An interview with Aymeric Barthes and Gaëtan Severac, founders of Naïo Technologies, one of Forward Fooding’s top 500 Food Tech startups.

Aymeric Barthes and Gaëtan Severac, founders of Naïo Technologies

It’s time to put a face to the name…

We asked our FoodTech 500 top-runners to give us a bit of insight into how they started out as a company and their thoughts on the role of technology in Food innovation. Meet Aymeric and Gaëtan, the power-duo behind Naïo Technologies, a French Agtech company that designs, manufactures and markets farmbot solutions in close collaboration with farmers. Let’s see what the founders had to say.

So tell us a little bit more about you! Where did the idea for your FoodTech company come from?

Aymeric and Gaëtan: Once upon a time there was a robot born from an asparagus … The shortcut is a bit quick, but the story of Naïo Technologies’ robots does indeed take root at the Feast of Asparagus! During this celebration, a producer told me of his difficulties in finding labor due to the arduous nature of the work. As a robot enthusiast, I was surprised that no machine has yet been developed to assist farmers in these thankless and repetitive tasks. For his part, after leaving IMERIR, Aymeric Barthes leaves to work for an IT service company. But he quickly realizes that what he really wants is to start a business. In which domain ? That remains to be defined! So, when the two promo friends find themselves at an aperitif between “alumni” of their school, the pooling of these two projects seems obvious. They start with a simple task common to all farmers: weeding. A few tools, an old mower, a truck wiper motor, cart wheels and two-wheel tractor … and this is the ancestor of the Oz robot!

How is tech central to your business?

Aymeric and Gaëtan: Innovation & Technology are part of Naïo’s DNA: every decision and project are motivated by technology improvement to create a more sustainable agriculture.

Why do you think it’s important to see the food industry embrace tech?

Aymeric and Gaëtan: Food is at the center of our life. At Naïo, we believe that we should be able to provide everyone with quality food and enough quantity for all the planet. That’s why we believe in robotics for agriculture.

Want to know more? Check out Naïo Technologies’ full profile here.

Congratulations again to Naïo Technologies for ranking 5th in the “Agtech” category of the Foodtech 500 list.

To find out who else made it into the FoodTech 500; the top Food Tech companies in the world, click here.

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