We went to meet Hadrien, a customer of Anticafé Strasbourg and the young founder of NIU, an activist and eco-friendly sunscreen!
Hello Hadrien, who are you, where are you from?
I am an entrepreneur, I am 25 years old and I come from Strasbourg. I am in love with nature and especially the oceans, which made me want to become a freediver early on!
You launched Niu, a start-up of eco-friendly sunscreens, can you tell us more about it?
Together with Corentin Boisselier, I founded a start-up company specializing in the development of eco-friendly cosmetics, and then we launched NIU this year. NIU is what we like to call an activist and eco-friendly sunscreen. We strived to develop a product that is as healthy for us as it is for the environment, by focusing part of our investments on environmental actions from the very beginning. Thanks to our sales, we can finance research, but also coral reef projects, beach clean-ups, plastic recycling… we also like to allow the associations we work with to meet each other, and to give more dimension to their actions by setting them up together. We’re like the Tinder of ecology!
Your crowdfunding campaign has blown up, how do you explain this craze?
It’s true that with nearly €30.000 instead of the €3000 requested, we were pretty surprised. To be honest, we expected to have to push people more to take an interest in ecology, but we were wrong. Mentalities are really changing, and in addition to supporting our developments and actions to the fullest, we realize that it is not just consumers who are buying our products, but a real community of people who are committed and bound by the same values. And I think that’s our greatest pride.
You regularly come to work at Anticafé Strasbourg, what do you find there?
Latte Macchiato frappés that are far too addictive! And more seriously, I find a real place to work there. Not just any coffee shop with wooden tables and chairs, or worn-out benches and a constant background noise. But a real cocoon to focus, with small places all different but all comfortable, peace and quiet, a lovely team… I love this place!
How would you describe Anticafé?
For me, Anticafé is a bit like the second office of any good entrepreneur.
Visit the Anticafé Strasbourg page!
