13 mai 2024
Food, wastewater, consumption: the innovative solutions of the 3 winning companies of the last Tiina!
The Tiina seed fund, created as part of our impact investment policy, has selected 3 new companies to meet the challenges of the transition of our food and agriculture. They benefit from a reduced loan of up to 50,000 euros and support from our partners, MiiMosa and makesense. Discover this new generation of entrepreneurs who are thinking about the world of tomorrow today!
«
Tiina is part of the impact investment policy of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, which complements its sponsorship mission. Our ambition is to create an ecosystem of innovative companies capable of moving the lines.
»Benoît Mounier, Managing Director France of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation
ZALG, the strengths of algae in all its forms
Why are seaweeds, which concentrate so many virtues, absent from the French culinary heritage? It is this observation that led Tanguy Gestin and Vincent Lacaze to create ZALG in Vannes in 2021, whose mission is to support the food transition towards a sustainable and gourmet model! Prepared in the form of cubes or plates from seaweed grown off the coast of Brittany, these seafood vegetables can be cooked in a few minutes while maintaining their original shape. In collaboration with a team of chefs and marine biologists, ZALG has developed a unique know-how to give seaweed the place it deserves on our plates. By adding value to this underexploited resource without the use of chemical inputs, irrigation or farmland, this young company is committed to the fight against climate change while offering nutrient-dense food options that are accessible and adapted to the preferences of modern consumers.
The Tiina financing is intended to support the industrialization of these new products and their pre-marketing. In March 2024, ZALG won the Snacking d’Or at the Sandwich & Snack Show, in the Seafood category, with the first organic and ready-to-use French Wakame Salad.
Zeni: a solution for water, inspired by the oceans
ZENI offers a solution inspired by nature, microalgae, for sustainable and circular water management in industries. The company relies on the ability of microalgae to purify water (treat nitrates, phosphates and other pollutants) and supports manufacturers in their environmental transition. “Our biomimetic solution offers a double ecological and economic benefit, thanks to the production of reusable treated water and recoverable biomass,” explains Jean-Michel Pommet, founder of ZENI, which specialises in industrial microbiology. ZENI thus makes it possible to preserve natural resources and produce algal biomass with high environmental added value for agriculture (bio-based fertilizers with impacts on plant growth and restoration of soil life) and animal feed. An innovation that won over the Tiina jury: ” The company, led by an expert and comprehensive team, wants to meet the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.” The funding obtained will make it possible to accelerate the construction of a 1 m3 mobile water treatment module, which will run at the homes of manufacturers to test their effluents live with nitrate-eating microalgae!
Let’s get organized and take charge of our food with Graoucoop, cooperative supermarket
From 2015 to 2020, Julien participated in the creation of La Cagette, a cooperative supermarket in Montpellier, and co-developed the project with a handful of idealists in a garage to a cooperative bringing together more than 4,000 people. In March 2020, he moved to the outskirts of Metz and sent a letter of appeal to about twenty associations and collectives for the creation of a cooperative supermarket. He meets Nathalie, Valérie, Xavier, Anne, Hector, Jordan, Alex and many others. This was the beginning of the Graoucoop adventure, a non-profit participatory and cooperative distribution structure, where the members are the only co-owners, decision-makers and customers. Everyone participates in the management of the store, according to their abilities, 3 consecutive hours every 4 weeks. With a significantly lower margin rate than elsewhere in distribution, producers are better paid and products cheaper for customers.
The members of Graoucoop want to make quality food more accessible, and encourage everyone to reappropriate the act of purchasing in a process of popular education and collective skills development. A goal was achieved on March 9, 2024 with the opening of a cooperative supermarket in Metz Sablon.
Tiina’s first successful spin-offs
To date, Tiina supports 16 companies involved in the agricultural and food transition. The first results are encouraging: for the 5 projects that entered the program in 2022, there was a growth in monthly turnover of 84%, and 27 FTEs created (Full-Time Equivalent) or +79%. The leverage effect is estimated at 29: €1 invested by Tiina has contributed to €29 of funds in fundraising. More information in the dedicated article.
Featured photo: Zeni
