Tiina: Transformation and impact through investment in agriculture and food

Tiina is our new impact investment program that contributes to the emergence of innovative solutions for the agricultural and food transition. Carried out in partnership with MiiMOSA and MakeSense, this seed program is intended to support and finance between 20 and 30 project leaders to the tune of 1 million euros over 3 years. It responds to all the challenges of the transition and aims at impacts on climate, health and nutrition, biodiversity and regeneration, access to healthy products and fair value chains. We are offering you a webinar on Thursday, February 9 to meet and exchange with the actors involved in this new program.

Acting for the transformation of food and agricultural systems

Fully involved in the fight against global warming, we are acting beyond the support granted as part of our Sustainable Food sponsorship axis, through our investment policy. Since 2015, we have chosen to align our portfolio with our convictions and our vision of a more ecological, inclusive and fulfilling society. Convinced of the relevance of impact investing in identifying models that provide solutions for a sustainable and inclusive world, the Foundation has invested €46 million, or 9% of its assets, to promote the emergence of a generation of entrepreneurs actively contributing to the transition. Through investment in these funds, which support growing, often innovative companies that are always breaking away, the Foundation is betting on the change of scale of these players and their ability to move the lines.

Developing impact investments

After the creation of the FDNC-SFS Fund, in partnership with Quadia, dedicated to entrepreneurs in the agricultural and food transition in the development phase, we are continuing our commitments to impact investing by supporting entrepreneurs from the seed phase of their solution. This new program, called Tiina for “Transformation and Impact through Investment in Agriculture and Food”, was co-built with our partners Miimosa and makesense. ” We want to promote and support the emergence of a generation of entrepreneurs whose ambition is to succeed in the agricultural and food transition. Tiina and the Foundation provide seed funding, which is non-dilutive ,” explains Marie-Stéphane Maradeix, General Delegate of the Foundation.

A seed fund for daring entrepreneurs!

By applying for the Tiina programme, project leaders can benefit from an ecosystem designed by key players in the agricultural and food sector:

• A low-interest loan of up to €50,000 by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation and access to its network of partners.
• A “leverage effect” by launching a crowdfunding campaign with rewards thanks to the Miimosa platform.
• Entrepreneurial support by makesense and specific training on the challenges of transition by the specialists of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation.

To apply for the program, the process is simple via this registration form

Eligible projects will be presented quarterly to a jury. 10 winning projects will be selected each year. As soon as the application is examined, projects have the possibility to launch a donation collection with a counterpart on MiiMOSA to test the interest of the market.

Meet the actors of Tiina on February 9

In order to present Tiina on the occasion of its launch in France, a dedicated webinar will be organized on February 9 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. It is entitled “Agricultural and food tourism: Let’s fertilize impact entrepreneurs through seed investment ” and brings together the 3 partners of the program but also the Anyama Foundation and the two winners (Simple comme bonjour, Neptune). This webinar offers a discussion around the challenges of project start-up, impact investing as a complementary tool to sponsorship, the importance of support and the expected impacts on the climate, health and biodiversity. It is open upon registration via this link.

Winners who are leading the way in transformation

Launched at the end of 2022, the Tiina program has already identified 5 projects:

• YEASTY, around the revalorization of brewer’s yeasts;
• BICYCOMPOST, on the collection of bio-waste in Bordeaux;
• Assolia, which offers a tool for agricultural strategies;
• Neptune Elements, around the use of French algae for food;
• Simple Comme Bonjour, which offers access to organic yoghurts in short circuits.

BICYCOMPOST: compost by bicycle

BICYCOMPOST collects bio-waste in Bordeaux to recycle it into 100% natural local compost. Every year, 86,000 tonnes of food waste are trucked across the city to the incinerator. This method of treatment has serious consequences for our environment and our living environment. By creating BICYCOMPOST, the two entrepreneurs, Terence and Pacôme, wanted to change the rules of the game. They collect by bike, without CO2 emissions, the bio-waste produced by professionals (restaurants, grocery stores, cafés, etc.). This waste is then transformed into quality compost by their partner Pena, in Saint Jean d’Illac. Finally, this 100% Bordeaux compost is distributed free of charge to market gardeners in the region to promote local agriculture. Since the launch of its activity in 2021, BICYCOMPOST has given a second life to 202 tons of waste, which represents 55 tons of CO2 saved and 9 jobs created. To date, the start-up has 130 customers.

YEASTY: revalorizing brewers’ yeasts

Nikola, Mathieu and Juan are the founders of Yeasty, a young startup developing a protein superfood based on reclaimed brewer’s yeast. In 2020, the team realized that several hundred thousand tons of yeast from breweries were wasted every year, generating high economic and environmental costs. They therefore decided to work on the revalorization of brewer’s yeast, by developing a unique process: debittering. This process removes the bitterness naturally present in certain products, and will finally enable the full potential of brewer’s yeast to be exploited for human consumption. Their ambition is to democratize their consumption and turn them into superfoods that can be incorporated into numerous recipes, such as alternatives to meat or sports nutrition products, but also into products to combat various forms of undernutrition.

An impact investment programme also carried out in Spain

Also established in Spain, the Foundation has developed the Tiina program with Ship2B around food and art (Transformación e Impacto a través de la INversión en Arte et alimentación). With an endowment of €600,000, the first edition of Tiina in Spain offers the 16 selected projects financial support for 3 years, strategic alliances and a network of mentors, as well as measurement and management tools to strengthen their impact.