The French startup scene, and in particular the French tech arena, has been garnering a huge amount of attention of late. The French government’s championing of the new wave of entrepreneurs along with an overhaul of the archaic business system means French startups are able to make big waves not only on national soil, but also globally.
The French tech ecosystem has shown extraordinary growth, with the latest figures showing €8.3 billion raised in 2023 which has helped solidify its status as Europe’s biggest innovation hub for startups. (Take a look at our article The best cities for tech startups in France.)
Artificial Intelligence Startups
French startups are gaining ground due to the engineering talent pool and innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. Xavier Niel, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Paris-based Station F, one of the world’s biggest startup hubs, has also recently ploughed funding into Kyutai, an Artificial Intelligence hub in the capital, which will be working with French students to forward research into the AI area.
Other main players in French AI startups are:
- Hugging Face: a French-American startup that helps companies develop and share machine learning code. Founded by three French engineers with the majority of employees based in Paris.
- Photoroom: an AI-powered photo-editing app (famous customers include Warner Bros, Bvlgari and Hennessy).
- Mistral AI: Paris-based AI-powered services, founded by French engineers from Google and Meta.
- Dust: AI-powered assistants focused on improving team productivity.
- Poolside: originally a US company that relocated to Paris, bringing with it their ChatGPT-like tool that can write software code.
Healthcare startups
France has one of the world’s best healthcare systems, and their tech scene is capitalising on that reputation by pioneering new treatments and enhancing patient care delivery. Below are some main tech healthcare players in the sector:
- Resilience: a mobile app to monitor cancer patient care, founded by two of France’s most respected entrepreneurs Céline Lazorthes and Jonathan Benhamou.
- Nabla: developer of the Nabla Copilot, an AI assistant for doctors that automatically generates clinical notes.
- Owkin: a French medtech startup that harnesses AI to accelerate drug discovery and develop diagnostic tools.
- Lifen: helping practitioners to send and receive medical documents efficiently and facilitate improved diagnosis.
Fintech Startups
When it comes to finance, France’s fintech startups can also stand with the world’s best. Main players in the fintech scene are:
- Agicap: Lyon-based cash flow forecasting software company launched CashCollect, its accounts receivables automation; Payment, its accounts payables automation; and Spend Management to help companies better manage their expenses.
- Swile: an employee benefits startup which also expanded to business travel since it acquired Paris-based company Okarito.
- Pennylane: an all-in-one accounting software startup that became France’s latest unicorn in February 2024.
- Pigment: a business planning software designed to replace the need for spreadsheets to analyse KPIs and craft business plans.
Climate Tech Startups
Cleantech and Greentech have been part of the French vocab in startups for many years. (See our article How to start a cleantech business in France). Upcoming climate tech companies that are in the fight to halt climate change include:
- Verkor: French giant Renault backed this battery builder for electric vehicles and energy-storage sites.
- Dioxycle: transforms CO2 emissions into high-value, sustainable chemicals, and decarbonizing everyday products.
- Jimmy: designs and operates small nuclear reactors to produce decarbonized heat for industrial processes.
The French Tech programme
Helping tech companies like these is the government’s French Tech programme. Last year it rebranded itself as French Tech Next40/120, aiming to support 120 of the most innovative and successful startups in France. These startups need to show strong economic performance and potential to take the business to a global status. In exchange, the French Tech mission is to support the startups for a whole year, guiding them through the developmental challenges of expanding the business.
The programme has been going since 2019 and 93% of the last round of successful applicants claimed the system was a real asset to their development and progress. The support French Tech provides includes a dedicated manager who helps to identify any issues the startup may be encountering, finding solutions with a myriad of top contacts (including Bpifrance, Business France, Banque de France and Agence de l’innovation en santé and 60 French government departments). These contacts can help with not only financial and business advice, but also legal issues.
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The programme also allows the startup founders to take part in initiatives that can raise their company profile, both in France and abroad, as well as access to French Tech Mission events that can help with recruitment, finances, diversity, international development and growth.
However, the funding criteria is now extremely exclusive – only startups that have achieved the Holy Grail of Unicorn status by garnering at least €1 billion in value (although unicorns will no longer benefit from automatic admission as in previous years) or those that have managed to raise more than €100 million in the previous 3 years, have a chance to apply. To move onto the next round of funding, they have to have raised at least €40 million or achieved sales of at least €10 million and annualised growth of 25% over 3 years.
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The other criteria that has to be met to achieve application status are that companies must have their head office in France and must not be listed on the stock exchange; the company cannot be more than 20 years old; and a document that lays out the company’s carbon footprint of no less than 3 years old must be included in the application.
The future of French tech
As we can see from the huge amount of innovation and investment in these top-tier French tech companies, France doesn’t have a problem coming up with inspiring, workable and profitable products. But the big challenge for French startups is their distribution and funding on a global level, especially to the US market.
If you’re looking to launch your French startup with an eye to the international market, and especially US market, and need help with legalities and paperwork, feel free to contact us on 0033 (0) 1 53 57 49 10 or email us through our contact page. You can also download our free guides below.
