Agrauxine (France) - Nov 2007

unquote
01 November 2007

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Agrauxine, a developer of organic agricultural fertilisers, has raised €2m in convertible bonds from its existing investors in a second round of funding. Lead investor Ouest Ventures committed €650,000 on top of the €1.2m it provided in the €2.4m first round in August 2006. OTC Asset Management increased its total contribution to €1m, while Bretagne Jeunes Entreprises invested a total of €250,000. Management, which put in an additional €500,000 on this occasion, retained control of the business with a 50.3% stake. The company anticipates it will require further funding to accelerate its growth and expand internationally, within two years.

Company

Headquartered in Quimper, in Brittany, Agrauxine develops agricultural fertilisers based on fungal micro-organisms. The products are to be used as substitutes for chemical fertilisers which are set to be banned shortly, because of the environmental damage they cause. The new cash injection will be used to pursue the homologation of the company’s products, to finance a new production unit in Qimper, and to support further R&D in collaboration with the national agronomic research institute INRA. The business, which currently employs 52 staff, generated sales of €5m in 2006, and anticipates revenues of €7m in 2007.

People

Eric Cozanet worked on the transaction for Ouest Ventures, while Paul-Henri Schmelck represented OTC Asset Management and Bertrand Distinguin worked for Bretagne Jeunes Entreprises. Pascale Boutelant and Michel Pronost, the company’s CEO, are Agrauxine’s co-founders.

Sourced from: France unquote" 87 (Jan 2008)