French
Agriodor, an agritech company developing crop protection solutions based on
natural plant scents, has raised €15 million in Series A funding to accelerate
its international expansion and the deployment of its olfactory biocontrol
technology.
The round was led by the Environmental and Solidarity Revolution Fund, financed by the societal dividend of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale and
managed by Crédit Mutuel Impact. Additional participants included Région Sud
Investissement, CAAP Création (Crédit Agricole Alpes-Provence), and existing
investors Capagro, CapHorn, and SWEN Capital Partners.
Founded
in 2019 by Alain Thibault and Dr Ené Leppik as a spin-off from INRAE, Agriodor
develops a new class of crop protection solutions using semiochemicals to
influence insect behaviour. This approach offers a sustainable and scalable
alternative to conventional pesticides, addressing increasing pest resistance,
regulatory constraints, and biodiversity loss.
Agriodor’s
research and development platform combines high-throughput chemical ecology and
reverse chemical ecology to replicate natural plant scents and adapt them to
diverse cropping systems. This enables the attraction, repulsion, or disruption
of pest insects while preserving beneficial species. Compared with conventional
insecticides, this method allows for substantially lower development costs and
faster time to market, while supporting resistance management and environmental
sustainability.
Alain
Thibault, co-founder and President of Agriodor, noted that the company’s
technology enables farmers to safeguard crop yields while supporting
environmental sustainability and protecting human health.
Agriodor
recently achieved a global first by successfully deploying a semiochemical
(allomone) in row crops, with an initial application in sugar beet fields in
France. The company’s first commercial product, targeting sugar beet aphids, is
distributed through an exclusive agreement with Syngenta, supporting growers in
managing yellows virus.
Building
on this milestone, Agriodor is expanding its portfolio to additional crops and
insect families, including fruit flies, whiteflies, and thrips, representing
significant global market opportunities.