How to integrate sustainable development at the heart of the company's activity? Thomas André, founder of Dynveo, alumni and winner of the "Young Innovative and Responsible Company" award in 2013, explains
What is the “Young Innovative and Responsible Company” Award?
In this complex context for entrepreneurs and SMEs, MBS renews its commitment to support these companies in their development and transition. Each year, the Montpellier Business School Foundation for Equal Opportunities organises the “Young Innovative and Responsible Company” Award to financially support a start-up with a positive societal and/or environmental impact.
Our goal is to support MBS entrepreneurs who are committed to a more sustainable world.
Aimed at MBS student entrepreneurs and graduates of less than three years, the ” Young Innovative and Responsible Company ” Prize assesses the financial realism, the quality of the business plan, the innovative dimension and the promotion of openness, responsibility and global performance of the project.
In 2013, the prize was won by Thomas André, with the company that has now become Dynveo, a laboratory of organic food supplements without excipients or additives, marketed in 100% compostable bottles.
Thomas is true to his convictions and places health and respect for the environment at the heart of his business model.
Thomas’ great entrepreneurial journey began in 2010 during an internship in Ireland. “It was during this first experience that I realised that e-commerce made it easy to showcase your product while operating at lower costs. “explains the entrepreneur. “At that time, I decided to launch myself into e-commerce following this internship while I was still a student. So I chose the food supplements market. However, I soon realised that the market did not offer what I would like to consume myself. That’s how I came up with organic food supplements, without excipients or additives, that respect my environmental convictions. “Thomas adds.
After winning the award, Thomas went on to develop his company and became profitable in 2015, a pivotal year for the entrepreneur who founded a second company, Greencaps, to internalise production. “The life of an entrepreneur is long and complicated. For several years, I couldn’t earn a salary and I was on welfare (“RSA” or Revenu de Solidarité Active ). After this first year of profitability, and by dint of perseverance and most importantly hard work, I was able to achieve a turnover of
€600,000 in 2017. “
With a turnover of several million euros today, Thomas remains focused and continues to work on the ecological transition of companies. “We were among the first in France to launch 100% compostable packaging for our products. Our facilities are equipped with photovoltaic panels to achieve energy self-sufficiency and we continue to work on the extraction and control of our raw materials in order to be in a continuous improvement process and to respect our commitment to the environment and health. In the coming months, Thomas plans to expand his business and market his products in international markets and through physical outlets. Stay tuned!
