In the second, we developed an emergency generator for PowerUp, an Estonian company. The rest of our customers are very international, ranging from Korea to Canada, with a handful of players based here in Europe. Among our other, unofficial projects, we have some underway with Tier 1 space, aeronautics, maritime and road transport companies.  

JEC Composites Magazine: You’ve made strong commitments to the environment. Can you tell us more about that?  
Romain Di Costanzo: Certainly! It’s the very nature of this project! It’s about being able to participate, at our scale, in reducing greenhouse gases and creating a healthy and virtuous work environment. We are very attentive to the well-being of our employees, and all of our actions are guided by ethical and environmental choices. We incorporated eco-design from the very start of the project. We are working on an incremental approach that makes it possible to minimise the impact of our products through life cycle assessments (LCA). For example, the pilot production line  that we plan to deploy as of 2024 will have a capacity of 165,000 bipolar plates annually. This will prevent 11,508,949 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere as of 2028.  

JEC Composites Magazine: What are the next steps in your journey?  
Romain Di Costanzo: We are in the process of organising our second fundraising campaign. The total amount we’re aiming for is around €8 million, including €4 million in equity. The goal of this campaign is to roll out a pilot production line, maintain our technological lead, and accelerate acceptation and commercialisation of our solution to customers. We recently learned that we have been awarded the BPI First Factory prize. We are thrilled to join the group of companies selected for the “France 2030” investment plan. A part of the funds we need has therefore been secured, and we project that this campaign will end in December 2023, so that we can begin deploying the pilot production line in 2024. Stay tuned! 

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