Willems campus
Located in Willems, in a rural setting just 20 minutes from Lille, the AgTech incubator and accelerator is designed for innovation projects in the field of agriculture.
An incubator and accelerator designed for agricultural innovation
On a collaborative and experimental complex spanning 1000 m² in the heart of the agricultural land of northern France, farmers and entrepreneurs can find support, advice and equipment to help develop their innovation and accelerate their business.
In the face of some major challenges, such as climate change, soil depletion, optimising the efficiency of production methods, developing precision farming, and reducing waste, the need for innovation in agriculture is paramount
The general Start incubation programme including:
- workshops and training sessions on becoming an entrepreneur and creating a startup (business model, legal status, fundraising, mastering your pitch, marketing strategy, etc.)
- provision of technical equipment and tools
- mentoring and testimonials from entrepreneurs
- access to tech and entrepreneurship events within the EuraTechnologies network
Specialist AgTech support including:
- feedback and testimonials from entrepreneurs and farmers,
- tailor-made, personalised support from a startup manager who specialises in agriculture and farming
- workshops and training sessions tailored to AgTech issues
- networking and information sessions with leading experts in the agriculture industry
- breeding, crop growing, robotics applied to the agricultural sector
- founder stories from AgTech entrepreneurs
- prototyping and completion of real-life testing in this centre of collaborative experimentation based in the countryside, at the heart of the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai
- support at specialist AgTech trade fairs and events: InVivo Quest, La Ferme Digitale Day, Agri Startup Summit, and more
Accelerating the international growth of AgTech startups
The EuraTechnologies site in Willems is also dedicated to more mature startups, to help them increase their business. The AgTech support team provides essential advice for getting your business off the ground: whether to optimise costs, improve your sales pipeline, refine your go-to-market strategy, create new tech products/services for farmers, or develop on the international stage, the startup manager will help you with the business, professional and technical challenges currently facing startups in the smart farming sector
Some examples of supported companies: Sencrop, Karnott, Javelin, Agrikolis, Weenat, Samsys, Lituus, Orchid, and more
Support from EuraTechnologies
With its incubator and accelerator dedicated to AgTech projects, located in Willems, EuraTechnologies – a centre of excellence and innovation created in 2009 – is maintaining its expansion strategy and continuing to give project developers all the help they need to successfully develop and monetise their tech innovation in innovative farming, precision farming and permaculture.
Inaugurated in February 2018, the site welcomes startups looking to embrace and explore the agriculture of the future. After the 2016 opening of the Roubaix – Blanchemaille site, dedicated to innovation in ecommerce and RetailTech, EuraTechnologies has continued to branch out across the Hauts-de-France region to encourage the creation of young innovative companies. In January 2019, EuraTechnologies opened its incubator in Saint-Quentin at the heart of an industrial region, with its focus on robotics and digital tech.
With the EuraTechnologies AgTech incubator in Willems :
get personalised support according to the level of maturity and typology of your project or startup (IoT, breeding, crop growing, tech innovation, etc.)
Services
- Ecosystem of farmers
- Outdoor spaces
- Afterworks
- School and training AgTech
Smart farming in Hauts-de-France, regional heritage at the service of tech
Agriculture is a key industry in France’s Nord region, with 2.1 million hectares of usable farmland (1). Aware of this trend, the EuraTechnologies AgTech incubator and accelerator aims to encourage and support anyone looking to revolutionise farming through the use of digital tech.
The AgTech incubator and accelerator in Willems responds to the digital transformation of agriculture, a rapidly accelerating phenomenon in recent years.
Project developers are monitored and supervised to generate the best possible idea, by facilitating contacts and conversations between AgTech startups, research laboratories and stakeholders in the agriculture industry (farmers, Chambers of Agriculture, schools/colleges, builders, etc.) located in Hauts-de-France and more generally in France. This immersion in the agricultural sector is extremely useful for improving the products and services created in the incubator, and gives startups the chance to test their technological innovations directly on their target market, with fields and farms near the Willems site.
Willems, an economic
opportunity to develop
your Agtech project
Willems, a town in northern France just 20 minutes from Lille, is the ideal place to develop your entrepreneurial project related to smart farming. Thanks to its location at the heart of rural land, the EuraTechnologies AgTech incubator and accelerator gives supported startups a direct link to farmers, breeders and other professionals in the agricultural industry who are part of the network of tech-friendly farmers and entrepreneurs. It’s a chance for entrepreneurs to come to face-to-face with the reality of the industry and the needs of farmers themselves, whose profession has been changing rapidly over recent years.
The town, which borders Belgium, also gives startup managers very easy access to the Belgian market. Belgian farmers are open to new innovative practices in the agricultural sector and opportunities to interact with French-speaking specialists are appreciated by the businesses in the centre.
It is located less than 3 hours from Luxembourg, the German border and the Netherlands, and 5 hours from London. At the heart of the Eurometropolis, Willems finds itself at a crossroads in Western Europe, and opens up many markets for ambitious entrepreneurs.
Tomorrow's agriculture: local, responsible and smart
Agriculture professionals are particularly attentive to innovations, which have revolutionised their profession in the past several years. More and more farmers are embracing innovative digital solutions to simplify and improve their daily lives on the farm.
New technologies, which make it possible to collect and use ultra-precise GPS data from farms’ operations and activities, offer a wide range of benefits for farmers, to simplify, optimise and improve their daily lives. Farmers are increasingly interested in data from their fields and livestock, as well as climatic and environmental data, to understand and anticipate any external factors impacting their work.
They track this data in real time using new technologies, and manage various parameters, such as the amount of water and fertiliser required according to weather conditions and alerts, as well as the performance of their farms. In the case of cattle farming, farmers can now monitor their animals’ health in real time and adapt their diet and/or medical supervision as required, thanks to the latest digital innovations.
Improving agricultural tools and equipment, such as tractors and analytical tools, is essential for the 21st century farmer.
They are now equipped with computers to update their farm's parameters, a smartphone to monitor indicators and dashboards from anywhere, and even drones to see live updates of their fields and breeding.
Though farmers’ work has been revolutionised by new technologies, such innovations have also led consumers to think more about their food. The French are more sensitive than ever to animal welfare and the origins of their food, and are increasingly turning to organic produce. New technology makes it possible to check and certify agricultural labels, and is widely used by responsible consumers via smartphone apps and recommendation/review sites.
Aware of these challenges and the importance of technological innovation in agriculture as a whole, EuraTechnologies in Willems welcomes and promotes responsible and sustainable AgTech projects.
