Nova: what promotion for 2026?
For its fourth call for applications, NaTran has selected three start-ups specialising in the energy transition: KAYYA, Quiet Bioenergy and Exanodia. Starting February 2026, each will benefit from a year of dedicated support at the Nova incubator, located within NaTran’s Research & Innovation centre in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, in the northern suburbs of Paris.
Nova: a scheme supporting the energy transition
NaTran continues to advance its industrial, technological and digital transformation, in line with its commitment to promoting the energy transition. To accelerate its development, the company launched a call for applications between July and October 2025 to recruit the fourth cohort of its Nova incubator. This initiative is designed to support innovative start-ups focused on the industrial, energy and ecological transition in the energy sector, while simultaneously fostering synergies with the gas industry.
A course focusing on anaerobic digestion and artificial intelligence
Three promising start-ups were picked from a large pool of applications:
- KAYYA specialises in methanation: the start-up has developed a technology that pre-treats feedstocks (organic matter) using micro- and macro-organisms, enhancing their methanogenic potential and thereby increasing biomethane output.
- Quiet Bioenergy is also innovating in the methanation field. It has created a technology designed to improve biomethane yields by employing a molecule that accelerates energy transfer within anaerobic digesters.
- Exanodia focuses on developing AI-based software for analysing non-destructive testing and inspection data of industrial infrastructure and facilities, including radiography, ultrasound and magnetic particle inspection.
Welcome to NaTran R&I and the work we do
All three start-ups will be hosted at the NaTran R&I centre from February 2026. Over the course of a year, they will be based at the centre’s workspaces and will have access to laboratories alongside ongoing support from NaTran’s research teams.
The selected start-ups will be able to conduct experiments using NaTran’s resources and foster synergies with other members of their cohort.
Additionally, the Nova incubator will provide bespoke technical, methodological and entrepreneurial support including market and economic studies, intellectual property expertise and introduction to investment funds. The incubator will also facilitate Proof of Concept (POC) testing of their technologies either on site at NaTran’s research facilities or at partner sites. POCs are crucial for enhancing start-ups’ visibility and accelerating industrial development.
The cohort 4 launch event took place on 11 February 2026 at NaTran R&I’s headquarters in Villeneuve-la-Garenne.
Research and innovation: the objectives of our corporate strategy
The start-ups’ scope of focus within the Nova incubator align with the priorities set out in the NaTran 2030 corporate project:
- Accelerating the growth of renewable gases (biomethane, pyrogasification, synthetic gas, etc.);
- Transporting hydrogen and CO2 with the highest safety and efficiency standards;
- Adapting the network to innovative uses, including digital solutions and flexibility.
“The energy transition presents numerous challenges. The Nova incubator enables us to encourage innovation to meet these challenges, in line with our NaTran2030 corporate project. We are thrilled to support KAYYA, Quiet Bioenergy and Exanodia over the coming year. Each can count on the dedication, active support and expertise of our teams to help them scale up,”Pierre Blouet
Director of NaTran R&I
Reactions from the three nominated start-ups
“The Nova incubator gives us access to NaTran R&I’s renowned industry expertise in methanation processes. It will also provide the resources needed to validate the technical and financial aspects of our business model ahead of our first round of seed funding,” explained Ilan Palacci, co-founder of Quiet Bioenergy.
Houcine Mansour, CEO of Exanodia said: “NaTran currently offers us exclusive access to its network of internal experts, testing facilities and proprietary data, enabling us to develop robust and efficient models based on authentic industrial data. It also opens its industrial and corporate ecosystems to us, which is a major boon for future seed funding opportunities.”
“At NaTran R&I’s laboratories, which we were recently given a tour of, we benefit from the expertise and state-of-the-art testing facilities in the fields of biogas quality and its compatibility with transport and distribution infrastructure.
This collaborative research will allow us to demonstrate the viability of our solution,” adds Vinciane Dubost, co-founder of KAYYA.
