How to design, manage and develop a farm according to the principles of regenerative agriculture?
"The ambition of this innovative campus resonates with the Carrefour Foundation's desire to support the food solidarity transition on a large scale."
For more than 10 years, the Danone Ecosystem Fund has been developing inclusive and sustainable agricultural models, accessible to all through projects that promote job creation, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and skills development. In order to amplify HECTAR's impact on future generations of farmers, we wanted to join the project by providing both our expertise in creating agricultural projects with social impact and our financial support.
On February 16th, Hectar accelerator kickoff took place during a day of pitching, workshops and networking at the Hectar Campus... A look back at this inauguration in numbers and images!
Flowers are a powerful ally not only for biodiversity, but also for farmers, who can use them to diversify and make their business model more solid. In 2022, Marie-Laure Wavelet took part in the Tremplin program to build her flower farm project in Marseille. A project she has successfully completed, since she now grows and distributes her flowers locally.
AI is being integrated into many aspects of our daily lives, but in agriculture, what is its concrete application? To demonstrate the usefulness of AI in agriculture, we interviewed Martin Ullmann, founder and CEO of Ullmanna, a startup accelerated in season 4 ofaccelerator Hectar. Ullmanna is an AI-based solution for weeding fields without using pesticides or damaging crops.
Kikleo, a tool for reducing food waste in collective restaurants, has just completed its first round of funding following its acceleration at Hectar to speed up their commercial development and enable new restaurants to save money and reduce their impact. We spoke to Vincent Garcia, co-founder of Kikleo, to find out more about the issues surrounding food waste.
Both engineers in the Oise region, Maddly and Julien decided to change their lives: they headed for the Dordogne to take over the family farm and set up a local dairy sheep and pig farm. Following the Hectar Tremplin program, they agreed to give us their impressions and share with us the details of their project and its evolution.
After a career in agri-food marketing, Caroline set up on a farm to create her own brand of artisanal pasta, Papote. As a participant in season 2 of Hectar's Farm'Her program, dedicated to female leadership, Caroline told us about her beginnings as an agricultural entrepreneur, the creation of her brand and of a product with impact.
Violette Bouyssou, a student at AgroParisTech, used the IDEA4 method to diagnose the Hectar pilot farm. The aim? To assess the sustainability of the arable and livestock farming operations, while simulating the economic, environmental and social impact of a floriculture operation. To find out more about this method, we asked Violette about her mission and the lessons she learned from it.
Jean-Baptiste, founder of Ispiri, wants to bring consumers to the farm. By creating boutiques selling artisanal products on farms, he aims to showcase the work of farmers. To consolidate his project, he drew on the Tremplin program at Hectar, and was able to challenge his business plan and find solutions to adapt to farmers' needs.
Last week, Class 7 of the Springboard program began at Hectar.
More than a year ago, Eliot left his daily life as a cook to completely reorient himself. In the Sauternes region, he found his vocation through a training on the vine and became an agricultural employee in a wine château. From why he decided to change his life to the specificities of his new job, discover his testimony.
In France, 20,000 tons of dried plants are imported per year, even though some of them could be grown in France. But passionate agricultural entrepreneurs like Kim are starting to produce local medicinal plants and are taking action to reclaim the know-how of herbalists and the knowledge of plants.
With her sister and brother, this marketing professional is thinking of taking over the family wine estate in Fronsac. The passage through Hectar Tremplin gave them the key to an economically fair and socially viable project
Théo and Hilaire have joined forces to set up an agricultural project. Yes, but which one? Starting with a piece of land, they questioned themselves, thought, explored, discussed, studied... That's the life of an agricultural entrepreneur! But in the end, what will they do on their farm? We let you discover it in video!
France 3 Paris Ile-de-France came to Hectar! If you missed their report, find it here.
Hectar, the school financed by Xavier Niel, wants to make agriculture more profitable, more attractive, "sexier" through technology. Others in France are already trying.
Christophe Naudin has been appointed to head the 250-hectare mixed farming and dairy cattle farm of the Hectar agricultural campus, created by Xavier Niel and Audrey Bourolleau. He talks to Réussir.fr about his motivations and objectives.
"If I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate! Six years after leaving his job as a manager at Bureau Veritas to start raising organic chickens north-east of Rouen, Gaëtan Royer has no regrets...
"We are careful to ensure that the projects meet three criteria: the students will be strongly aware of the social, economic and environmental issues. On this last point, even if we let the candidates choose their mode of production, we make them aware in particular of soil regeneration agriculture."
The co-founder of BlaBlaCar at the head of Hectar, Xavier Niel's agricultural school.
Brut. went to meet HECTAR "When you want to feed yourself in quality and quantity, you have to pay attention to the soil.
"HECTAR does not provide any technical education but accompanies entrepreneurs! (...) HECTAR is complementary. "Audrey BOUROLLEAU
Xavier Niel's Ecole 42 is to set up an innovative training module, Agritech IA, on the Hectar campus in Lévis-Saint-Nom. The aim is to teach young people how to use artificial intelligence to support the agricultural transition.
From Bill Gates to Xavier Niel, why billionaires are putting their feet up.
