At the heart of the Salon de l'Agriculture, a fertile breeding ground for encounters and exchanges, lies the portrait of a dynamic sector: innovation.
FoodTech and AgriTech are on everyone's lips, and the startups present are teeming with innovative ideas.
In this latest episode of "Manger, c'est changer le monde", Arnaud Letailleur, Managing Director of Soliance Alimentaire, and an expert in innovation at the service of agricultural transformation, sheds light on innovation, start-ups, their financial challenges and Soliance Alimentaire's support for their deployment.
At Soliance Alimentaire, we define innovation as the ability of a solution, a team or a collective to transform an existing model, for example :
The aim is to create a form of agriculture that is both efficient and responsible.
So how do you judge whether a solution is innovative?
This measure is based on the ability of solutions to bring about a "disruption", i.e. a genuine transformation of the existing model . This criterion is the main consideration for investors and financiers.
Transforming our agricultural model is a necessity. In a constantly changing world, where environmental and societal challenges are increasingly pressing, innovation, driven by agricultural startups, is one of the answers.
Within start-ups, we need to distinguish between FoodTech companies, offering new food solutions, and AgriTech startups, developing industrial solutions for agriculture such as new fermentation processes or advanced agricultural equipment.
Agri-food innovation is one of the most strategic topics in the agri-agro sector. Discover or rediscover our article and podcast on this subject.
These startups need to be actively supported to contribute to the global transformation of our agricultural and food model, in the service of our farmers, our health and the quality of our plates . A few years ago, the startup market was relatively confidential, even though these companies need targeted investment to get off the ground. Since then, the financing and investment ecosystem has evolved considerably.
Financing issues are national in scope and in the public interest, as they affect food sovereignty, industrial relocation and agricultural resilience.
State players are therefore directly involved in the development of startups. We are seeing the implementation of several financing plans, including subsidies and repayable advances, as well as the structuring of investment tools led by Bpifrance. The Banque des Territoires also plays an important role in this public financial support.
At the same time, private investors focused on social and environmental impact are involved in financing these companies. These are known asimpact investors. Participatory financing platforms such as Lita and Tudigo are also involved in agricultural projects.
A whole financial ecosystem has been built up, offering a variety of investment and financing solutions. This ecosystem has enabled major fund-raising efforts, and should help agricultural transformation to succeed.
The ecosystem described above has already enabled the emergence of key, structuring initiatives relevant to the development of start-ups dedicated to agricultural innovation.
A first example is the "Première Usine" call for projects, which awarded funding in the form of subsidies and repayable advances to startups wishing to set up their first production unit. This program has already borne fruit, as demonstrated by the development of the company Futura Gaia which benefited from this support.
In terms of private investments, we can mention the following Intact which has raised over 50 million euros from impact investors who support regenerative agriculture.
These examples clearly demonstrate that we are evolving in a buoyant ecosystem, in which financial mechanisms play an essential catalytic role. We can be proud of the robustness and vitality of both the public and private structures that make up this ecosystem.
It's clear, then, that the farming and food business environment is in full swing.
Soliance Alimentaire contributes directly to the deployment of innovation and agricultural entrepreneurship through three offerings. These mobilize a team of experts dedicated to innovation in the service of transforming the agricultural and food model.
First of all, we help agricultural startups obtain financing. We help them respond to calls for projects in the agricultural sector, whether from Bpifrance, Banque des Territoires or ADEME, and we also help them raise funds. In particular, we help startups prepare their strategic arguments and draft the documents they need to submit their projects.
Our second aim is to support major groups as they think about the innovations they need to make to consolidate their market position, diversify their products and meet the global challenges of innovation . Often, these reflections lead to the emergence of new startups.
Finally, our third mode of intervention is to help investment funds, family offices or corporate ventures assess the merits of acquiring a stake. We carry out due diligence to ensure that the investment opportunities under consideration are promising. We encourage investment in agricultural and food innovation projects.
To find out more and support this transformation, discover our offers.
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