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22 October 2024
Two Vitagora members win grants at the 2024 France 2030 Innovation Competition
For the 2024 edition of the Innovation Competition, two Vitagora members stood out: Fungu’it in the i-Lab category (26th edition) and Azuvia in the i-Nov category (Wave 11).
Since 1999, the French government has demonstrated its commitment to and support for research and innovation through the Innovation Competitions, which are funded by the government via France 2030 and operated by Bpifrance in collaboration with ADEME. The Innovation Competitions aim to support and encourage the creation and development of highly innovative companies born out of cutting-edge French research. It is divided into three complementary sections: i-PhD, i-Lab, and i-Nov.
Vitagora congratulates the two members for their innovative projects, both of whom have been members of the network since 2022:
- Fungu’it - FERMEN'TECH: The start-up had already won an award at ToasterLab's Demoday in 2022 for its commitment to healthy and sustainable food. This year, it joined the Ferments du Futur consortium.
- Azuvia - SETEIA: The start-up is innovating by offering an eco-friendly water purification solution. Their solution is fully in line with the recommendations of the “Water Plan” for sustainable management of our water resources.
FERMEN'TECH project
Fungu’it valorizes plant by-products through a solid fermentation process to create a new generation of flavors that make industrial food healthier, more sustainable, and more accessible.
At Fungu’it, our mission is to make industrial food healthier, more sustainable, and more accessible by using fermentation to turn plant by-products into a new generation of flavors. Our unique solid fermentation process turns by-products into high-value-added flavor ingredients. This technology improves the taste of food products while reducing ultra-processing, which has an impact on our health and the environment. For example, our ingredients have made it possible to replace 80% of the flavors added to meat substitutes, reduce salt levels by 50%, and lower the cost of the finished product by 15%.
We target various sectors of the food industry, including meat alternatives, but also snacks, baked goods, soups, and broths. For example, we are developing natural alternatives to cocoa in response to the growing demand for healthy and sustainable ingredients. Thanks to our solid fermentation technology, which is very resource-efficient and generates no waste, we are developing a database of microorganism/co-product pairs to develop unique aromatic ingredients. Our innovations have already been successfully applied in the field of meat substitutes.
Our ambition is to become a European leader in natural flavors and to realize our vision: to transform industrial food production to make it healthier, more sustainable, and accessible to all.
SETEIA Project
AZUVIA aims to accelerate the industrialization and commercialization of its treatment systems for liquid effluents with high levels of organic and nitrogen pollution.
AZUVIA is an innovative technology start-up that develops eco-friendly liquid effluent treatment systems. Its technologies are designed to meet the treatment needs of waste from wineries, composting platforms, and the agri-food industry. These innovations are based on phytopurification, hydroponics, and controlled environments.
Through this project, AZUVIA seeks to co-finance a solution that aims to develop a mature, industrializable technology that is fully adapted to water reuse. The SETEIA project aims to improve the overall efficiency of the treatment solution, whether in terms of contaminant removal, energy consumption, operational costs, or other relevant factors. It is through this guideline that AZUVIA has built its project on the development of two distinct processes.
Go further
Faced with constantly changing food markets, at Vitagora we are convinced of the importance of innovation. Are you looking for support to bring a scientific, technical, or technological innovation project to fruition? For more information, contact Vitagora: vitagora@vitagora.com
