ASML’s €1.3B stake in Mistral signals Europe’s boldest play yet to compete with U.S. AI giants, uniting the continent’s semiconductor crown jewel with its fastest-rising AI star in a bid for technological sovereignty.
Between September 8 and September 12, a total of 15 companies raised €2.04B, including: Scintil Photonics, NeoFarm, SafeHeal, Dianosic, Nucleon Security, Nepsis Energy, Gobano Robotics, Nona, Manitty, My Auto Specialist, NRGYS, and Zylio.
This week: Mistral hits decacorn mode, Kyron.bio takes on glyco chaos to make safer biologics, French Tech faces headwinds, Scintil Photonics scores €50M to scale its laser chips, and Quadrille raises €500M to back bold tech bets.
French start-ups navigate choppy waters as VC funding plummets 24% while employment surges 11.5%. The 2025 Barometer from France Digitale and EY reveals an ecosystem transitioning from growth-at-all-costs to sustainable profitability amid mounting political and economic headwinds.
The French AI startup is reportedly on the cusp of raising a new round led by chip equipment maker ASML of the Netherlands. Plus: Hugging Face hires; Cycle gets pedaled down under; Luc Julia gets called out; and Alpic raises $6M for MCP infrastructure.
The Paris-based company has raised $6M to help companies deploy MCP servers for a world where AI agents, not humans, navigate digital services.
Between July 21 and September 5, a total of 19 companies raised €65.495M, including: Weekera, Alpic, Byome Labs, Flagcat, VitaDX, Rewayz, NeoEarth, Santafoo, Mocli, Molecular Simulation For All (MS4ALL), MagicPost, ComicBot, Stockline, Suzaku, Addvocate.ai, FLUDIS, and Kriptown.
Government instability shadows France’s rentrée, threatening support for innovation programs. The Startup Nation returned from vacation to gloomy headlines about layoffs, online controversies, and economic uncertainty.
Agentic AI shows signs of going rogue, Fidji Simo outlines OpenAI's future, France launches a new digital council, CNIL drops its AI playbook, EDF bets on AI-infused nuclear, and GE Vernova snaps up French startup Alteia.
Between July 21 and July 25, a total of 10 companies raised €34.285 million, including: Greenphage, Austral Dx, OnParty, Aircap, DareWin Evolution, Easy Cash, and InBrain Pharma.
Quantum was in the spotlight at VivaTech 2025, with NVIDIA, Quandela, and cybersecurity leaders shaping the agenda. Also in this issue: Electra gets charged up; Swan flies; Aldebaran gets a Chinese lifeline; and MagREEsource attracts €23M for its magnet recycling tech.
Cathay's $1B AI fund balances disruption with collaboration between corporates and startups. Meta battles EU regulators over privacy rules. European AI funding surges 61% to €3.04B. Mistral's Le Chat upgrades. France cracks down on biometric surveillance.
The new fund challenges Silicon Valley's model by focusing on collaboration that connects AI startups directly with corporate giants to transform industries rather than disrupt them in an era where 'everybody has to play.'
Between July 14 and July 18, a total of 6 companies raised €68.7 million, including: Dreampath Diagnostics, Dillico, and Retab.
Dougs is shaking up the quiet world of French accounting. Zenchef merges with Spain’s CoverManager. French VC drops 35%, while Eurazeo raises €650M. Bayrou slashes subsidies but eases red tape. Meta faces antitrust heat. Plus: Keenest, Verkor, WAT, Stellaria & more.
French-founded Arago and Hugging Face are reshaping AI hardware: Arago’s photonic chips promise radical energy savings for data centers, while Hugging Face’s $299 Reachy Mini brings modular, open-source robotics to the desktop.
