👋 Welcome to our weekly recap of the big news + funding in the French tech ecosystem this week.

In this edition:

🚀 Deep Dive: Following its recent €45 million funding round, Elicit Plant wants to become a global leader in helping farmers with climate adaptation. CEO Jean-François Déchant explains the strategy and science behind the vision.

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Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand

🚀 Tech Talk 🚀

✉️ Twenty-six startup associations across Europe have penned an open letter urging the EU's new Commissioners to launch a 'European Tibi' initiative, modeled after the one created in France several years ago to encourage more Growth Equity. This program aims to channel investments from pension funds and insurers into venture capital, bolstering the continent's tech ecosystem. The goal is to bridge the funding gap between Europe and other global tech hubs. | Sifted

🪫 France's InterCloud, which specializes in secure cloud interconnection solutions, has entered bankruptcy reorganization as of November 2024. Despite raising a total of €138 million in funding, including €100 million in 2022, the company faced challenges in sustaining its growth within the expanding cloud services market. Revenues only grew from €12M in 2022 to €13M in 2023. With its ambitions to expand across Europe hitting a wall, the company is hoping to buy time to restructure and salvage its operations. | FrenchWeb

👩‍⚕️ After four years as Co-CEO of Resilience, Celine Lazorthes is stepping down from her executive role. In a post on LinkedIn, she reflected on the company's journey which has focused on improving the lives of cancer patients and advancing care standards. Lazorthes co-founded the company with Jonathan Benhamou, who will remain as CEO. | LinkedIn

Let's Make A Deal

🤝 French collaborative work platform Klaxoon has been acquired by U.S.-based project management company Wrike for an undisclosed sum. This partnership aims to accelerate Klaxoon's growth, particularly in the U.S. market, by combining its innovative collaboration tools with Wrike's extensive project management solutions. The deal marks the end of a troubled road for Rennes-based Klaxoon, a former star of the French tech firmament that had struggled in recent years. The company had set out to raise a €100M round in 2022 to fuel international expansion but with the company getting little traction in the U.S., it found few takers amid the funding winter. Instead, Klaxoon raised €15M in 2023 – bringing its total raised to €70M – as it rebooted its business strategy to focus on reaching profitability. In an interview with La Tribune, Klaxoon chairman and founder, Matthieu Beucher said: "When it comes to talking to American customers, that's another challenge. It's a gigantic market, which we obviously didn't know very well, coming as we did from Rennes." Beucher will leave for a new entrepreneurial project straddling the US and France, in the same field. | Usine Digitale, Maddyness, La Tribune

🤝 Following approval from French banking regulators, Danish fintech company Ageras has completed its acquisition of Shine, a French neobank catering to SMEs and freelancers. This will allow Ageras to expand its footprint in France, leveraging Shine's established customer base to offer comprehensive financial services to small businesses across Europe. | Maddyness

🤝 French e-commerce marketplace platform Mirakl has acquired Adspert, a German adtech startup specializing in e-commerce advertising optimization. This move enhances Mirakl's retail media solutions by integrating Adspert's AI-driven advertising optimization software, aiming to provide more effective advertising strategies for their clients. | Les Echos

Deep Dive: How Elicit Plant Is Redefining Agricultural Resilience

French AgTech startup Elicit Plant is making waves in the agricultural industry by offering a groundbreaking solution to one of the most pressing challenges of modern farming: water stress. 

Founded in 2017 by Jean-François Déchant, Aymeric Molin, and Olivier Goulay, the company is based at a farm and research center situated in Vilhonnour near Angoulume. Its team of experts has pioneered the use of phytosterols – naturally occurring molecules derived from plants – as biostimulants to enhance crop resilience in the face of increasing climate variability.

With operations in more than a dozen countries, partnerships with major players like Bayer and BASF, and a recent €45 million fundraising to boost its expansion, Elicit Plant wants to become a global leader in sustainable agriculture. CEO Déchant hopes the company will become a leading climate resilience solution, helping farmers around the world to prevent crop loss. 

Funding

📇 Company: Deeplife
🔍 Description: Designs and builds incredibly complex mechanical engines and biological systems, such as cells.
💻 Website: http://deeplife.co
📍 HQ City: Vernon
🧗 Round: Series A
💰 Amount Raised: €9.09M
🏦 Investors: Beiersdorf; Relyens; YZR Capital; Groupe Prunay
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Jonathan Baptista; Jean-Baptiste Morlot
🗞️ News: https://sifted.eu/articles/deeplife-10m-series-a-news

📇 Company: ION-X
🔍 Description: Next-gen high-performance satellite propulsion.
💻 Website: https://ionx-propulsion.com
📍 HQ City: Boulogne-Billancourt
🧗 Round: Series A
💰 Amount Raised: €13.00M
🏦 Investors: Ile-de-France (Paris Region); EIC Fund; Expansion Ventures; Tf Participations
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Yves Matton
🗞️ News: https://europeanspaceflight.com/french-propulsion-startup-ion-x-secures-e13m-in-new-funding

📇 Company: Wecasa
🔍 Description: Platform for local cleaning and handiwork services.
💻 Website: https://www.wecasa.fr/
📍 HQ City: Paris
🧗 Round: Growth Equity VC
💰 Amount Raised: €17.26M
🏦 Investors: iXO Private Equity
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Julien Lestavel; Antoine Chatelain; Pierre André; Anne-Emilie Prévot; Fabien Nendaz
🗞️ News: https://www.maddyness.com/2024/12/06/services-a-domicile-wecasa-accelere-et-veut-se-deployer-dans-toute-la-france/

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