The French scale-up founded in 2014, part of the Tech For Good movement, has closed a new funding round of €15 million.
Phenix will strengthen its leadership position in Europe and accompany more and more professionals towards zero food waste, while embodying a new growth model, fair, sustainable and more profitable.
According to the FAO, one third of the world’s food is lost or wasted along the food chain, representing a total amount of 1.3 billion tons per year. In 2014, Phenix was founded by Jean Moreau and Baptiste Corval, two French entrepreneurs, with the aim of putting an end to this social, environmental and economic disaster. To carry out this mission, Phenix has developed five proprietary tech solutions and already saved more than 200 million meals from the bin. With this new round of financing, Phenix intends to strengthen its leadership position in Europe and aims to become the go-to partner for supermarkets, industrials, wholesalers and food producers who are aspiring to put the fight against food-waste at the heart of their strategy.
15 million euros for greater social and environmental impact
Phenix welcomes three new climate tech investors: the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, which invests in startups acting for the ecological transition, BNP Paribas Asset Management through a fund dedicated to the social and solidarity economy, and Lombard Odier Investment Managers Sustainable Investments, through their Private Equity franchise. Phenix has also been able to count on the renewed support of its historical shareholders who confirm their confidence in the management team by also participating in this new round: INCO Ventures, ETF Partners, Danone Manifesto Ventures, and the Smart Cities Fund managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French government as part of France 2030.
This new round confirms the economic attractiveness of Phenix for investors who want to put impact at the heart of their investments.
“The implementation of solutions to promote the circular economy and the fight against waste have become major ecological and societal challenges. At a time when more than 30% of the world’s food is thrown away, responsible consumption and production have become essential to ensure sustainable development. Phenix’ innovative technological solutions allow to move from observation to action. By connecting supermarkets, industrials, wholesalers, and food producers with nonprofit organizations and consumers to reach zero waste, Phenix has established itself as one of the leaders in the anti-food waste market and is rapidly increasing its client footprint. We are thrilled to support Phenix’ talented team as they grow the company, with the goal of making zero waste the new market standard.” – Laura Wirsztel, Partner of the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture fund.
“Since our investment in 2018 alongside Bpifrance, Phenix has kept innovating to help retailers reduce food waste and has delivered significant growth. We are very pleased to see impact investors such as BNP Paribas Solar Impulse and Lombard Odier joining in this financing round”. – Fabrice Bienfait, Partner, ETF Partners.
Moving towards a sustainable growth model
Phenix is proud to announce this new round of financing, demonstrating the resilience of its economic model, very much in line with a sobriety approach. The objective of this funding round is to multiply the social and environmental impact of Phenix in Europe, where 88 million tons of food are wasted each year, and to continue demonstrating that a new generation of committed companies is on the rise and wants to change the world.
Already present in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium, Phenix intends to strengthen its presence in these countries by proposing tech solutions to address all the value chain, from farm to fork. With this financial support, Phenix hopes to achieve the goal of 10 million downloads on its anti-food waste mobile app and save one billion meals by 2024. Phenix dreams of joining the young promising family of “impact unicorns” soon, not only based on financial valuation criterion, but also on its inherent significant extra-financial impact.
“At a time when investors are looking less for hypergrowth than for a path to profitability, this round confirms the relevance and strength of Phenix’s economic model. We will build on incredible progress on our social and environmental impact while maintaining a sustainable, balanced growth model, which, in my opinion, will become the standard in the years to come” – Jean Moreau, Co-founder and President of Phenix.
About Phenix
Today, tons of daily products are wasted and yet millions of people do not have enough. To avoid throwing away what is useful to others, Phenix is an impact start-up that develops TechForGood solutions to never waste unsold products.
Founded in 2014 by Jean Moreau and Baptiste Corval, Phenix offers efficient, human, and digital solutions that benefit everyone. In 8 years, we have built an ecosystem of solutions with all the anti-waste players: farmers, wholesalers, food manufacturers, retailers, restaurant owners, collective catering players, greengrocers, bakers, etc.
So far, with our 30,000 partners and customers, we have managed to redistribute 330,000 tons of unsold food, or 200 million meals. And because our French touch must be exported wherever there is food waste, we have already expanded our activity in 6 countries. And it’s just the beginning!
Phenix is an ESUS (Entreprise Solidaire d’Utilité Sociale) and a B Corp company.
Press contact:
Clément CARREAU – +33 6 99 53 59 66 / clement@wearephenix.com
About BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund:
The BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, which is the result of a partnership between BNP Paribas and the Solar Impulse Foundation, invests in start-ups and scale-ups with high growth potential committed to the ecological transition, in order to accelerate their development. Targeted sectors include the energy transition, sustainable agriculture and food, the circular economy, water and ocean management, smart cities, sustainable mobility and industrial innovation. The BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund is managed by BNP Paribas Agility Capital, a management company wholly owned by BNP Paribas.
About BNP Paribas Asset Management:
BNP Paribas Asset Management (“BNPP AM”) is the asset management business of BNP Paribas, a leading European banking group with an international reach. BNPP AM’s priority is to deliver long-term sustainable returns to its clients, based on a distinctive sustainable investment philosophy. BNPP AM’s investment management teams focus their development on 5 key areas of expertise: high conviction active strategies, private debt, multi-asset and quantitative investments, emerging markets and liquidity solutions, and integrate quantitative and fundamental analysis into their investment processes.
