Molleau is a French company founded in 2022 by Émilie-Laye Birkui. We design the Molleaumètre, a self-powered shower flow meter that measures water use in real time and cuts it by around a quarter through colour-coded visual feedback, with no loss of comfort.
The shower accounts for close to 40% of a home's water use. It is a daily, universal act, and yet an invisible one: you never know how much you are using while you are in there.
Molleau starts from a simple conviction: you can only change what you can see. Rather than restricting the flow or making people feel guilty, we make consumption visible in real time, turning restraint into a positive act, whether in a single home or across an entire portfolio of residences, hotels or social housing.
“You can only change what you can see. Making water visible is already the beginning of saving it.”
Émilie-Laye Birkui founded Molleau with one idea: to make saving water a simple, positive experience rather than a constraint. From the first prototype to deployment in residences, she has carried the project through incubators (La Ruche, Willa, Matrice, in'li LAB), awards and pilot sites.
Émilie-Laye Birkui, Founder of Molleau. Winner, 101 Women Entrepreneurs 2025.
Molleau is, first of all, a play on words. In French, vas-y mollo means “take it easy, don't force it”. Put together with eau, the word for water, it becomes a simple invitation: go easy on the water. The product's promise sits inside its name.
But I did not find that name on my own. Four years ago, as I was starting the company, I posted on Facebook asking the people around me for help: I needed a name. A friend I have known for years through Les Restos du Cœur, a French food-aid charity, took the time to look for one. She was the one who suggested “Molleau”. It was immediately obvious.
And luck played its part: the name was free of any rights, so I was able to register it as a trade mark. Today it tells both what the company does and a story connected to a charity that matters to me.
Every figure we put forward is measured in the field, in real conditions. The Hénéo pilot is the demonstration: 23% less hot water per shower and 15.5% less on the main meter, across 3,140 showers.
Our approach rests on behavioural science: we reduce neither pressure nor flow, we make things visible. The change comes from the user, freely.
The Molleaumètre is self-powered by a micro-turbine: no battery, no maintenance. Restraint built into the object itself.
One shower is little. An entire portfolio of residences, hotels or social housing is a substantial impact on the water bill and the carbon footprint.
Since 2022 Molleau has been supported by an ecosystem of incubators, networks and partners: BGE, La Ruche (Les Audacieuses), Les Canaux, Willa, Matrice and in'li LAB (Action Logement), and is listed by the Solar Impulse Foundation. The project has been recognised by the KPMG Foundation Jury's Favourite award (2023), Paris Innovation Jury's Favourite (2024) and the 101 Women Entrepreneurs competition (2025).
The Molleaumètre is listed by the Solar Impulse Foundation within the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions, which recognises solutions that are both good for the environment and economically viable.
Thirty minutes to talk through your project and estimate the water savings potential across your portfolio.