Start-ups, businesses and small and medium-sized businesses met this Tuesday, November 5 at the Tour des Chênes estate in Saint Laurent-des-Arbres on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the CleanTech Booster.
For Jérôme Bonet, the prefect of Gard present last night, “it’s a birthday that illustrates energy, ambition”. An opportunity to take stock of five years of activity. On the program for this evening: workshops dedicated to artificial intelligence, a conference by Myriam Maestroni, a round table, as well as feedback.
A business accelerator serving the energy transition
The CleanTech Booster is a program designed to accelerate business growth: “We sow seeds, we bet on the future”underlines Jean-Christian Rey, president of the Rhone Gard Agglomeration community. It offers selected companies specific resources and services to help them grow faster over a defined period.
The objective is to stimulate and support a dynamic around clean technologies in Gard, by promoting the rapid growth of businesses that generate wealth and jobs with high added value in promising sectors. Since 2019, the Cleantech Booster has supported 42 companies, which represents around fifty jobs created.
Feedback on company experiences
To mark the five years of activity of a program like the CleanTech Booster, nothing is more significant than sharing concrete feedback from companies that have tested this initiative.
For Didier Farigoule, manager of the Fadilec group, a company based in Laudun-l'Ardoise specializing in the field of industrial automation and robotics which participated in the device, the CleanTech Booster makes it possible to “create real innovation”. The CleanTech Booster also aims to identify possible experiments and collaborations. Thus, it is within the framework of the fight against the Covid pandemic that Didier Farigoule, accompanied by this business accelerator, co-developed a decontamination robot thanks to the combined expertise of Innowtech, Sirea, Alfileo and Stérixène incubated in the Cleantech Vallée accelerator. The intersection of skills and expertise in the field of CleanTech “is a laboratory of ideas”supports Jean-Christian Rey.
Isabelle Martin president of CleanTech Vallée: “We owe this success to local authorities”
The CleanTech Booster program unites local authorities, private and public actors with a common objective: “Be more respectful of the environment”, underlines Isabelle Martin.
The results of this activity were particularly highlighted in the speeches of local elected officials. Pierre Prat, president of the Community of Communes of Pont du Gard, affirmed that the CleanTech Booster “brings a lot to the area”. As for Jérôme Bonet, prefect of Gard, he presented perspectives to guide strategic decisions: “We still have much to accomplish to develop this potential. We must unite and dialogue.”
In 2025, the CleanTech booster plans to develop by promoting solutions in favor of the energy transition.
