Their audacity has paid off, six project promoters share €80,000. The charts in pictures …

The results have just been released. Alès Agglomeration, represented by its president, Max Roustan, organized an evening with great fanfare to close this second edition of the Alès Audace Competition. Video-clips, light and sound effects, small glass statuettes, audacity, there was some during this ceremony, even in its organization.

In short, there were more than 200 at the start, twice as many as last year, there were only 35 left in the final. And among these 35 projects, twelve received an award this Thursday evening under the very attentive gaze of the president of the CCI of Alès, Francis Cabanat, that of the Gard Chamber of Agriculture, Dominique Granier and the president of the Chamber of Gard Trades and Crafts, Serge Alméras. “Boldness is the recurring value of our Cévennes. It is an essential value to move forward,” declared Max Roustan with great pride, despite an unfavorable economic context for the city, whose unemployment rate has reached 16%. In all, six project leaders won the votes of the jury of the 2nd “Alès Audace” ideas competition. They share €80,000 in prize money. Four others were elected Coup de Coeur by the jury and two others received a special prize. A look back at the Alès Audace 2013 prize list.

Ex-aequo 1st prize – €20,000

Spirulina “Arc en Ciel”: establishment in the Prairie district of a spirulina production farm and associated marketing

Classified by the United Nations as a "food of the third millennium", as it contains almost all the nutrients the human body needs, spirulina detoxifies the organs and strengthens the immune system. Emilie Rousselou and Franck Lepinay will open a spirulina farm from July on a site in the Prairie district, i.e. 200 m2 of culture. The couple also plans to create an educational pool to accommodate school children.

Project leaders: Emilie Rousselou and Franck Lepinay – contact@spirulinearcenciel.fr

Ex-aequo 1st prize – €20,000

Card Pool: microbiological treatment and decontamination of water

Cristian Chis, Rémy Lapergue and Diego Penaranda have been working for three years on the development of a cartridge providing bactericidal treatment of water, without resorting to chemical treatments, such as chlorine or bromine used in spas and hot tubs. swimming pools. The heart of the innovation lies in the use of ceramic flakes supporting nano-composite materials with super germicidal surfaces. Housed inside a stainless steel cartridge, this ceramic through which fluids pass produces an ion exchange phenomenon that explodes bacteria, yeasts or algae. Decontamination is thus permanent. After two years of testing, the application is ready and the young innovative company has signed a first contract for a few units.

Project leader: Rémy Lapergue – lapergue.r@orange.fr

2nd Prize – €15,000

JetskE: design, manufacture and marketing of luxury electric jet skis for yachts.

Florent Vitiello has designed a prototype electric jet ski. An unusual idea that required two years of development, four hull prototypes and three others for the engine, in order to find the right balance of power, weight and weight distribution. Florent Vitiello is not a novice in the field of electric vehicles since he has been managing the company SEV based on the Pôle Mécanique d'Alès for four years, which manufactures eTricks electric mopeds. By targeting yacht owners, the 30-year-old Alésien is tackling a niche market and expects the sale of 40 units in the first year, 120 in the second year and 250 “Ceven jet skE” within three years. He also mentions the possibility of five to fifteen jobs created by then.

Project leader: Florent Vitiello – florent.vitiello@orange.fr

3rd Prize – €12,000

Main “Mechatronics”: design, manufacture and marketing of an automated vehicle joystick test device.

Christophe Bégué and Christophe Meyrueis have developed a device that could be of great interest to car manufacturers. The one-year project for the 7Tech company: a universal hand was needed to adapt to the different controllers manufactured, capable of reproducing gestures of rotation, impulse, pulling or pushing. The “Mechatronics” hand proposes to automate the tests on the controls (windscreen wipers, indicators, etc.) at the end of the automotive assembly line by linking it to the control computer. The project leaders believe that there is potential 160 “Mechatronics” hands per year around the world and hope to market 20 or 30.

Project leaders: Christophe Bégué – christophe.begue@7tech.fr and Christophe Meyrueis – christophe.meyrueis@7tech.fr

4th Prize – €8,000

Kinevolution: design, manufacture and marketing of a rehabilitation device for physiotherapists.

Marc Champsaur went through three years of development with English, Italian, French and German physiotherapists, then five years of development in Alès to perfect “Kinevolution”: a high-tech machine that can make patients perform more than a thousand fully configurable exercises, i.e. 70% of the acts performed by massage therapists. Intended for private practice or functional rehabilitation centers, Kinevolution is now ready to be marketed and has been certified as a “class 2 medical device” upon its release, which is extremely rare. Responding to a dozen European standards, protected by two international patents, Kinevolution has no competitors: “With twenty-three application innovations, this machine is eight years ahead of the market. explains its creator.

Project leader: Marc Champsaur – marc.champsaur@kinevolution.com

5th Prize – €5,000

Proto Concept Services: design, manufacture and marketing of electric leisure vehicles

Laurent Masip developed the “Fun 4 Teen” and “Easy 4 Moove”. Respectively, an electric recreational vehicle – a kind of kart intended more for children and teenagers – and a two-seater electric-assisted quadricycle – the “Rosalie” type. The electric motorization is provided by the company SEV based on the Mechanical Pole. The “Fun 4 Teen” and the “Easy 4 Moove” offer a battery life of two to three hours.

Project leader: Laurent Masip – contact@easy4move.com

Special Jury Prize (No bonus, but overall support for the process).

Cévennes Venaison: creation of a processing and sale unit for wild boar meat from the Cévennes.

Project leader: Raffo family – cevennesvenaison@gmail.com

Les Mijotés Cévenols: development of a range of food products for mass distribution based on recipes and products from the Cévennes.

Project leader: Mr. d’Ozenay – m.dozenay@senfas.com

Price at heart (No premium, but support on a case-by-case basis)

“Draft horse”: use of the horse for cleaning roads and public watering. Project leader: Mr. Andrieu – pat-a-traction@bbox.fr

“Vibration Clandestine”: edition of a free cultural newspaper distributed in more than 700 cultural outlets in France. Project leader: Mr. Comte – jeanmi.comte@hotmail.fr

“L’UZINE”: creation of rehearsal and recording rooms for music groups. Project leader: Mr. Restencourt – contact@luzine.net

“Wake up”: installation of a water ski lift in the Gardon. Project leader: Mr. Rey – wakeupales@hotmail.fr

“Aquazone”: mobile leachate treatment. Project leader: Mr. Lavedrine – jc.lavedrine@eau-pro.com

Raphaël MOTTE and Stephanie MARIN

contact@objectivegard.com