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Citizen Capital strengthens its agroecological support
ELAN Terres Agricoles: Citizen Capital strengthens its agroecological support with CDC Biodiversité
In brief: operational since the summer of 2025 following a first closing of €40M, the ELAN farmland holding fund (managed by Citizen Capital) unveiled at the 2026 Paris International Agricultural Show a partnership with CDC Biodiversité, a division of the Caisse des Dépôts group. The goal: to give the farmers it supports access to the AgriBEST self-assessment tool, with enhanced monitoring for around 40% of the portfolio.
This article summarises the piece published in Private Equity Magazine on 16 March 2026, “Citizen Capital renforce le volet d’accompagnement de son fonds Elan”.
What are the two objectives of the ELAN fund?
The ELAN fund pursues two complementary objectives: supporting a new generation of farmers as they set up by helping them acquire the land their business needs, and supporting the agroecological transition of those farms once established. The partnership with CDC Biodiversité falls under this second objective.
What does the partnership with CDC Biodiversité involve?
The agreement gives farmers supported by ELAN access to AgriBEST, the open-source self-assessment tool for farming practices co-developed by CDC Biodiversité and La Coopération Agricole Ouest. Through a charter, farmers commit to using the tool to assess the impact of their practices on biodiversity — a self-assessment that takes 30 to 45 minutes and is based on 15 biodiversity-related factors on the farm.
How is agroecological monitoring strengthened for some farmers?
Beyond the initial AgriBEST self-assessment, some of the farmers supported will be offered additional assessments to check that their agroecological trajectories are being followed over time. Antoine Vedrenne, the Citizen Capital partner in charge of the Agriculture strategy, estimates that “around 40% of our portfolio would be covered by this second component.”
Where does the ELAN fund stand in 2026?
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| First closing | €40M |
| Current fundraising target | €80M |
| Transactions targeted overall | ~100 |
| Amount per transaction | €150,000 to €400,000 |
| Applications received to date | ~15 |
| Applications approved by the investment committee | 4 |
| Share of the portfolio covered by enhanced agroecological monitoring | ~40% (estimate by Antoine Vedrenne) |
FAQ — The ELAN fund and the AgriBEST partnership
What is the ELAN Terres Agricoles fund? A farmland holding fund managed by Citizen Capital, with two objectives: making it easier for a new generation of farmers to access land, and supporting the agroecological transition of the farms it backs.
What is AgriBEST? A free, open-source tool for self-assessing the biodiversity performance of farming practices, co-developed by CDC Biodiversité and La Coopération Agricole Ouest, which takes 30 to 45 minutes to complete and is based on 15 biodiversity-related factors on the farm.
What is CDC Biodiversité’s role in this partnership with ELAN? CDC Biodiversité makes its AgriBEST tool available to the farmers supported by ELAN, as part of a partnership designed to strengthen the fund’s support on the agroecological transition.
How many transactions does the ELAN fund plan to make? The fund is targeting around one hundred transactions, each worth between €150,000 and €400,000. Four applications have already been approved by its investment committee, out of some fifteen received to date.
How much has the ELAN fund raised so far? After a first closing of €40M, the fund is continuing its fundraising towards an €80M target.
Summary based on the article “Citizen Capital renforce le volet d’accompagnement de son fonds Elan”, published in Private Equity Magazine on 16 March 2026.
