The awarded project combines vanilla cultivation with eel farming and is part of a European restocking program.
Their three-minute pitch convinced the jury! Camille Prel, Florian Primault, Alexandre Lamothe and Léna Marie, fifth-year engineering students in Agronomy and Agro-industries on the Rouen campus, won the France les Entrep' 2022 Trophy on May 20 for their project Exoponya.
Their idea? To combine vanilla cultivation and eel farming in a totally new 100% made in France aquaponics project.
A triple environmental approach
The Exoponya project has a triple environmental dimension:
- through aquaponics, a modern agricultural technique that exploits the symbiosis between plants and fish farming and allows for significant savings in water resources;
- by the local production of vanilla (not from imports), a spice widely consumed in Europe;
- by participating in a European program to restock eels, a species in critical danger of extinction.
Students with complementary skills
To implement Exoponya, the four student entrepreneurs can count on their complementary skills, acquired during their experiences and internship choices during their training at UniLaSalle: fish farming and urban agriculture for Alexandre, aquaponics for Florian, captive breeding of European eels for Camille and communication for Léna.
