Edito

💀👶 French tech is dead! Or is it? Sifted noted the "lull" facing the ecosystem as funding continues to slump, but also looked back at how far the ecosystem has come since the dark ages of 2013 and found 50 French tech companies that have not fallen into the pit of despair.

It's not just the media focused on this issue. It's the main topic being whispered about everywhere as founders and investors try to assess whether 2024 will represent a new bottom – or just the next step down. According to Dealroom, French startups have raised $7.1 billion so far this year, down from $9.4 billion in 2023 and the peak of $16.1 billion in the last go-go year of 2022. And yet, it's above pre-pandemic levels.

As investor Adrien Chaltiel wrote on LinkedIn, French tech bankruptcies are set to hit a record this year – but the worst may be behind the ecosystem. Yet the ongoing budget debates by the new government continue to cast a cloud. And the historic lack of exits doesn't exactly help to lighten the mood.

Still, inside this edition, there's some reason for optimism as companies like FASST continue to make noise and a host of Deep Tech and AI companies continue to raise cash to scale breakthrough technologies.

This week's Deep Dive: Iktos is using GenAI and Robotics to transform drug discovery. CEO Yann Gaston-Mathé tells us why his company represents "the way drug discovery will look like in the years to come." | Read it here

Enjoy this weekly recap of the big news + funding in the French tech ecosystem this week. Subscribe to The French Tech Journal to access all the articles and archives.

Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand

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Tech Talk

🥊 Breaking news: Qwant is not dead! In the ongoing battle against Google’s search dominance, Berlin-based Ecosia (which donates its profits to tree planting) and Paris-based Qwant have joined forces to create the European Search Perspective (EUSP) to build a new search index. Think of it as an eco-friendly David arming himself with a tech sling against Goliath. Both companies are struggling financially, according to Wired. Qwant was bought last year by OVHCloud founder Octavia Klaba and rolled into a cloud company called Synfonium. It's unclear how this new venture fits into that larger structure. 🤷

💰French crypto startup Kaiko just gobbled up its Swedish rival, according to Les Echos. With its new acquisition of Vikings, the Gauls of Kaiko aim to provide even sharper insights for traders as part of the data-driven arms race of the blockchain world. 💽

📸 Thomas Rebaud, the brain behind former photo unicorn Meero, is back in the startup game with a new venture called Akka, aiming to connect freelancers with top-notch clients. Rebaud left two years ago after Meero fell from grace and tried to reboot its business model. | Les Echos

👮‍♂️ The French government is going after Polymarket, banning the predictive market platform for allowing people to bet on real-world events. The platform garnered international attention as it favored Trump in recent weeks. It landed on France's radar because one better known as the "Trump Whale," was reportedly a French national who made $85m on his pro-Trump bets, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, France's National Gaming Authority (L'Autorité nationale des jeux), the gambling regulator in France, plans to issue a ban on the site, according to The Big Whale.

🏦 Fintech darling Qonto is reportedly in talks for a €200M secondary sale that would value the company at €5bn. 💥

🚗 Peugeot’s family office, First Kind, is stepping out of the shadows to flex its entrepreneurial muscle, setting itself up to back impactful ventures. | Maddyness

💸 Revaia, alongside Bpifrance, led a €27 million funding round to accelerate the growth of insurtech FASST, positioning it as a digital transformation leader in the European insurance market. FASST, founded in 2017, specializes in enhancing the efficiency of insurance distribution with its SaaS solutions, serving major clients like Malakoff Humanis and Covea. With this investment, FASST aims to expand its market reach, enhance its platform, and offer innovative functionalities tailored to insurers' needs. Read more on the deal here from Revaia. 💪

Deep Dive: How Iktos Wants To Revolutionize Drug Discovery With AI And Robotics

In the race to accelerate drug discovery through artificial intelligence, French startup Iktos has emerged as a pioneer in Europe, developing an integrated platform that combines generative AI, automated synthesis, and biological testing.

The company's 8-year journey reflects both the tremendous potential and the practical challenges of applying AI to one of the most complex and crucial tasks in medical science.

While the pace of discovery seems to have suddenly accelerated, Iktos CEO Yann Gaston-Mathé said that the industry's evolution has been a gradual buildup that is only now bursting into public awareness.

Iktos must now face the challenge of transforming a traditionally manual, time-intensive process to leverage the potential of AI to reinvent this industry fully.

Funding

📇 Company: OpenAirlines
🔍 Description: OpenAirlines is a provider of eco-flying software solutions aimed at reducing fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in the aviation industry.
💻 Website: https://www.openairlines.com
📍 HQ City: Toulouse
🧗 Round: Funding round led by Eiffel Investment Group
💰 Amount raised: Nearly €45 million
🏦 Investors: Eiffel Investment Group, Mirova, with the Caisse de Retraite du Personnel Navigant Professionnel de l’Aéronautique Civile (CRPN) expected to join by the end of the year.
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Alexandre Feray
🗞️ News: OpenAirlines has secured close to €45 million to advance sustainable aviation solutions, focusing on enhancing their SkyBreathe® platform, which utilizes AI and machine learning to optimize fuel consumption and reduce CO₂ emissions. | EU-Startups

📇 Company: Elicit Plant
🔍 Description: Elicit Plant is an agritech company developing biostimulants that reduce water consumption in plants by approximately 20%, enhancing their resistance to environmental stress.
💻 Website: https://elicit-plant.com
📍 HQ City: Saint-Christoly-de-Blaye, France
🧗 Round: Series B
💰 Amount raised: €45 million
🏦 Investors: Carbyne Partners, Sofinnova Partners, ECBF, BPI EcoGreenTech
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Jean-François Déchant
🗞️ News: Elicit Plant raised €45 million to expand its biostimulant products that reduce plant water consumption and to develop new solutions for crops like vines and potatoes. | Maddyness

📇 Company: Agicap
🔍 Description: A software adapted to all the SMEs for the management of cash flow.
💻 Website: https://agicap.com/fr/
📍 HQ City: Lyon
🧗 Round: Series C
💰 Amount raised: €43.84 million
🏦 Investors: AXA Venture Partners
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Sebastien Beyet, Sylvain Tessier
🗞️ News: Fintech startup Agicap has raised €45 million in a Series C funding round to enhance its treasury management platform and expand its international presence. | TechEU

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