IZIgroup acquires Pollinium: corporate beekeeping becomes the IZIgreen division

IZIgroup, the Lyon specialist in human–wildlife interaction

Founded in 2013 and based in Lyon's 6th arrondissement, IZIgroup has built itself around an unusual speciality — the interaction between people and living organisms — serving companies and local authorities, from invasive-species management to biodiversity conservation. Chaired by its founder and scientific director Romain Lasseur, the privately held group employs around forty people in France, with a strong presence in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and passed EUR 3 million in revenue as early as 2022. It is organised into four divisions: IZInovation (supporting industrial projects from idea to regulatory phase), IZIPest (the reference training centre for pest control), IZIDiag (independent continuous-improvement audits) and now IZIgreen. Its strategy is a long-published roadmap — growing through acquisitions to diversify its portfolio of activities — which this deal executes by founding, through the acquisition of Pollinium, the group's ecological-transition division.

Pollinium, the corporate beekeeping specialist

Based in Fareins, in the Ain department on the outskirts of Lyon, and active across the Lyon metropolitan area, Pollinium has specialised in corporate beekeeping since 2013: installing and running apiaries in urban settings and on business premises to protect pollinating insects, combining ecology and education. Its distinctive asset is its installed base, as published by the acquirer: more than 350 hives deployed across 70 companies — a key player in protecting bees and biodiversity, recognised in Lyon after more than ten years of work. Continuity is that of the mission, set in stone at the announcement: now operating under the IZIgreen banner, the business will roll out a national network of apiaries and support beekeepers as well as ESATs (sheltered-employment organisations) — environmental conservation combined with social inclusion.

What the press said

The deal, announced in March 2025 and made official with the launch of the division in May, is documented by the acquirer's press release, the sector's trade press and Lyon's business press:

Why this acquisition, and why this target

For IZIgroup, the aim was to write the positive side of its scientific territory: after managing invasive species — regulating the wildlife that causes harm — came biodiversity conservation — serving the wildlife that pollinates. The strategy was published at the group's tenth anniversary by its chairman and founder Romain Lasseur: “grow the group through acquisitions that will diversify our portfolio of activities” — and this deal executes it to the letter by founding an entire division on an acquisition. IZIgreen was born from the purchase of Pollinium, with the mission of putting ecological issues at the heart of corporate projects — concrete, measurable solutions rather than cosmetic initiatives, all the way to CSRD and ESG non-financial reporting.

On the target side, Pollinium brought what no organic launch can offer: established credibility. More than ten years of corporate beekeeping and over 350 hives in 70 companies — a reference base that made IZIgreen an established player from day one rather than a promise — plus complete know-how combining installation, animation and education, and local roots in Lyon that echo the group's own. Its model also carries a published social dimension — support for beekeepers and ESATs — that extends the division's CSR purpose: for management teams looking for concrete, measurable and visible action, an apiary is the most tangible biodiversity commitment there is — and its long-standing operator is the guarantee that makes it credible.

Biodiversity is becoming a business-services market

This deal illustrates the birth of a market: biodiversity, long a matter of conviction, is becoming a reporting obligation. The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and ESG frameworks require companies to measure and publish their non-financial commitments, while public tenders build in sustainability requirements and employer branding rewards visible action. Around this demand, a still largely artisanal supply of services is taking shape — professional beekeepers, associations, micro-businesses in eco-grazing and apiaries — which business-services groups are starting to consolidate: the first to industrialise the offering, adding compliance and measurement, takes the position of single point of contact.

The deal is also a story of local consolidation serving a national ambition: the Lyon group buys the established specialist just outside the metropolis, in the Ain, and immediately publishes its roadmap — a national network of apiaries, backed by partner beekeepers and ESATs, combining social inclusion with conservation. For the regional economy, the acquisition anchors in Lyon a centre of applied ecological transition; for the group, it continues the method documented in this collection — plant health with Cotesia, then biodiversity with Pollinium: the spectrum of human–wildlife interaction is completed one acquisition at a time, in line with the roadmap published in 2023.

Collaboration Capital's added value on this buy-side mandate

On this deal, Collaboration Capital acted as buy-side adviser. A founding acquisition — one that creates a division — plays out in four stages, and the emerging market for biodiversity services imposes its own codes on each of them.