Telaqua, a Marseille-based startup specializing in the management of agricultural and viticultural irrigation systems, announced on May 11 a €4M fundraising round to accelerate its commercial deployment and continue its R&D work. The round of financing was led by Demeter Investment Managers, via its VitiRev Innovation fund, accompanied by the Banque des Territoires, on behalf of the State within the framework of the France 2030 Innovation Territories Program and the Occit@num prizewinner, as well as by the CMA CGM Group, a world leader in maritime transport and logistics.

Telaqua, smart and responsible irrigation in agriculture and viticulture

Founded in 2018 in Aix-en-Provence by Sébastien Demech, Nicolas Cavalier and Nicolas Carvallo, Telaqua’s ambition is to support farmers in optimizing water consumption, a crucial issue for the environment since 70% of the world’s fresh water is used by agriculture according to Food & Agriculture Organization and Worldbank. Based in Marseille, Telaqua has 20 employees and is present in France, Europe, Africa and South America.

Telaqua, thanks to its expertise in Machine Learning and IoT, designs connected solutions to control and monitor irrigation remotely. The Irrigeasy application and associated sensors (the Agromote and the Mano), designed by the company, allow farmers to control, program and monitor their irrigation systems wherever they are. The Telaqua solution analyzes the uniformity and the correct progress of the irrigation, detects anomalies, alerts the farmer in case of difficulty, in real time, and also ensures the traceability of the water consumption.

The startup, whose ambition is to put digital technology at the service of the ecological transition of agriculture, thus enables farmers to reduce their water and electricity consumption but also to save a lot of time on irrigation.

Stéphanie Hillard, Investment Director at Demeter, states:

“Irrigation is becoming a major issue in viticulture and agriculture in general in France and internationally due to climate change. Telaqua’s mission is to enable a reasoned irrigation, which optimizes the volumes of water and energy consumed. We are therefore proud to support the commercial ambitions of this high-performance, complementary team from the world of IoT and irrigation and committed to the ecological transition.”

Offering a complete solution to help manage irrigation

Fresh water is a scarce commodity, regulating its supply for agriculture has become a priority on a global scale. Telaqua’s ambition is to become the key partner of farmers by helping them to optimize their resources simply and efficiently.

Sébastien Demech, one of the company’s founders, states:

“We are particularly proud to have received the support of these investors who, thanks to their confidence, will allow us to accelerate our development and continue our efforts to offer new innovative and sustainable solutions for the industry. This fundraising is just one step in our adventure to serve the ecological and societal transition.

This round of financing will enable Telaqua to continue its growth in France and Europe by offering a complete irrigation management solution for agriculture, and in particular for viticulture, and to develop partnerships with key players in the Agtech market and distributors for its commercial deployment.

On the technological side, the company’s objective is to offer more functionalities to its customers, while keeping simplicity of use as a guideline. To achieve this, it will surround itself with laboratories or universities, in order to pursue its work in AI for predictive decision support as well as on blockchain for traceability.

Gabriel Giabicani, Director of Operations and Innovation at the
Investment at Banque des Territoires, states:

“As agriculture is the primary user of water resources, particularly for irrigation, sustainable water management in rural areas is crucial. Our entry into the capital, on behalf of the State, aims to support its development, to contribute directly to the objectives of better management of water resources and to build a resilient agriculture in a context of climate change.”

Nicolas Reynard, head of CMA CGM Ventures, explains:

“Innovation is part of CMA CGM Group’s DNA, it is one of the 5 strategic pillars of our Group and we play a driving role in this field by federating startup ecosystems. CMA CGM is also committed to protecting the environment through concrete actions, and we are mobilizing the entrepreneurial fabric to develop together more environmentally friendly solutions. By investing in Telaqua, we want to enable committed regional entrepreneurs to innovate in the vital field of sustainable irrigation.

Translated from La start-up marseillaise Telaqua annonce une levée de fonds de 4 millions d’euros