19 new companies
join Genopole
With the same number of departures and arrivals, the Genopole company portfolio remained stable from 2020 to 2021. The Genopole ecosystem welcomed 19 new companies, some coming from the Booster and Gene.iO acceleration programs and others resulting from prospection.
Of note among the newcomers are:
BIOECONOMY
- Phagos proposes an alternative to antibiotics in aquaculture (oysters, shrimp).
- Standing Ovation is advancing a novel, plant fermentation-based cheese production method.
- Plantik is developing a powerful technology to accelerate the creation of novel plant varieties.
COMPUTATIONAL GENOMICS
- Luxia-Scientific produces and markets diagnostics and analytical programs for the human microbiome.
Fund raising
Twenty-four businesses raised €48.8 million in 2021. The fund-raising leaders among those companies were Core Biogenesis, Altar, Global Bioenergies, Faircraft, Pep Therapy and Synhelix.
The public investments bank Bpifrance provided €16.3 million to 17 businesses as repayable advances, subventions or loans within the settings of various competitions (Innov’Up, iNov, i-Lab), French Tech grants, the Investments for the Future program and others. Twelve of those 17 companies were accompanied within the Booster or Gene.iO acceleration programs. Furthermore, six companies, including four Booster or Gene.iO laureates, obtained a total of €365,000 in unsecured loans mainly form Wilco, Réseau Entreprendre and the Crédit Agricole.
Workforce
The 77 Genopole portfolio companies employ 1,664 people. Of those companies, 53 are located at the Évry-Courcouronnes campus, where 875 people work. The remaining 24 companies are off-campus but in Île-de-France in their majority.
Most of the companies, 62%, are innovative start-ups with less than 10 employees. For the rest, 26% of the companies count 10 to 49 employees and 12% of them 50 or more. This family photograph reflects the success of Genopole’s programs to get new companies up and running. It also hints at the efforts Genopole intends to intensify, namely attracting more large companies by offering pertinent services and working premises.