Elicit Plant: Redefining Agricultural Resilience with Nature’s Molecules
French AgTech startup Elicit Plant is making waves in the agricultural industry by offering a groundbreaking solution to one of the most pressing challenges of modern farming: water stress.
Founded in 2017 by Jean-François Déchant, Aymeric Molin, and Olivier Goulay, the company is based at a farm and research center situated in Vilhonneur near Angoulême. Its team of experts has pioneered the use of phytosterols – naturally occurring molecules derived from plants – as biostimulants to enhance crop resilience in the face of increasing climate variability.
With operations in more than a dozen countries, partnerships with major players like Bayer and BASF, and a recent €45 million fundraising to boost its expansion, Elicit Plant wants to become a global leader in sustainable agriculture. CEO Déchant hopes the company will become a leading climate resilience solution, helping farmers around the world to prevent crop loss.
Phytosterols: Unlocking the Plant’s Natural Defenses
Elicit Plant’s innovative approach is centered on phytosterols, molecules long recognized in scientific communities, the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries but until now, never used in large-scale agriculture. Derived from plant membranes, these bio-based lipids trigger metabolic responses that enable crops to better manage water scarcity. By encouraging plants to “use water more wisely,” phytosterols reduce water loss during transpiration and help crops maintain health during droughts or periods of irregular rainfall by encouraging root growth.
“Today’s weather patterns have become very difficult to predict for farmers. Either it rains too much – which depending on the crop, can lead to diseases, like mildew or septoria (leaf spot) – or it doesn’t rain enough," Déchant said. "Our treatment is preventative. It is like a vaccination – we spray it onto crops at the beginning of the season whether it will be needed or not."
Unlike genetic modification (GM) or gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR, Elicit Plant’s method doesn’t alter the plant’s DNA. Déchant claims that it is a natural, non-invasive approach that sidesteps the regulatory complexities of GM products while maintaining rigorous oversight to ensure safety and efficacy.
“We’re not like GMOs, which involve introducing new genes into the plant," he said. "Instead, we simply activate natural responses that already exist within the plant.”
According to Déchant, Elicit Plant’s products are unique—not only in their composition but also in their method of application. The company developed a proprietary emulsion specifically designed to enable plants to fully absorb phytosterols, maximizing their efficacy.
Bridging Innovation and Regulation
Elicit Plant’s biostimulants are classified under the European Union’s bio-stimulant regulations (EU 2019/1009), which focus on environmental safety, plant health, and efficacy. According to Déchant, achieving regulatory clearance in Europe took the company five years of rigorous testing, a testament to the stringent evaluation standards applied to biostimulants. These standards differ significantly from those governing GMOs (more on that here) but still require robust scientific validation.