The agritech, which develops solutions against insect pests, raises €5 million from Capagro, Cap Horn, BNP Paribas Développement, SWEN Capital Partners and Breizh Up.
Founded in 2019 by Ené Leppik, Camille Delpoux and Alain Thibault, Agriodor develops fragrances based on odorant molecules naturally produced by plants, using kairomones (attractants) and allomones (repellents) that modify the behavior of insect pests.
It is developing a biocontrol technology to keep green aphids away from sugar beet. Its solution is not limited to the treatment of green aphids, but has a broader scope and can be applied to all crops and all species of insect pests.
Every year, insect pests cause 40% of the world's crop production losses. What's more, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has banned the use of neonicotinoids, chemical insecticides that prevent the presence of aphid pests on beet crops.
The startup's objective? To secure harvests while promoting a genuine ecological transition in agriculture, in order to preserve health, the environment and biodiversity.
Backed by the French Beet Technical Institute and Bpifrance, the company currently employs 15 people of 5 different nationalities. The startup was awarded the AgriO label in 2020 and listed among the nuggets of agritech startups, then accredited Protein Connect in 2021.
This round of financing will enable Agriodor to finalize its natural solution and roll it out across Europe. It also plans to develop an alternative to the insecticide phosmet, which is banned for rapeseed farming.
