Scanorhize: soil life for sustainable agriculture
This scanner buried in the soil is capable of tracking the evolution of root systems to better understand the impact of fertilizers, irrigation or drought. An innovative project developed with the help of the Pôle universitaire d'innovation particularly promising at a time when the agricultural sector is in the grip of a major crisis.
Real-time analysis of the impact of fertilizers on soils
A sensor buried in the soil could help "accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture". That, in a nutshell, is the ambition of Scanorhize, imagined within theEco&Sols Mixed Research Unit, and whose first prototypes were produced in 2017 at the initiative of researcher Christophe Jourdan, CIRAD Montpellier.
In concrete terms, "Scanorhize is a kind of camera buried in the soil, capable of producing images of the root system by making two-dimensional slices", explains William Arditi, future president of the start-up which is due to operate the sensor in the coming months. "The idea is to capture dynamic images to observe soil evolution and understand the impact of fertilizers, drought or irrigation. The object is connected to a box that transfers images directly to the cloud, before handing over to an artificial intelligence capable of recognizing roots and soil biodiversity, and analyzing the evolution of the root system. This innovative technology could soon be patented.
Initially dedicated to research, this tool quickly aroused the curiosity of other players, who approached the laboratory. " Seed companies and crop protection product manufacturers were very interested," adds William Arditi. "For them, the soil represents a growing challenge", particularly in terms of adapting their products to climate change, while respecting sustainable agriculture.
A start-up supported by Montpellier's PUI programme
In 2023, Christophe Jourdan and SATT AxLR (Société d'accélération du transfert de technologies) are looking for a project leader to develop a start-up based on this innovation. William Arditi will be responding without delay via the Deeptech platform managed by Bpifrance. Trained as an engineer, the young man had already worked on a technology transfer for a portable artificial lung project. " But this time, I wanted to participate in something that would have a short-term impact on society", he explains. After an initial market study, William Arditi was officially recruited in February 2024.
As part of the maturation program, Satt AxLR is supporting William's salary, the services needed to industrialize the sensors, and the development of the software for one year. At the same time, William Arditi benefited from Bpifrance's French Tech Lab (BFT Lab) grant, which enabled him to finance sales training, a market study and an update on regulatory aspects. The engineer also attended the Première marche program at Montpellier's BIC (Business & Innovation Centre). "It was quite short and intense. It enabled me to try out all the aspects involved in creating a start-up".
From February to June 2024, the future entrepreneur followed the Pépite Deeptech program, offered by Initium, the incubator of the University of Montpellier. The aim of the program is to support project leaders in the areas of "Nourish", "Care" and "Protect", providing them with a wide range of training courses, expert advice and coaching sessions to help them structure their future start-up. " We can work on intellectual property, business strategy, entrepreneurial posture and pitching," he explains. " It's always interesting to get feedback from experts in each field when you start a project like this". This is the first stage in the support offered by the UM incubator, which will run for three years, including the start-up's pre-incubation and co-incubation phases.
With his new partner Louis Marot, William Arditi has just applied for Bpifrance's i-Lab competition to develop a research and development program designed to remove the last technological barriers and transform Scanorhize "into a decision-making tool in the agricultural context", confides the engineer. "After scanning the root system, it could tell us when to fertilize, when to irrigate, which variety to adopt..." A further step towards putting this ingenious tool at the service of the ecological transition.
Incubated at AgroVallée and supported by the Initium incubator and Montpellier's BIC, the start-up should see the light of day at the end of SATT AxLR's maturation program, in June 2025. A great collective success for the Montpellier PUI, which sees a new Montpellier start-up mark a turning point in sustainable agriculture!