DiamFab bets big on diamond semiconductors to power EVs and clean energy, Paris overtakes London as Europe’s top startup hub, 300 orgs push for digital sovereignty, Maya Noël honored for tech advocacy, and Veesion leads funding with a €38M AI theft detection raise.
A pioneering startup is harnessing synthetic diamonds to revolutionize power electronics. With unmatched thermal and voltage properties, DiamFab aims to outperform silicon carbide, accelerating EVs, renewables, and the global energy transition.
Exclusively for Paid Subscribers: The latest filings for new AI-related companies in France, plus AI startups selected for incubators and accelerators.
Dailymotion buys Mojo, a French AI-powered video creation app. Greenbids joins Perion Network for sustainable advertising. AI tracks surge on Deezer, while Atos unveils a €500M AI plan. Jean Zay supercomputer gets a power boost, and Le Monde partners with Perplexity AI.
Backed by €40 million in funding, CEO Khaled Maalej believes the company is set to disrupt the AI hardware market with its Jotunn8 chip, leveraging a fabless model and advanced chiplet architecture to slash the cost of deploying large language models and generative AI at scale.
Other startups that raised a round between May 12 and May 16 include: Plakar, Alta Ares, and Legapass.
Devialet faces severe financial losses, while Alice & Bob plans a $50M quantum lab. Younited acquires eco-friendly neobank Helios, and BlaBlaCar expands into train ticket sales.
Also: Meet Gigi, an AI matchmaker that scrapes your digital footprint to recommend connections for business, networking, and dating -- whether you asked it to or not. The Black Mirror-esque platform, already backed by Sequoia, OpenAI, and Monashees.
Despite government initiatives and the Paris Summit, France's AI startup ecosystem is struggling to secure funding in 2025, raising just $372 million so far compared to $2.8 billion in 2024. With fewer big rounds and declining deal volume, France lags behind the UK and Germany in AI investment.
Only 4 startups raised from May 5 to May 9 amid the slow French holiday season.
The native of Sète has risen from this seaside fishing town to become one of the top players at tech's most influential company. As CEO of applications, she also now stands as one of the most prominent Frenchies in tech.
Topics: AI breakthroughs across medicine, law, and engineering—from outperforming neurologists in diagnosis to smart energy systems, legal term extraction, and translation—plus philosophical and cultural reflections on AI, media, fairness, and ethics.
Also: With a fresh €36.36 million late-stage funding round and a bold new AI chip ready for market, VSORA is emerging as a flagship of Europe’s deep tech ecosystem, poised to challenge industry giants in performance and efficiency.
Startups that raised from April 28 to May 2 also include: Chipiron, Dark, Reelevant, Next Generation, Inicio, Chenevia, Sitowie, Aéronde, Chloé in the Sky, Ogalo, and Cooloc.
Poppins fresh €5m round to treat Dyslexia with a musical video game; Bpifrance CEO refuses to bend the regulatory knee.
Six months after announcing a Series F funding round of €173 million at a €4 billion valuation, the French insurtech is accelerating its embrace of AI to transform its operations and products.
