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👋 Welcome to our weekly recap of the big news + funding in the French tech ecosystem this week. In this week's French Tech Wire:

👀 Deep Dive: Constellation Technologies aims to partner with operators to offer space-based internet to help them compete with the SpaceX service Starlink. CEO and Founder Charles Delfieux: "We think that there is a hugely promising business opportunity to work in partnership with those who are already today delivering connectivity services to billions of people in the world." Read our interview.

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Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand

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🚀 Tech Talk 🚀

☝🔥 Next40: New Names, Big Energy. The 2025 French Tech Next40/120 just dropped, welcoming 11 fresh faces like Qair (renewables), Greenly (carbon tracking), and Alan (digital health). Climate and health tech are officially in the spotlight. Spearheaded by the French Tech Mission under the Ministry of Economy, this sixth edition features 120 of the most high-performing scale-ups, selected for their revenue growth and fundraising achievements over the past three years. Let's take a closer look at the new cohort:

🧠 Deeptech’s Moment: With 29 deeptech champs across the French Tech 120—from Alice & Bob (quantum) to Sekoia (cybersec)—France now ranks #4 globally for R&D-heavy startups.

🌍 Export-Ready: 93% of FT120 companies now operate abroad. Voodoo hits 150M+ global users, Electra expands EV stations in 10 countries, and Qonto keeps conquering Europe.

🦄 Bye Bye Unicorns: Icons like Doctolib, Deezer, and Veepee exit the index—not for slacking, but for outgrowing it.

⚙️ AI Everywhere: One-third of the list is AI-driven, with Mistral AI leading the charge (€600M raised in 2024).

👉 Want the full list? Here’s the press release

👉 💳 Fintechs, Ready to Rumble? Mastercard for Fintechs is back! Early-stage startups in Web3, payments, greentech & co and apply now for a shot at mentorship, €50K in marketing, and serious street cred. Last year’s French finalists Rosaly & Rollee are still reaping the rewards. Final in Paris on Sept 18 so go get it. | Maddyness

⚛️ 🛒 French quantum computing trailblazer Pasqal is making waves again, this time by acquiring Canadian startup Aeponyx, renowned for its integrated photonic circuits. This strategic move aims to supercharge Pasqal's quantum machines, reducing error rates and paving the way toward their ambitious goal of 10,000 qubits by 2026. This marks the company's third acquisition since its inception in 2019, following the purchases of Dutch software firm Qu&Co and French cryogenics specialist My Cryo Firm. | Maddyness, Sifted

🤖💀 It’s the end of an era for French robotics legend Aldebaran, the company behind the lovable robots Nao and Pepper. On June 2, 2025, the firm was officially placed in judicial liquidation, leaving 106 employees out of work and dreams of humanoid robot domination unplugged. Despite two last-minute rescue attempts, Aldebaran couldn’t bounce back from strategic missteps, reliance on foreign investors, and a market that just wasn’t ready. | Usine Digitale

👎🔞 Pornhub vs. France: Age Check Stand-Off. France said “Verify your age,” and Pornhub said “Non merci” and then slammed the door shut. Citing privacy concerns, owner Aylo pulled Pornhub, YouPorn & RedTube from French screens rather than comply with new ID checks. Minister Clara Chappaz clapped back: “Bon vent.” Aylo claims the system is intrusive and easily dodged via VPNs (spoiler: teens already know). Meanwhile, France insists: protect the kids or pack your bags. EU-wide solution coming this summer. Until then, VPNs are the new incognito mode. | L’Usine Digitale

🔨✋ This clash is part of a bigger digital crackdown in France. Chappaz has also been pressuring platforms like TikTok to moderate harmful content like “#Skinnytok.” This week, TikTok announced it would suspend research results for the hashtag due to its growing association with content related to dangerous weight loss practices. Used to promote extreme diets, the hashtag often referred to videos that valued risky eating behaviours, especially to a teenage audience. | FrenchWeb

💢💬 Meanwhile, Aurore Bergé, Minister for Equality between Women and Men, met this week with execs from Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, Youtube and X to give them a stern reminder of their legal obligations to address hate content: “The mission I have been entrusted with is to protect society and our children from hatred. The racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, or anti-LGBT content that proliferates on the Internet is among them.” | Le Figaro

How Constellation Will Challenge Starlink In The Communication Space Race

The race to provide global internet coverage from space has largely been dominated by American giants like SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper, along with emerging Chinese competitors. But a French startup believes there's room for a fundamentally different approach, one that works with existing telecom operators rather than against them.

Constellation Technologies & Operations (CTO), founded by Charles Delfieux, is developing what it calls a "neutral" satellite constellation that would allow telecom operators worldwide to offer high-speed internet from space using their own 5G spectrum, without the massive capital investments typically required for space infrastructure. In an industry where most satellite internet providers compete directly with traditional telecom companies, CTO's partnership-focused model represents a potentially significant shift that could reshape how space-based connectivity evolves.

The stakes are enormous. Despite decades of terrestrial network expansion, millions of people worldwide still lack reliable internet access, particularly in rural and remote areas where extending fiber optic cables and cell towers remains economically challenging.

Meanwhile, the satellite internet market is projected to reach tens of billions of dollars in the coming decade, making it one of the most watched sectors in the broader "New Space" economy.

💸 Top Funding Deals 💸

📇 Company: Fabriq
🔍 Description: SaaS platform improving daily operational efficiency for shop floor teams
💻 Website: fabriq.tech
📍 HQ City: Paris
🧗 Round: Early VC
💰 Amount Raised: €22M
🏦 Investors: OSS Ventures, Expedition Growth Capital, Contribution
👨💼👩💼 Founders: François Déchelette
🗞️ News: Usine Digitale, EU Startups, FrenchWeb

📇 Company: Moments Lab
🔍 Description: AI and cloud-based media valorization platform for media and sports rights-holders
💻 Website: momentslab.com
📍 HQ City: Boulogne-Billancourt
🧗 Round: Early VC
💰 Amount Raised: €21M
🏦 Investors: Elaia Partners, Orange Ventures, Supernova Invest, Oxx, Kadmos Capital
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Philippe Petitpont, Frédéric Petitpont
🗞️ News: Silicon Canals

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