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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: Reelevant wants to revolutionize how brands engage customers by delivering hyper-personalized content at the perfect moment, adapting dynamically to user behavior. Founder Vincent Martinet explains the vision and strategy.

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Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand

🚀 Tech Talk 🚀

🇫🇷✊ Frenchtechland got an unexpected jolt with the announcement on Thursday that one of its own will effectively be running OpenAI. Which one may argue is one of the world's most influential tech companies, if not (yet) the largest.

Announced via whatever people now call tweets, CEO Sam Altman revealed that Fidji Simo had been appointed its first-ever CEO of Applications. Simo is currently CEO of Instacart, but will gradually transition away from that job to the new post at OpenAI.

Simo is a seasoned executive known for her transformative roles at Facebook and Instacart. In the new gig, she will lead OpenAI’s efforts to bring artificial intelligence innovations directly to users, overseeing product development, operations, and finance. Altman will remain as the top CEO CEO, but said that the strategic hire allows him to concentrate more on research, compute, and AI safety as the company advances toward artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Born in the French fishing village of Sète, Simo began her professional journey at eBay before joining Facebook in 2011. At Facebook, she played a pivotal role in developing key features such as News Feed, Stories, and Live Video, significantly contributing to the platform's growth and advertising revenue. In 2021, she took the helm at Instacart, leading the company through a successful IPO in 2023 and expanding its advertising business. Beyond her corporate achievements, Simo founded the Metrodora Institute, a medical research center dedicated to treating complex neuroimmune disorders, reflecting her commitment to using innovation to address pressing health challenges.

Simo's appointment to OpenAI is not her first involvement with the company. She joined its board of directors in March 2024.

Naturally, her native land went gaga, with Les Echos dubbing her the most "powerful Frenchie in tech" (though thanks to the gendered nature of the language, it's unclear whether that title is "most powerful French woman" or "most powerful French person." | Les Echos, New York Times, OpenAI

🕵️‍♂️ Crypto might be virtual, but the danger is turning out to be very much real. In the latest chilling crypto-related incident, a 60-year-old man was abducted in Paris and held captive for over two days. The assailants, aiming to extort a ransom from his crypto-millionaire son, severed one of the victim's fingers. French police successfully rescued him from a house south of Paris, arresting five suspects aged between 20 and 27.

Earlier this year, David Balland, co-founder of the crypto firm Ledger, was kidnapped and mutilated in central France, with a €10 million ransom demanded. In another incident, the father of a French crypto influencer was abducted, beaten, and doused in petrol before being found in Normandy. | The Guardian, Le Parisien

🇪🇺 Buy Europe, or bye Europe. France Digitale is advocating for a strong European preference in technology purchases through its involvement in Euro-Stack, a collective of over 200 companies, including SiPearl, Kalray, OVHcloud, and Scaleway. "It is imperative to stop being naïve and to assume a European preference in technology 🇪🇺 purchases," France Digitale Maya Noël wrote on LinkedIn. The group is pushing the European Commission to prioritize European suppliers in public procurement to strengthen digital autonomy, support the growth of European tech ecosystems, and finance future European champions. Their report "Deploying the EuroStack: What Needs to Happen" outlines three clear priorities: Buy European (favoring European suppliers), Sell European (enhancing the value of European solutions), and establish a European Fund to support the ecosystem. This initiative aims to solidify Europe’s technological independence and foster homegrown innovation. | LinkedIn, White Paper

Deals, deals, deals...

🛒 French insurance giant Malakoff Humanis has acquired a majority stake in Lyon-based fintech Mon Petit Placement, marking a strategic move to enhance its digital savings offerings. The acquisition provides an exit opportunity for approximately 2,500 individual investors who participated in a crowdfunding round via Sowefund in 2024. Despite the change in ownership, Mon Petit Placement will maintain its operational independence, with founder Thomas Perret retaining 15% of the capital and continuing to lead the company. This partnership aims to expand access to user-friendly investment products, particularly targeting younger, first-time investors, while leveraging Malakoff Humanis's resources to accelerate growth and achieve profitability by 2026. | Maddyness, Les Echos

🔬French biotech startup Faircraft has acquired the assets of its American competitor, VitroLabs, a Silicon Valley pioneer in lab-grown leather backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and luxury group Kering. This strategic move grants Faircraft access to 35 complementary patents, bolstering its technological foundation and accelerating its industrialization efforts. Founded in 2021, Faircraft specializes in producing sustainable, animal-free leather through cellular agriculture, offering a product that closely mimics traditional leather while significantly reducing environmental impact. The acquisition positions Faircraft as a leader in the emerging market for lab-grown leather, with plans to expand its operations and meet the growing demand from luxury fashion brands seeking eco-friendly alternatives. | Les Echos, Maddyness

Reelevant’s Real-Time Personalization Redefines Martech

Paris-based startup Reelevant aims to help customers navigate the crowded world of digital marketing by transforming personalization from a mere buzzword into reality.

Founded in 2018 by repeat entrepreneur Vincent Martinet, the martech startup is pushing the boundaries of mass marketing by introducing real-time, hyper-personalized content delivery across all digital customer touchpoints

Having achieved profitability in 2023, the startup recently secured a €6 million Series A raise led by Seventure Partners, with participation from Go Capital and notable business angel Nathalie Balla, former CEO of La Redoute.

The goal of this latest round is to propel Reelevant’s international expansion and maintain its edge in the martech landscape. 

“We want Reelevant to be as ubiquitous as ‘fridge’ or ‘Kleenex’," Martinet said. "More than just a product, but a standard that has transformed the industry.”

💸 Top Funding Deals 💸

📇 Company: Kalent
🔍 Description: AI-powered tool streamlining talent acquisition processes for companies.
💻 Website: http://kalent.ai
📍 HQ City: Nantes, France
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €1M
🏦 Investors: Kima Ventures
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Cedric Tournay
🗞️ News: FrenchWeb

📇 Company: Raidium
🔍 Description: Radiology foundation model leveraging GPT technology for precision medicine, designed to assist radiologists with enhanced image analysis and diagnostic insights.
💻 Website: https://raidium.eu
📍 HQ City: Roubaix, France
🧗 Round: Early VC
💰 Amount Raised: Not disclosed
🏦 Investors: Debiopharm Group
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Paul Herent, Pierre Manceron
🗞️ News: PR

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