SOFIPROTEOL, Avril's financing and development company, supports innovation in the agricultural and food sectors, namely through the French Oilseed Strategic Action Fund (FASO). And, the new partnership with La Ferme Digitale is totally in line with this.
Thanks to this new partnership with La Ferme Digitale, Sofiprotéol steps up its commitment to backing the development of the dynamic AgTech in France, which delivers innovation to French agricultural and food sectors. It wishes to encourage AgTech startups to meet their challenges and to support them in rolling out use cases that illustrate the relevance of their approach and/or their technology by taking advantage of the extensive scope of application the vegetable oil and protein sector offers.
La Ferme Digitale, with over a hundred startup members and an exclusive position at the very heart of the innovative agricultural ecosystem, provides serious incentives for boosting sectors and for ensuring regional sustainability.
To inaugurate this partnership with LA FERME DIGITALE, SOFIPROTEOL is launching a first call for projects for AgTech startups, intended in particular for accelerating the agro-ecological transition of oilseed and protein crops through innovation.
France's production of seeds that are rich in vegetable oils and proteins, such as rapeseed, sunflower, flax, soya, pea, field bean, lupine, lentil and chickpea, plays an indisputable role in nutritional and agro-environmental balance. However, a number of technical and business challenges related to this transition still exist today.
This is why, in addition to the structuring, organizational and innovation initiatives undertaken by the various sector players, Sofiprotéol wishes to encourage and support the innovative resources and the synergies of the ecosystem driven by La Ferme Digitale, around this focus.
This Call for Projects will provide dedicated financing by targeting use cases that address specific key challenges for the vegetable-oil- and -protein-rich plant sector, such as:
1) Protection from pests, in particular insects and birds
2) Alternatives to chemical weed control
3) Solutions for coping with climate change, in particular as regards access to water
Sofiprotéol's Call for Projects has an initial budget of 250,000 euro, and intends to help finance between 2 and 5 projects, i.e. 50,000 to 125,000 euro per project.
Projects should be submitted before March 01, 2024. Sofiprotéol will announce the names of the projects selected on March 15, 2024.
All information is available on:
Supporting innovation for players in the vegetable oils and proteins sectors - Sofiproteol
About La Ferme Digitale :
The 2016-created La Ferme Digitale is a French association that promotes innovation and digital technology for efficient, sustainable, and socially-responsible agriculture.
The association now totals some 123 members and boasts a network of over 2,500 contributors including schools, accelerators, investors, partners and, above all, startups which, through their solutions, have raised +3 billion euro in 7 years.
About Sofiprotéol :
Sofiprotéol, created in 1983 at the initiative of the agricultural community, is Avril's financing and development company.
As an innovator of responsible sectors, Sofiprotéol delivers sustainable support to companies in the agricultural and food sectors for their growth strategy, serving regions and attentive to society's concerns, in line with Avril's purpose: Serving the Earth.
The French Oilseed Strategic Action Fund (FASO), managed by Sofiprotéol on behalf of Terre Univia, the interprofessional organization, finances innovative research projects and collective infrastructure designed to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of production and to develop outlets for the oil and protein sector.
Find out more: www.sofiproteol.com
Press contacts
LA FERME DIGITALE: Romane Richez: romane@lafermedigitale.fr / +33 (0)6 45 76 61 15
SOFIPROTEOL: Béatrice Germain: beatrice.germain@avril.com / +33 (0)6 66 81 48 17