From 26–27 November 2024, one of the many new features at Pollutec Paris is the Pollutec Innovation Challenge. Alongside the Pollutec Innovation Awards, which have been held at Pollutec Lyon for a number of years, this new competition aims to unearth the research projects or “early-stage” start-ups creating the innovations of tomorrow. Contestants from laboratories at universities or grandes écoles submitted their projects, with ten making it through the first selection phase. On 27 November, representatives from these projects will pitch at the show in front of a panel of manufacturers, corporate ventures and media. The winner will receive special visibility (promotion, communication, etc.) and a space in the Start-up area at Pollutec 2025. Here are the ten shortlisted projects.
BeadMet
The decontamination of effluent contaminated by metals is governed by a directive and demanding ‘drinking water’ standards, which make it difficult to cover the entire spectrum of metals and require post-treatment for chemical treatments. Added to this is the high cost of the facilities, with little economic return if the metals are not recycled. The BeadMet project is based on a process for developing a depollution tool that captures and precipitates heavy metals from wastewater. The tool is based on recyclable beads made of PVA/alginate (Poly Vinyl Alcohol and a biopolymer derived from algae). The project is being led by Claire Sergeant, a researcher at the Laboratoire de physique des deux infinis Bordeaux (L2Pi / CNRS / Université de Bordeaux). The technology was pre-matured by the CNRS and in September 2024, SATT Aquitaine invested 177,400 euros to validate the scale-up of bead manufacturing, improve reaction kinetics and carry out tests on real effluents.
Eneville
The property sector suffers from poor data literacy, making effective diagnostics impossible for large heritage sites across France. Effective use of property data is key to optimising resources and investments. Launched in October 2023, the Eneville start-up uses open data to model every building in France and assess the energy performance of building stock using just the addresses. It offers two types of services: data provider (data from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), IGN and ministries, etc.) and decarbonisation strategy (identifying levers and modelling renovation actions and their financial/environmental impacts). The aim is to optimise decarbonisation in the property sector, using digital twins to support decision-making. Eneville was founded by Alexandre Nguyen, an engineer with a PhD in energy and processes, and winner at the i-PhD 2022 innovation competition, and Philippe Beduneau, a property sector professional and consultant in innovation. In 2024, Eneville was a finalist at Cleantech Open France, PropTech Innov Challenge and the Challenge Start-ups Secteur d’Avenir (Future Category) by the CNAM Incubator, and has joined the Smart City platform run by Impulse Partners.
FOMCAP
Atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased by over 40% since the start of the industrial era, and accelerated in the last decade. Besides mitigation solutions (limiting emissions), there are two methods for capturing CO2: direct air capture (DAC) and post-combustion capture. DAC solutions are currently available but they are expensive and small-scale. Post-combustion capture using liquid amines is a technique going back more than 50 years. However, its disadvantages include high energy consumption, toxicity concerns and the possibility of degradation. The FOMCAP solution uses Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). These crystalline materials have a surface area of 1000 m²/g and extremely fine pores (millions of times smaller than a hair). Combining stability in hot and humid conditions with controlled porosity, these MOFs are suitable for use in a range of sectors, including CO2 capture. Initial tests have shown them to be effective for post-combustion CO2 capture, particularly in coal or gas-fired power stations and cement plants, while tests are underway to determine their suitability for direct air capture. The project is headed by Nizami Israfilov within the Institute of Chemistry and Processes for Energy, Environment and Health (ICPEES) and the Laboratory of Chemistry of Complex Matter (CMC) at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)/University of Strasbourg with Jean-Marc Planeix, Vice Chancellor of the University of Strasbourg and Benoît Louis, Research Director at the CNRS. It won the Satt Conectus “Mature your PhD” challenge in 2021, as well as the i-PhD 2022 innovation competition. The start-up should be launched by January 2025.
