The canticles of quanta

Head to Reugny, a town located twenty kilometers from Tours. Leaving the village by the departmental road, it is impossible to miss the Château de La Vallière, a regional emblem steeped in history. Built step by step between the 16th and 19th centuries, it is a witness to the architectural progress of the Renaissance. Around this building, a forest area of about twenty hectares is about to see the birth of a new symbol of deeptech innovation: Da Vinci Labs.

By welcoming entrepreneurs and research teams, this space, whose construction will begin in 2024, is intended to be the cradle of creative synergies. At the origin of this project, the entrepreneur Xavier Aubry has one objective: to highlight disruptive innovations in the service of the environment. And near an emblem of a technological transition from another time, all you have to do is be inspired to contribute to a modern scientific renaissance.

Like the inventor from whom the project takes its name, Da Vinci Labs focuses on the mixture of disciplines. Among all the sectors likely to be able to work for the environmental cause, 3 main areas have been selected. Xavier Aubry presents them: “Quantum technologies, to meet the needs of developing our computing power, while reducing the energy consumption attributed to this task. Artificial intelligence and what it allows in simulation for decision-making assistance, and finally biotechnologies, essential for direct action on the environment.”

Mixing disciplines is nothing new; it is a very common approach in many startup incubators. The uniqueness of Da Vinci Labs is that it brings together entrepreneurs and research organizations in one place. “It is necessary to create bridges between research and entrepreneurship” declares Xavier Aubry “For questions of exploiting discoveries with high potential, and ultimately for a question of technological sovereignty”.

Here, interdisciplinarity is the key word. According to the founder, it is an essential concept in the development of new solutions, which has too often been ignored in the past. “Traditionally, we have focused a lot on highly specialized careers, which has created divides between disciplines.” Optimistic, he nevertheless affirms that “Things are changing, more and more multidisciplinary engineering profiles are emerging, and everyone is becoming more versatile.”

Business or research project, each initiative that can be supported is different, with its history, its expertise, but also its needs. To best support everyone, Da Vinci Labs will offer several solutions, ranging from “Classic Consulting” explains the entrepreneur, “to financial participation, including the contribution of new profiles to the teams [...] Depending on the structure, each initiative may require logistical, commercial, scientific, or other support.”

Even if Da Vinci Labs has not yet inaugurated its physical site, it is already participating in European collaborative research projects. This is particularly the case with the Swiftt project, which is developing satellite forest surveillance technologies based on artificial intelligence capable of acting early to anticipate certain threats. A project financed by the European Union and supported by Da Vinci Labs, which always has the same objective: to bring out future champions of deeptech.

Xavier Aubry is not the only one who has this goal. In France, the Deeptech Plan deploys a budget of 3 billion euros, with the aim of making the country a global reference in this field. According to Bpifrance, nearly 250 deeptech startups were created in France in 2021, 26% more than the previous year. For his part, Xavier Aubry sees the future with optimism, and declares that “we are catching up in terms of AI and synthetic biology, in addition to having real expertise in quantum technologies.” In other words, we have the means to get a head start, all we have to do is take action!