Presented last February, Xavier Niel's new large-scale project is taking up residence in the fields of the Vallée de Chevreuse.
At the age of forty, she has decided to change her life. Audrey Bourolleau, a former adviser to President Emmanuel Macron, is putting on her farming boots to create, with billionaire Xavier Niel, a vast campus near Paris designed to train the "agricultural entrepreneurs of tomorrow".
Regenerative agriculture includes all practices that improve the capture and storage of carbon in the soil in the form of organic matter, restore soil biodiversity and improve the water cycle.
Did you know that dynamic rotational grazing was invented by a French agronomist in the 1960s?
The reference manual of the American pioneer of regenerative agriculture
This book on regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry by an American specialist details holistic management applied to a cattle farm.
Hectar and Compass have created a low-carbon pilot self-catering facility on the Hectar campus. From starter to dessert, a menu that limits greenhouse gas emissions. With 1 million meals served every day in France, Compass is a key player in the transition to a low-carbon diet. We spoke to Sabine Maillot, Director of Sustainable Development, CSR and Communications at Compass Group, to find out more about this initiative and their commitments.
Launched in 2015, MiiMOSA is the 1st participatory financing platform exclusively dedicated to agriculture and food. Beyond offering an alternative to traditional finance, MiiMOSA is a place for exchange, sharing and solidarity between a community of contributors and project holders in these sectors. Interview with Florian Breton, founder and enthusiastic CEO for whom "small streams make big rivers".
"To help French organic champions emerge".
"Sycomore's teams can see themselves in HECTAR's ambition".
"We are very happy to be associated with HECTAR!"
A meeting with an enthusiast, who reminds us that although the term "agroforestry" was coined in the 1970s, it covers a range of practices on all five continents that emerged in the early days of agriculture.
HECTAR has entered into a partnership with ITK, a high-tech company that explores and offers agricultural monitoring solutions to facilitate livestock monitoring and decision making.
How are agricultural skills changing? The agricultural sector is undergoing far-reaching economic, social and environmental change. The challenge is all the greater at a time when generational renewal remains insufficient: how can we make the sector more attractive through the skills required and the employer brand? To discuss these issues, we spoke to Jean-Claude Jouanillou, recruiter at Taste. You can read his interview via the link in the comments section.
Legumes are nitrogen-fixing plants, helping to restore soil health and benefiting our health. However, leguminous crops are grown on less than 1% of arable land, and France imports 50% of its animal feed needs! With this in mind, Romuald decided to take action!
This week, a jury met at Station F to select the startups for season 7 ofaccelerator Hectar. Exciting exchanges between the startups and the juries, made up of farmers, investors andaccelerator partner companies. As a member of the jury for season 6, we met Dominic Roth, VC at Foodlabs, who shared with us his experience as a member of the jury and, above all, his vision of the Franco-German agritech market.
Jérôme Calleau, Chairman of CAVAC and InVivo, has been committed to increasing the number of women on his board of directors for 20 years, and has taken advantage of his various mandates to implement measures to give women greater access to positions of responsibility in the agricultural sector. It's a long-term project, which he pursues with perseverance and conviction, at a time when women are still under-represented on boards of directors and in cooperatives. To find out more about the levers he has activated in his gender diversity policy, we met up with him.
At a time when environmental challenges are inviting us to rethink our socio-economic models, we took stock of current transitions with Santiago Lefebvre, founder of ChangeNOW, the world's largest event for solutions for the planet.
HECTAR has agreed to host a 27-hectare biodiversity restoration project run by Biotope on its pilot farm. To find out more about the ecological compensation process, we spoke to Benjamin Colin, project manager and ecologist. Click on the link in the comments to read his interview.
Worldwide, 60% of soil is degraded. Yet soil is vital to our survival, and its degradation raises the question of our food security, and our ability to produce sustainably. But what is a healthy soil? To find out, we spoke to Adrienne de Malleray, co-founder of Genesis.
Marie-Cécile Damave, Head of Innovations and International Affairs at Agridées, worked on the subject of environmental and economic sustainability on farms. How can the two be reconciled? How can farmers, when setting up or making a transition in their practices, be supported and share the financial burden?
Benoit Desloges has been working with farmers for 15 years. Drawing on this experience, he is an expert mentor at Hectar and regularly takes part in juries for the Tremplin entrepreneurial program. We caught up with him to share his vision of the agricultural sector, and what has changed for farmers starting out today, compared to the start-ups of yesterday.
An independent consultant, Éva Garre set up her company Eva en Élevage to help farmers with bovine nutrition issues... but also with other strategic issues to improve their well-being at work. A daily witness to changes in the agricultural sector, she told us about the changing needs for support in the livestock sector.
Farmers have not stopped adapting throughout history. While profound changes are taking shape with new and diverse forms of organization of work and capital, new skills are also required. Let's hope that farmers will once again rise to these challenges! François Purseigle, Professor of Sociology and co-author of "Une agriculture sans agriculteurs" (An agriculture without farmers), sheds light on this issue.
This week, the selections of the accelerator Hectar are taking place! On this occasion we met Michael Bruniaux, jury member of the class #3 and co-founder of Sencrop, who tells us about his selection experience and explains how startups can impact the future of agriculture.
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