Ilion Water Technologies
Water desalination is particularly promising (it could potentially supply 30% of the global population) but it is hampered by the high cost and significant environmental impact of reverse osmosis. With this in mind, the team at Ilion Water Technologies developed a new generation desalination system that uses just a few volts of power, as opposed to mechanical high pressures of up to 60 bar. Using nanofluidic and biomimetic membranes, Viro (Voltage Induced Reverse Osmosis) technology offers a straightforward and economical solution for purifying water through the membrane of any commercial desalination filters. This patented technology is the product of fundamental research by Lydéric Bocquet, Lucie Ries and Zachario Pilo at the Physics Laboratory of the École Normale Supérieure higher education institute (LPENS). Lydéric Bocquet is a pioneer in nanofluidics and in 2024 received the Innovation Medal from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). In September of this year, the Ilion start-up was a winner at the i-Lab innovation competition run by BPIFrance as part of the France 2030 initiative.
Methancat
France is aiming for renewable gas to account for 10% of its total gas consumption by 2030. However, for biomethane to be more competitive, production costs must come down by 30%, which would require improving yields (working on the quality of inputs), optimising facilities and streamlining biogas purification processes. This technology must eliminate the very energy-intensive process of separating the constituents of biogas. Until now, membrane separation has been needed to separate the CO2 from CH4 before methanation by catalytic hydrogenation. The Methancat catalytic process allows biomethane to be produced by direct hydrogenation of the CO2 in the raw biogas, with no separation stage, so preventing loss of CO2 and improving yield. The project is being run by the Vaalbio team (Valorisation of alkanes and biomass) under the UCCS (Unit for Catalysis and Solid-State Chemistry at the University of Lille) and the Realcat high-throughput catalysis platform. This will significantly speed up the time it takes to acquire experimental data and, therefore, develop the catalysts.
Mirega
Climate change impacts are fuelling the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases, particularly methane, due to its high global warming potential. However, current solutions for measuring emissions are bulky and unsuitable for mobile use. Tools that are more compact, sensitive and robust are therefore critical to accurately quantifying – and better reducing – emissions. Founded in 2023, Mirega has developed the first miniaturised gas analyser, 100 times more compact than current solutions on the market, while offering high sensitivity when measuring low gas concentrations. Using optical micro-cavities, the technology replaces a bulky key component with a matchstick-sized element offering comparable detection capability. Compact, robust and portable, this solution is particularly well-suited to quantifying low gas concentrations and detecting leaks to help quantify and reduce greenhouse gases. The four founding members of the Mirega team have a complementary skill set: Vincent Hardy, entrepreneur, Pierre Mahion, technical lead, alongside Romain Long and Jakob Reichel, the researchers behind the microcavities innovation at LKB, the Kastler Brossel Laboratory at the École Normale Supérieure higher education institute in Paris. The project has been supported by SATT Lutech (a nine-month maturation programme to develop a prototype).
OptHySource
When it comes to electric mobility, batteries are very much the weak link in the chain: they are expensive, bulky, have limited autonomy, etc. The power profiles required by electric vehicles place the battery under a lot of strain and temperature increases caused by power surges accelerate battery ageing. Furthermore, the batteries are not simultaneously power- and energy-efficient, which can lead to suboptimal dimensioning which reduces battery life. The OptHySource project uses Li-ion batteries alongside supercapacitors (SC) to limit the strain on the battery. This hybridisation is beneficial because the battery will have steady power throughout its operation as it shares peak loads with the SCs. Optimal sharing between the battery and the SCs then requires a power converter and an energy management algorithm. This architecture improves the dimensioning, performance and lifespan of the battery and, ultimately, enhances the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The project is headed by Théophile Paul, a PhD student at the Icube Laboratory in INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences) Strasbourg, alongside Tedjani Mesbahi. Théophile Paul was a winner at the i-PhD 2022 innovation competition. The maturation project is funded by SATT Conectus (€300k: market research, demonstrator concept) with a view to launching a start-up in early 2025.
