[LUM#17] Green Innovation

[LUM Magazine] - Published on September 9, 2022 in Science and Society

Innovation for the environment starts at home, too. In the garden with FlorAtlas, an app that makes gardening easier, or indoors with Transfarmers, which helps reduce waste with its composting flowerpot.

Is gardening easy? “Not really,” replies Emmanuel-Jean Servier. “Getting past the challenges of plant taxonomy, understanding soil and climate characteristics, and knowing which plants are best suited to them—it’s all incredibly complex.” To “demystify” all of this, the former bioinformatics student at theUM is turning to digital technology. His idea? FlorAtlas, a company founded in 2020 and incubated at AgroValo Méditerranée—but above all, an app designed to help the general public simplify gardening by providing pre-processed scientific information.

Gardening 2.0

“The app uses geolocation to determine the climate, soil type, and quality of the water available for watering in the user’s area, and then suggests suitable plants,” explains the entrepreneur. This selection can be refined using the many filters available. An example? Let’s say you want a tree that bears edible fruit, has red flowers, and is safe for young children. FlorAtlas provides you with a list of all the plants that meet these criteria. “Then the app directs you to growers in your area who sell them, ” adds Manu, the gardener.

A gardening tool that also anticipates future changes: “We take weather data into account, which will allow us to use fewer inputs and less water by recommending plants better suited to the future climate, ” explains the digital gardener and manager: “FlorAtlas is committed to an approach that minimizes the impact of digital technology.” The app isn’t available for download yet because COVID has also disrupted the timeline, but Gardening 2.0 is coming soon.

Flower pot – compost bin

And for those without a garden, green innovation finds its place indoors with Transfarmers. A ceramic flowerpot that doubles as… a composter. “A worm composter, to be exact. It turns food scraps into compost thanks to the action of compost worms, ” explains Louis Jamin.

Together with his four partners—three of whom are alumniof AgroParisTech—he was looking for “an eco-friendly action people could take at home to reduce their waste. But we couldn’t find a tool suited for urban apartment dwellers.” So they created it. In doing so, they founded the company Transfarmers in 2019—also incubated at the Institut Agro—which markets the famous flowerpot-compost bin, “which has a real impact on the environment, ” explains Louis Jamin. And the product, made in France by artisan potters, seems to have found its audience. “We’ve already sold 2,200 units, and demand exceeds our current production capacity, ” says its founder. The next goal for Transfarmers: to develop new products to expand the line and pursue international growth. “We haven’t found anything on the market comparable to our product—there’s definitely a market to tap into.”

Keywords: Environment, Innovation, LUM#17, LUM Magazine, Research, Company