Terratis, the startup that wanted to nip the problem in the bud
Founded in 2024 and supported by the academic incubator Initium, Terratis is embarking on the mass production of sterilized mosquitoes. In 2026, the start-up will build a pilot bio-factory and deploy its technology in two communities and a campsite. Ultimately, it will acquire an even larger industrial site to increase its production capacity by 2028.
Anyone who has experienced the hell of tiger mosquito swarms will inevitably envy these pioneers... In 2025, residents of two communities and a campsite will benefit from Terratis' technology to combat Aedes albopictus. Its modus operandi: releasing armies of sterilized males to create generations of equally infertile eggs. This is a promising outcome for this young start-up, after several years of development within the University of Montreal's University Innovation Hub (PUI).
A 60% drop in the birth rate
Terratis originated from a thesis conducted between 2009 and 2012 on behalf ofthe IRD on Reunion Island. Clelia Oliva applied the sterile insect technique (SIT) to the tiger mosquito for the very first time. "My thesis involved developing part of this process: controlling insect reproduction, producing millions of insects per week, sterilizing them using X-rays, and releasing them, " explains the start-up's founder. In 2021, the IRD set out to provide proof of concept on around 20 hectares, and the results are very encouraging, with Aedes albopictus birth rates falling by nearly 60% in a few weeks in the test area. Clelia Oliva therefore decided to "get out of the lab and do something concrete." "I knew it was a great tool and that it worked very well. We needed to move to another scale. At first, I thought about launching it through an existing company, but in the end I launched the project myself."
With the help of the Initium academic incubator, she quickly launched the first stages of the project. "When I told them about it, they gave me a boost. They paved the way for me and told me they had all the tools to help me," recalls Clelia Oliva. She then took part in the Jump'in creation programrun by the BIC (Business & Innovation Center) in Montpellier, where she learned about all aspects of starting a business, from accounting to human resources management. "When you come from a research background, you have to train your brain to think differently," she explains. This first step enabled her to be pre-incubated at the BIC and to obtain the Start'Oc Projet grant, a €10,000 grant awarded at the time by the Occitanie region.
A decisive grant from BPI France
In 2023, still in the pre-creation phase, the project also received a €120,000 BFT lab grant, shortly before a second €90,000 grant dedicated to Deeptech start-ups, both awarded by BPI France. In 2024, the IRD granted it a transfer of expertise via Satt AxLr (a technology transfer acceleration company), a major player in the University of Montpellier's PUI. For the seed phase, Satt gave it access to a maturation program worth nearly €830,000. "This investment has enabled us to hire three people and purchase all the equipment. It's a 15-month program that will contribute to our launch next year, " adds Clelia.
Throughout the process, the BFT lab grant received via Satt AxLR proved to be a significant source of support for technical aspects, market research, and communication. "This funding enabled me to work with my future partner Dorian Barrère, who initially acted as a consultant on communication and customer access thanks to this funding. And then he got really into it, " says Clelia Oliva, who officially launched Terratis in April 2024.
3,000 insects per hectare per week
Terratis, which has been awarded the MedVallée label, is currently investing in premises covering nearly 200m² in the Parc 2000 business park. "This pilot plant will enable us to develop automated breeding, with a production capacity of 1 to 1.5 million mosquitoes per week, and to start sales." In the short term, Terratis is expected to begin its commercial rollout with a coverage capacity of 300 hectares, initially spread across two neighborhoods in two different local authorities and a campsite. It could also be used in airports, which are sensitive areas if viruses such as Zika or chikungunya were to spread via female tiger mosquitoes.
“In total, from 2025 onwards, we will be able to release around 3,000 insects per hectare per week from April to November,” anticipates the president of Terratis. But from 2026, she will move on to the industrial stage with an even larger bio-factory project. "From 2028, we plan to produce up to 100 million males per week. This will enable us to protect nearly 40,000 hectares of land... The strength of this mosquito is its high reproductive capacity. The female can lay hundreds of eggs, but she only reproduces once. We want to exploit this weakness."
In the near future, Terratis could also apply this technique to agricultural pests such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, the codling moth, and Drosophila suzukii. The goal is to offer an alternative to pesticides and chemicals.