Terdepol
Many industrial sites – often on the outskirts of cities, land or brownfield sites – are polluted with hydrocarbons. Current legislation – reinforced recently by the ZAN (Zero Net Land Take) initiative – requires these areas to be decontaminated so they can be recovered for alternative use. However, existing solutions struggle to decontaminate these sites quickly, at reasonable cost, in an environmentally-friendly way, and without transporting the pollution elsewhere. The Terdepol project focuses on developing and dimensioning an industrial process comprising the leaching of hydrocarbon-polluted soils directly on site, following their excavation. Leaching uses an original, reusable surfactant that offers unparalleled performance in terms of hydrocarbon separation from the soil, without chemical reaction and without contaminating the surrounding environment. Requiring few or no operators, once this automatic process has been applied, the hydrocarbons are recovered and the cleaned soil is returned directly to its source. The team developing the Terdepol project comprises two civil engineering and industrial decontamination specialists, Yves Greinke and Olivier Kobloth; two university lecturers in mechanical engineering and materials science at the Icube Laboratory (French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) / University of Strasbourg): Yves Rémond (Distinguished Professor at the Strasbourg School of Chemistry) and Daniel George (Professor at the Télécom Physique Strasbourg engineering school); and Philippe Ackerer, CNRS Research Director specialising in fluids, geochemistry and pollution of hydrosystems in Strasbourg, who also works at the ITES (Strasbourg Institute of Land and Environment) Laboratory (CNRS / University of Strasbourg / ENGEES (National School for Water and Environmental Engineering)).
TerraNeon
As we look to effectively tackle global warming and preserve biodiversity, there are currently no tools providing systemic evaluation of potential solutions and taking into account all the essential dimensions. The TerraNeon project has enabled the development of a tool to simulate the actual systemic impact of a decision or measure. Using a new form of collaborative AI – multi-agent simulation – this software solution assesses the impacts of human activities on the environment, economy and society. The multi-agent simulator allows various solutions to be tested, comparing their environmental impact, their cost and their social acceptability, based on scientific indicators. The comprehensive systemic approach assesses the impact on individuals, society, the economy, climate and biodiversity. Currently, a macroscopic tool is modelling all economic activities in France to scale, along with their impacts on the climate and biodiversity. An initial demonstrator has been produced to assess the energy production mix in France, with a view to finding the optimum balance between nuclear and renewable energies. The team includes two scientists, Jean-Daniel Kant and Cédric Herpson from the LIP6 Computer Science Research Laboratory (French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) / Sorbonne University), and two PhD students (Mael Francesschetti and Tristan Bersoux). They work alongside industry experts and public institutions and have already achieved significant, internationally-recognised results in the field of simulating human activities.
Voltify
Electronic devices are becoming increasingly compact. However, the energy density of existing micro-batteries and micro-capacitors on the market is too limited to allow them to operate at maximum capacity. At submillimetre scale, even the smallest battery often accounts for over 50% of a device’s volume and compromises both its miniaturisation and autonomy. Founded in 2023, the new venture Voltify has developed compact energy storage technology enabling these components to achieve unprecedented geometric density. This technology is fully patented by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and is based on assembling selected materials to address safety and environmental issues (rechargeable, solid-state) on a 3D silicon structure (3D microstructured substrate). With this, energy densities of between 15–250 times their commercial equivalents can be obtained, with manufacturing processes enabling large-scale manufacturing. Several applications are possible in the fields of health (particularly implants) and the environment (miniature sensors for surveillance and monitoring). The five members of the founding team are researchers Maxime Hallot (CEO), Kévin Robert (CTO), their thesis supervisor Christophe Lethien at IEMN: (Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, University of Lille), Pascal Roussel (UCCS: Unit for Catalysis and Solid-State Chemistry at the University of Lille) and Cedric Chazel (LRCS: Laboratory of Reactivity and Chemistry of Solids at the University of Picardy).
Please note: Voltify is the new name for the Hileores project (Highly integrated energy storage miniaturised devices on enhanced substrates) which has won several awards: i-PhD 2022, French Tech Rise 2023 and i-Lab 2024.
