ANVAR, the French Agency for Innovation (Agence Nationale de Valorisation de la Recherche), is a public institution with an industrial and commercial character, (EPIC), operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry (MINEFI), and of the Ministry responsible for Research and New Technology.

For more than 20 years, ANVAR has supported innovation projects of a technological nature, presenting concrete potential for marketing both in France and abroad.
The innovations can be entirely new, or contribute to improving existing techniques that allow products to be used in new ways.


The Agency intervenes at a point when finance is the most difficult to raise, and when potential risks are highest. In this way, the agency allows innovators to progress with their projects, and in some cases, it approaches investors looking for companies with a strong growth potential.

Through its know-how, the agency can provide engineering and support services to innovators – people setting up their own companies, or those from small and medium-sized businesses, industrial companies or laboratories. In the context of a global approach to a project, the agency can offer:

	Personal support - expertise and help with project management, assistance in finding suitable partners, promotion of the project;
	Risk-sharing financial support - an interest free loan that will be reimbursed if the project is successful, or capital financing (stock purchase warrants - bons de souscription d’actions) can be arranged in association with the private sector;
	Specific action - for the development of new products, procedures or services, the creation of innovative companies, recruitment (research and development staff), the transfer of technology, the raising of finance (new markets, FCPI – A French venture fund dedicated to making investments in innovative companies...) and European and international partners (PCRD – European Reference Research Programme, EUREKA – the European Intergovernmental Programme for Technological Co-operation and Support).