Unexo
Unexo is the regional private-equity and venture arm of nine Crédit Agricole banks in western France, founded in 1993. A generalist minority investor across the Grand Ouest, Unexo has backed water only twice: irrigation-data firm Weenat and AI water-efficiency company Purecontrol. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Unexo is the capital-investment arm of nine regional Crédit Agricole banks, and it is organised around a place rather than a theme: the Grand Ouest, the swathe of western France that runs from Normandy through Brittany down to the Pays de la Loire. Since 1993 Unexo has put money into the companies in its own backyard, family-owned SMEs (small and mid-sized firms), regional champions and buyouts (financing a change of ownership), always as a patient minority shareholder. Water turns up at Unexo the way most things do, because the company was already in the neighbourhood.
Unexo's two water bets both sit inside that regional logic. Weenat, founded in Nantes, builds connected weather stations and field sensors that tell farmers exactly when to irrigate, with water saved as the whole point; Unexo came in alongside fellow regional backers Litto Invest and Atlantique Vendée Innovation. Purecontrol, founded in Rennes in 2017, layers artificial intelligence over the pumps and valves of industrial sites to cut what they waste, and water management has grown to roughly four-fifths of what it does. Both companies are western-France natives, and Unexo backed them as the local money that already knows the ground.
Unexo runs its water bets out of one pocket, Unexo Capital Innovation, the venture arm that writes smaller cheques into Grand Ouest startups, and the investor who heads it, Jérémy Durand, sits on Purecontrol's board. By (don't) Waste Water's count Unexo is an Occasional water investor: two companies, both backed early as a minority partner, with no third water name yet. Expect any future water bet at Unexo to look like the first two, a regional company solving a regional problem, bought because it is useful nearby before it is interesting as a sector.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Unexo invest in?
- Unexo is a regional private-equity and venture fund that backs small and mid-sized companies across western France as a minority shareholder. Unexo is a generalist, funding development, ownership transfers and innovation. In water, Unexo has backed two startups: the irrigation-sensor firm Weenat and the AI efficiency company Purecontrol.
- Is Unexo part of Crédit Agricole?
- Unexo is the capital-investment subsidiary of nine regional Crédit Agricole banks in western France, with independent management of its own investments. Founded in 1993 and based in Rennes, Unexo invests across Brittany, Normandy, the Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes to keep decision-making and jobs in the region.
- What water companies has Unexo backed?
- Unexo has backed two water-related companies, both from western France. Weenat, of Nantes, makes connected agro-weather sensors that help farmers manage irrigation. Purecontrol, of Rennes, uses artificial intelligence to cut energy and water use on industrial sites, where water management is now most of its business.
- Where is Unexo based?
- Unexo is headquartered in Rennes, in Brittany, with further offices in Nantes, Caen and Rouen. From there Unexo covers the Grand Ouest of France: Brittany, Normandy, the Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes, the territory of the nine Crédit Agricole regional banks that own it.
- Is Unexo a venture capital fund?
- Unexo is part venture capital, part private equity. Through Unexo Capital Innovation it makes smaller, venture-style investments in Grand Ouest startups, while its larger activity is development capital and ownership transfers of established regional companies. Both of its water investments, Weenat and Purecontrol, came through the innovation arm.