BNPP AM places sustainable investment at the heart of its strategy and investment decisions. Positioned among the leaders in thematic investment, BNPP AM actively contributes to the energy transition, environmental protection and the promotion of equality and inclusive growth. BNPP AM currently manages €500 billion in assets (€622 billion in assets under management and advised), benefits from the expertise of nearly 500 investment professionals and nearly 800 employees dedicated to client relations, and caters for individuals, companies and institutions in 67 countries.
Figures: BNPP AM, as of 30 June 2022
For more information, visit bnpparibas-am.com, our media room
BNP Paribas Press Contact:
Floriane DELABRE – +33 7 62 27 48 34 / Floriane.delabre@bnpparibas.com
About Lombard Odier Investment Managers:
CHF (as at 30 July 2022).
At Lombard Odier Investment Managers, we are rethinkers with one goal in mind. To provide our clients with outstanding investment solutions that meet their needs for the long term and evolve to thrive in the challenging world in which we all live.
We are focused investment specialists, seeking out investment opportunities that lie on less trodden paths, where our diverse and talented team can add genuine, persistent, value to our clients. We constantly rethink what we know and do, innovating to create new strategies and develop new ways of investing.
We believe that the next economic revolution has already begun and that sustainability will be a major driver of returns for the foreseeable future and beyond. For those with the skills to adapt to this new reality, sustainability will create new sources of alpha, open up new investment opportunities and lead to enhanced return and reduced portfolio risk.
Our team of sustainability experts combine sophisticated data sources, academic rigour and technical innovation to create leading-edge, science-based tools that provide unique insights that are available to all our investment professionals.
These unique insights are reflected directly in our growing range of dedicated sustainable investment strategies that are aligned to this core belief – That our economic model must move from being Wasteful, Idle, Lopsided and Dirty to become Circular, Lean, Inclusive and Clean. We call this The CLIC ™ Economy.
With more than 180 investment professionals, we are a global business with a network of 13 offices across Europe, Asia and North America and have assets under management of 63 billion.
About ETF Partners:
Founded in 2006, ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience. Our funds come from institutional investors, global corporations, and family offices. We create value by investing in technology companies that make a difference. We call it Sustainability through Innovation.
Press contact:
Courtney Glymph / courtney@etfpartners.capital / +44 7867 488769
About INCO Ventures:
INCO Ventures is an expert venture capital Management Company and a pioneer in impact investing. It leverages nearly 200 million euros (through either managed or advised funds) and advises other funds (up to 400 million euros) on their impact measurement. INCO Ventures invests in the most promising start-ups of the new inclusive and sustainable economy.
With a portfolio of more than 100 companies across all sectors, INCO Ventures is a key player in the French impact ecosystem. The Management Company is accredited by the AMF.
INCO Ventures is part of INCO, a group dedicated to the impact economy with a presence on 5 continents through its training and incubation activities.
More information on www.ventures.inco-group.co
Press contact
Jacques Dasnoy / +33 6 48 27 63 89 / jacques@inco-group.co
About Danone Manifesto Ventures:
Danone Manifesto Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Danone, launched in 2016 with a mission to support the growth of innovative food and foodtech companies and partner with
entrepreneurs that share its vision of a healthy and sustainable future. Through its team, aligned with Danone’s mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible, Danone Manifesto Ventures makes financial investments and provides strategic and
operational support to its portfolio companies while preserving the autonomy required to
grow their entrepreneurial projects.
Danone Manifesto Ventures has invested in various companies including Harmless Harvest, Forager Project and Nature’s Fynd in the U.S., Michel et Augustin, Yooji and Nous Épiceries Anti-Gaspi in France, Moju and Minor Figures in the U.K., and Epigamia in India. In 2018, it became the first corporate venture unit to be independently certified as a B Corp.
For more information, go to www.danoneventures.com.
Press contact:
danone@dgm-conseil.fr / +33 1 40 70 11 89
About Bpifrance:
Bpifrance Investissement is the management company that handles Bpifrance’s equity investments. Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extra financial services (training, consultancy) to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…).
For more information, please visit: https://www.bpifrance.com/ Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance – @BpifrancePresse
About France 2030:
- Governed by Bruno Bonnell Secretary General of Investments (SGPI) on behalf of the Prime Minister. A double ambition: Sustainably transform our key economic sectors (energy, healthcare, automobile, aeronautics, space…) whilst increasing the competitivity of French companies in these respective sectors. France 2030 will support all cycles of innovation up until industrialisation: from research, to development of ideas, to prototypes, to production of new services and products.
- Unprecedent funding: €54 billion will be invested into companies, universities and research centers. France 2030 is in possession and has control over its €54 billion fund and will invest 50% of the budget into the decarbonisation of French economy and the latter 50% in sustainable innovations and ground-breaking technologies.
- Collective action: Strategic actions and plans will be thought of and deployed in coordination with economic actors, academia and field experts, as well as local and European institutions.
For more information: https://www.gouvernement.fr/france-2030
Press Contact:
Juliette Fontanillas / Tél. : 01 42 47 97 61 / juliette.fontanillas@bpifrance.fr
Raphaëlle Renaudin / raphaelle.renaudin@bpifrance.fr
