Connected irrigation firm Telaqua raises €4m, with CMA CGM among investors
The Provence start-up, co-founded by Sébastien Demech, fits farmers' irrigation networks with sensors to save water. The round is led by Demeter.
Less water, better distributed. Telaqua has announced a €4m funding round led by Demeter through its VitiRev Innovation fund, with the Banque des Territoires, under the France 2030 programme, and Marseille-based shipping group CMA CGM, according to a press release.
The start-up installs sensors on irrigation system valves, along with others in the soil to measure moisture. Farmers can then control watering remotely, detect leaks and irrigate only when necessary, an increasingly important issue in the face of droughts.
Telaqua was founded in April 2018 in Aix-en-Provence by Nicolas Cavalier, Sébastien Demech, its chief executive, and Nicolas Carvallo. It raised around €400,000 in 2020 to industrialise its sensors. It now has about twenty employees, according to ActuIA, and wants to accelerate its commercial roll-out and research in France and Europe.
Sources
- Levée de fonds Telaqua (communiqué du 11 mai 2022) — Banque des Territoires
- Agritech : Telaqua (Aix) lève 4 millions — Gomet'
- La start-up marseillaise Telaqua annonce une levée de fonds de 4 millions d'euros — ActuIA
- Telaqua supervise les systèmes d'irrigation — Le Journal des Entreprises
- Telaqua, la start-up qui rend l'irrigation intelligente — Big Media (Bpifrance)