SFR, Bull and a French economic-development agency have launched a joint cloud-computing company Numergy, which will offer services to companies across Europe at a “highly competitive” cost.

The three organizations – IT hardware maker and services provider Bull, telecommunications company SFR and the state-owned public investment agency Caisse des Dépôts – are all shareholders in the new company.

A leader has already been chosen for the new company. Philippe Tavernier, former CEO of Sogeti France (a Capgemini subsidiary), will be Numergy’s executive chairman and CEO.

Numergy is a major part of the French government’s Investments for the Future program. Caisse des Dépôts is managing the €6.8bn in funds to implement nine actions that comprise it.

Part of the program is an initiative to develop a digital economy.

Numergy’s cloud-computing infrastructure is dedicated to the European market. It is currently offering raw cloud-based computing resources (compute, storage and network) on demand.

In the future, the company plans to roll out a set of services aimed specifically at start-ups.

Numergy’s cloud services are available through a network of distribution partners, including software services companies, software publishers and telcos.