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La French Tech Launches The Agri20 Label To Find Its Future Agricultural And Food Champions
The French Tech Agri20 aims to fill the visibility gap suffered by agricultural nuggets in French Tech in the face of ubiquitous media players such as Doctolib, Lydia or BlaBlaCar.
The Next 40 and the French Tech 120 continue to be emulated. After giving birth last year to the French Tech Green20, a variation to bring out about twenty small companies that innovate in terms of the environment, the two flagship indices of the French ecosystem have inspired a new label on the sidelines of the International Agriculture, which is taking place this week in Paris.
Visiting the show at Porte de Versailles, Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Food, unveiled the French Tech Agri20, a new program that aims to support 20 promising start-ups that offer breakthrough innovations. to meet the main food and agricultural challenges of the coming decades. For the time being, the nuggets of the sector suffer from a lack of visibility in French Tech in the face of omnipresent players in the media such as Doctolib, Lydia or BlaBlaCar. Ÿnsect, Innovafeed and Agriconomie are among the few innovative start-ups in the agricultural and food sectors present in the Next 40 and the French Tech 120.
Respond to the issues highlighted in the France 2030 plan
To remedy this situation, the French Tech mission is therefore seeking to bring out some twenty potential champions who could reinvent the agriculture and food of tomorrow. In this sense, the call for applications is open until April 21, before a jury selects the selected projects. Regarding the selection criteria, they are almost similar to those of the Next 40 and the French Tech 120 (head office in France, innovative and independent company, etc.). However, the investment criterion has been made much more accessible, since candidate start-ups must have raised funds of at least €500,000 over the past three years.
The launch of the French Tech Agri20 program is a continuation of the France 2030 plan, which provides for 2.3 billion dollars dedicated to agriculture. “These innovations should, in particular, offer solutions to the challenges identified within the framework of France 2030, namely sustainable and healthy food, sustainable agricultural systems and equipment for ecological transition, the farms of the future, entrepreneurs in the living, timber, and the bioeconomy for non-food uses in agriculture”, specifies the French Tech Mission. And to add: “All economic models will be taken into account: digital, industrial or living, in order to integrate all the profiles of AgriTech start-ups.”
“Innovation and digital play an essential role for the third agricultural revolution”
In addition to the French Tech Agri20, the French AgriTech was created last summer to accelerate the development of agricultural innovation in France. This new structure, which benefits from an envelope of 200 million euros over five years to direct them towards start-ups, SMEs and ETIs in the agricultural and food sectors, now has a roadmap based on seven priorities : “Strengthen the place of digital and its training in agricultural education and advice, mobilize agricultural R&D on the use of digital for the agroecological transition, secure and develop data management, support AgriTech companies in their processes of innovation and industrialization, help AgriTech manufacturers remove regulatory obstacles, create digital value in the food chain, and support French AgriTech so that it can build the tools farmers need”.
“From research and development centers to our plates, including farmyards, innovation and digital play an essential role for the third agricultural revolution. They are powerful levers allowing us to develop an agriculture more sustainable, more resilient to the effects of climate change, and more competitive, while pursuing its nurturing mission”indicates Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Food. “By combining the innovation of French Tech with the power of our agricultural sector, France is able to position itself at the forefront of the agriculture and food of tomorrow. The launch of the new support program French Tech Agri20 led by the French Tech Mission will be essential to accelerate the digital transition and the competitiveness of the French agricultural sector”believes for his part Cédric O, Secretary of State for the Digital Transition and Electronic Communications.
SOURCE: Gettotext