Two new investors will join Insolight on their journey to scale up the deployment of insolagrin, their innovative agrivoltaic solution. The team will now set-up large-scale installations in Switzerland and France before expanding internationally and increasing the number of target crops.

Demeter, a major European venture capital player in the agritech and cleantech industries, and the Smart Energy Innovation Fund, the Corporate Venture Capital Fund of Energie 360°, a Zurich-based sustainable energy and mobility service provider, have joined existing investors Verve Ventures and Zürcher Kantonalbank to support the Vaud-based company’s growth.

The funds will allow Insolight to deploy their first large-scale insolagrin installations that will initially be used by berry growers in Switzerland and France. The company then aims to replicate these installations globally and increase the number of target crops. The round will also support the company’s commercial scale-up and strengthen the development of their project pipeline, targeting multiple tens of millions of Euros in the next two years.

Cyrille Cabaret, Partner at Demeter, who will be joining the Insolight board, commented on the development: “Insolight holds a unique position in the fast-growing agrivoltaics market, with an efficient combination of PV production and agronomical expertise. The company has recently reached compelling milestones and they are now ready to deploy their innovative agrivoltaic solutions throughout Europe. We are delighted to join the team for this new promising chapter and to bring our experience in agriculture and energy alongside renowned investors like Energie 360°”.

Metin Zerman, Investment Manager at Energie 360°’s Smart Energy Innovation Fund said:  “The simultaneous use of land for agricultural crop production and PV power generation is a future market with enormous potential that has not yet been fully utilized today. We are very proud to have found a leading provider for Agri PV in Insolight and are very much looking forward to working with the team and the distinguished group of investors to tackle this huge market”

Laurent Coulot, CEO and Co-Founder at Insolight said: “The round has a very interesting setup for our core markets. We will not only bring agritech and engery experts on board, but we also expand our network in France and the DACH region. Thank you to all our investors. We now look forward to feeding citizens and the grid with our installations”.

About Insolight

Founded in Lausanne (CH) in 2015 by Laurent Coulot (CEO), Mathieu Ackermann (CTO) & Florian Gerlich (Product Architect), Insolight is bringing to market insolagrin – a dynamic agrivoltaic solution. With a single infrastructure, insolagrin enables both agricultural and electricity production on the same land. The system provides protection for the crops and controls light transmission to plants through dynamic shading while harvesting excess light into electricity. By replacing plastic tunnels, the market opportunity is sizable: berries alone represent more than 200 GW p in Europe. Our team is on a mission to deliver a solution that can impact globally both the energy and agriculture sectors. Insolight has developed a Global Partnership Program which Migros and SwissRe Foundation have already joined.

Learn more at www.insolight.ch. 

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ADM has won the Environmental Initiatives category of the 2022 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards for expanding its regenerative agriculture programs. Granted by a judging panel of renowned environmental and energy industry experts, the award recognizes programs or initiatives that push the frontier on environmental leadership.

ADM’s project, “Providing Economic and Sustainable Solutions Through Regenerative Agriculture,” expands on ADM’s long-term commitment to support growers in their transition to regenerative agriculture. In 2022, ADM launched a number of projects and partnerships, including with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), US Department of Agriculture, PepsiCo, and the Farmers Business Network, that equip farmers with financial, technical and educational resources to support regenerative farming.

Commenting on the development, Alison Taylor, chief sustainability officer at ADM said, “ADM is uniquely positioned to partner with growers and customers alike to create value for participants across the value chains in which we operate while helping secure a more sustainable future. We’re proud to continue to expand our partnership with growers, providing valuable support to enhance farm-level sustainability and helping their businesses grow and succeed while simultaneously advancing Scope 3 emissions goals for both ADM and our customers.”

ADM’s regenerative agriculture programs not only support farm economics, but also reduce supply chain impacts and protect local biodiversity. Their initiative has covered four continents to date and is expected to expand its reach further in the coming years. It’s engaged with growers to implement regenerative growing practices on more than 600,000 acres. In 2023, ADM plans to continue expansion in North America to cover one million acres by enrolling over 1,000 growers in regenerative programs. This project will also drive carbon reduction and sequestration of 300,000 MT of CO2e, making a significant contribution to ADM’s commitment to curbing emissions.

About ADM

ADM unlocks the power of nature to enrich the quality of life. As a premier global human and animal nutrition company, ADM delivers solutions today with an eye to the future – leading the way to a new future of plant-based consumer and industrial solutions to replace petroleum-based products. They’re also an agricultural supply chain manager and processor, providing food security by connecting local needs with global capabilities. Sustainability is one of their key values and they work to scale across entire value chains to help decarbonize our industry and safeguard our planet. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, ADM gives customers an edge in solving the nutritional and sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow.

Learn more at www.adm.com 

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Lausanne company Beelong has made it easier than ever for shoppers to make informed and environmentally sound decisions about the foods they buy. Their system, run by 15 staff members, has already analysed more than 150,000 food products and categorised them based on their eco credentials. Now Beelong’s carefully developed Eco-score, based on the environmental impact of food, has been applied to over 2,000 Coop products online, and will soon also be available on food packaging in store.

The Beelong Eco-score – developed by the Vaud startup of the same name – evaluates the impact of products on the environment. By using a uniform set of criteria, the classification system is designed to simplify the shopping process for eco-conscious consumers who want to make the best possible choices for the planet. Now available on more than 2,000 own-brand goods on the Coop website, consumers can use the simple scale, which runs from a maximum of A+ to a low of E-, to make informed purchasing decisions. 

Previously, the implementation of eco labels in supermarkets has been hampered by a lack of reliable information. “There’s a lot of information available on food products, but it’s not displayed in a uniform way,” says cofounder Charlotte de La Baume. “With different labels for each product, it has historically been very difficult to compare them. The Beelong Eco-score makes it possible to compare all food products on the same basis, while enhancing existing labels.” Beelong’s joint cofounder Mathias Faigaux added: “Because Beelong evaluates all products using the same scale regardless of their category, our system enables the comparison of both similar products with one another, and the comparison of products from totally different categories.”

Analysing multiple criteria 

Using a reliable and stringent method of analysis – which is constantly evolving and updated by Beelong’s experts in real time – the Eco-score evaluates multiple criteria related to a food’s ingredients: from the carbon emitted in their cultivation and transport to a crop’s water usage. Other criteria include the quality of the soil a crop is grown in and/or the welfare of animals involved in its manufacture, alongside many more. Further criteria are then applied to the finished product – these vary from the impact of the packaging to the sustainability policy of the processing company.

A turning point for Beelong

The introduction of the Eco-score at Coop brings Beelong new visibility, a boost for the Swiss company founded in Lausanne eight years ago. Beelong is already well established with professionals in the Swiss catering and food ecosystem; the company works with around sixty partner brands, including Hero, Narimpex  and Ditzler, as well as with several hundred private and public restaurants. It also advises private companies, municipalities, cantons and the federal government on the development of sustainable food strategies. 

Visit the Beelong website to find out more, and view the Eco-scores currently online at coop.ch. 

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