Climate-KIC start-up Cophenol present project to French President at Paris French Tech Ticket

Climate-KIC start-up Cophenol is named as one of the laureates from the Paris French Tech Ticket, where they presented their project to French President, François Hollande.

Cophenol was one of the six entrepreneurs selected to present their projects directly to President François Hollande in the Palais de l’Elysée this month during the Paris French Tech Ticket event.

The French Tech Ticket is a programme designed for non-French entrepreneurs from all over the world who want to establish their start-up in Paris.

Selected from 722 applicants to the Paris French Ticket, Cophenol was one of the 23 start-ups also received by Emmanuel Macron, Minister of Economy, and Axelle Lemaire, Secretary of State in charge of digital affairs. These innovative entrepreneurs benefited from financial, logistical and consulting support. They also won a grant of 25,000 Euros and a free place in a Parisian incubator.

Paris aims to become one of the most competitive places for start-ups. To date, the Parisian community of innovators already includes 3,000 start-ups and 36 incubators.

Cophenol
 

Cophenol is an innovative circular economy project that aims to value agricultural waste using a carbon negative process. Cophenol wants to develop a process to transform, by pyrolysis, coffee waste into 'biochar' (organic charcoal, coal made for agriculture), a compound which can specifically be used for the restructuring or the acidification of soils. Combined with other organic materials, it can also be used as a fertilizer.

The Cophenol founders include Emmanuel Thiéry, a French student in entrepreneurship, and Mariana Bittencourt, a Brazilian architect and a PhD student in Economics Sciences and Eco-innovations. The start-up also includes Anna Suchy, a polish PhD student in chemical processes to convert organic waste into valuable products as with coffee waste.

Emmanuel, Marianna and Anna met during the Climate-KIC Summer School, in August 2014. During this five-week 'Journey', they learned to become entrepreneurs and to create business for climate mitigation or adaptation.

Climate-KIC Greenhouse
 

The Climate-KIC Greenhouse Programme is a pre-incubation programme for entrepreneurs at an early stage, giving them the opportunity to take their ideas and projects to maturity.

Find more information about the Climate-KIC Summer School “Journey” here.