AgTech Ireland spent two highly productive days in Paris exploring France’s agri and agtech ecosystems, meeting key organisations, and gathering insights valuable for members interested in entering or expanding in the French market. Supported by Business France and Groupe Crédit Agricole, the visit provided a comprehensive overview of how to engage with French farmers, the structures that shape their decisions, and the range of business, financial, and innovation supports available.
INRAE’s Tatiana Hanks and Stéphanie Potok outlined programmes that help agtech start-ups emerge from university research or farm-based entrepreneurship. We also met La Ferme Digitale—represented by COO Romain Faroux and Head of Communications Romane Richez—whose mission closely mirrors AgTech Ireland’s, opening potential avenues for future collaboration.
At the Embassy of Ireland, Agricultural Attaché Ciaran Gobl hosted a session where Olivier Frey unpacked the complex network of co-ops, chambers of agriculture, consultants, and others who influence farm-level sustainability and technology adoption. ALLTECH KEENAN France’s Sébastien Moulis shared practical lessons on navigating B2B and B2C sales to farmers and co-operatives.
A networking dinner on the Seine rounded off day one before a deep dive on day two into funding and incubation supports at Groupe Crédit Agricole. With half of French farmers as customers, the bank showcased its agricultural transition financing tools and its nationwide Le Village by CA accelerator network. Louanne Guigueno explained their programmes, while MyEasyFarm’s Christophe Zollner detailed the company’s role in precision and regenerative agriculture.
The visit delivered strong insights, valuable contacts, and real potential for future partnerships.
