The context
The number of farmers has been in continuous decline for several years, while more than 50% of them are over 50 years old. Many are those who have to manage cash flow difficulties and are having a hard time making ends meet at the end of the month (a third are earning less than €350 per month).
At the same time, following the 2008 economic crisis, a new method of financing has been developed, called "crowdfunding". It is an exchange of funds between individuals outside the traditional circuits, in order to finance a project via an online platform. In France, this type of financing is governed by a 2014 ordinance.
At the end of 2014, wanting to allow farmers to benefit from the advantages of crowdfunding, Florian Breton, son of a winegrower, created MiiMOSA, the first platform dedicated exclusively to agricultural and food projects.
The project
MiiMOSA offers two funding packages for agricultural and food projects:
The "matching gift" model was originally developed for projects: the general public can financially support a project in exchange for products, services or experiences offered by the project leader.
After 3 years, the platform also set up the "interest-bearing loan" which allows the general public to invest their savings in a project in exchange for a repayment with interest (between 3 and 6% interest). This makes it possible to support projects that are a little larger in terms of amounts.
In addition to citizens, and since 2019, companies can also participate directly in the financing of these agricultural and food transition projects: Danone, Nestlé, Airbnb and GRDF (France’s leading natural gas distribution operator) thus provide financial support for larger-scale projects.
In 2020 Miimosa will create a debt fund ("Agir ensemble") that should reach 50 million euros to enable farmers to obtain financing ranging from 15,000 to 1 million euros in a simple way, with just a few clicks, compared to 1,000 to 70,000 euros until now. It will thus be the first debt fund in France dedicated to the agricultural, food and energy transition.
"In view of the stakes and challenges of the 21st century (food, environment, climate), the agro-ecological and energy transition must change scale. Rethinking our agricultural and agri-food model cannot be done without rethinking the financing of these sectors. The launch of the "Agir ensemble" debt fund will bring speed and flexibility to those involved in the transition and opens up new prospects for accelerating it. "Florian BRETON, Founder and President of MiiMOSA.
Beyond an alternative to traditional finance, which is often an obstacle in the agricultural and food sectors, MiiMOSA is also a place for exchange, sharing and solidarity.
- Results :
3500 projects have been supported
35 m€ collected
250,000 members
85% success rate
The little extra
MiiMOSA launches in 2020 the second edition of its "farmshop", a call for projects which concerns producers, craftsmen, food entrepreneurs and which aims to reward 10 winners in order to market their products in ephemeral stores in Lyon and Paris! To find out more, click here: https://farmshop.miimosa.com
Last modification : 12 Nov 2020.
MiiMOSA
MiiMOSA propose deux offres de financement pour les projets agricoles et alimentaires :
Le modèle du “don avec contrepartie” était au départ du projet : le grand public peut soutenir financièrement un projet en échange de produits, de services ou d'expériences offerts par le porteur de projet.
Après 3 ans, la plateforme a également mis en place le “prêt rémunéré” qui permet au grand public d’investir son épargne dans un projet, en échange d’un remboursement avec intérêt (entre 3 et 6% d’intérêts). Cela permet d’accompagner des projets un peu plus importants en terme de montants.