👋 In this week's French Tech Wire:

👀 VivaTech 2025 put the spotlight on the ways climate risks are forcing cities to prioritize new approaches to green design. The goal: future-proof urban life for the next generation.

👀 Speaking at Viva Technology 2025, Superhuman Founder Rahul Vohra breaks down his Product Market Fit Engine, a data-driven framework that leverages the right user feedback to build products that users love.

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Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand

🥊 👉 Meta vs France: Round Two. Meta is back in the hot seat in France, this time for allegedly fencing off access to key ad verification tools - think viewability and brand safety - under what regulators call “opaque and discriminatory conditions.” The French antitrust authority has issued Meta a notification de griefs following a 2022 complaint by French adtech Adloox, accusing the US giant of abusing its dominance to freeze out independent rivals in favor of cozy partners. While Meta isn’t convicted (yet), the gloves are off: the watchdog argues this behavior distorts competition across several adjacent markets. Temporary measures imposed in 2023 (including forced transparency and Adloox access) remain in effect until a final ruling. In other words: Meta’s French ad empire may need a safety check of its own.| Usine Digitale

🎮 🤑A $40 Million (gamer) Victory. Lyon-based game studio Million Victories just scored a $40M funding round from Texan heavyweight Haveli Investments, best known for its gamer cred (think Jagex, Behaviour, and WGT). The boost will help scale Million Lords, the studio’s mobile 4X strategy game with 4M+ downloads—over a third from the U.S. alone.The goal? Go global. Haveli’s aiming for a billion-dollar revenue target (yes, with a B), while the studio eyes expansion in Asia, a PC version, and an eventual €100M revenue run by 2030. With plans to double headcount, open new EU offices, and find a game director, it’s game on for one of France’s most promising gaming upstarts.| Les Echos, Usine Digitale

🕶️ ✨Meta’s Billion-Euro Vision. Zuck is doubling down on smart specs. Meta just dropped €3B to grab nearly 3% of EssilorLuxottica - aka the Franco-Italian giant behind Ray-Ban and Oakley. The move formalizes a relationship that’s already spawned the Ray-Ban Meta and the sporty new Oakley Meta HSTN, with AI voice, video, and the kind of battery life your earbuds can only dream of. It’s not just about style: more than 1 million Ray-Ban Metas were sold in 2024, proving that the market for “quietly wearable” AI is heating up. With plans to push its stake to 5%, Meta’s playing the long game - and perhaps, hoping its next headset doesn’t end up in a drawer.| Usine Digitale

💪🤠 Sesamers has been appointed as the exclusive European partner for SXSW 2026, tasked with selecting and coordinating up to 100 startups from the continent to participate in the festival's Global Innovations Expo in Austin. This partnership aims to spotlight European innovation in sectors such as AI, creativity, and impact, offering startups a unique platform to engage with global audiences. SXSW 2026 will run from March 12–18. The collaboration between SXSW and Sesamers underscores a strategic effort to elevate Europe's presence in the global startup ecosystem, providing a dedicated avenue for European founders to showcase their innovations and connect with international investors and partners. The partnership grants the firm full responsibility for bringing European startups and VCs to Austin for SXSW 2026, handling all sales and on-site support. The team will also facilitate connections on the ground, aiming to streamline access for European innovators to one of the world’s top startup showcases. | Sesamers

❤️‍🔥🦘 A French Heartbeat Down Under. Thirteen years, 100 prototypes, and one fish-inspired breakthrough later, CorWave has officially entered the human trial arena. The medtech startup just implanted its first “wave membrane” heart pump into a patient in Sydney, marking the start of clinical trials. Unlike traditional rotary pumps, CorWave’s biomimetic design mimics the motion of a fish fin, restoring a natural pulse and potentially improving patient outcomes. Built in the company’s Clichy-la-Garenne factory and tested halfway across the world, this first success could signal the beginning of the end for Abbott’s monopoly in the €700M cardiac support market. CEO Louis de Lillers calls it the “Himalaya of medtech.” Next up: 50 patients, CE mark, and a planned European rollout by 2028. | Les Échos

🤖🥀 Cala Cooks Its Last Meal. Robo-kitchen startup Cala has officially entered liquidation, after a failed restructuring attempt this spring. At its peak, the 2018-born company ran five Paris locations and employed nearly 50 people, powered by a 3m² pasta-making robot. The founders declined to comment. | Les Échos

⚡️😵‍💫 Boardroom Drama at EuraTechnologies. Stormy skies over Lille’s flagship incubator: CEO Koussée Vaneecke has been abruptly ousted by EuraTechnologies’ supervisory board, just like her predecessor, ex-Director of France Digitale, Nicolas Brien. Despite strong performance metrics and 759 supported startups under her belt, internal grumbling over her comms style may have cost her the job. The incubator’s revolving door continues to spin, proving once again that succeeding Raouti Chehi, who ran the show from 2009 to 2021, is no easy feat. | Maddyness

From Innovation to Adaptation: Rethinking Sustainability
For Resilient Cities

As climate uncertainties persist alongside rapid technological growth, it is crucial to consider whether we are sustaining the future of innovation.

Sustainability is no longer solely about renewable energy sources, but rather resilience. Systems, cities, and companies need to be designed for adaptation. Resilience is necessary for future generations to thrive.

VivaTech 2025 put the spotlight on the ways climate risks are forcing cities to prioritize new approaches to green design. The goal: future-proof urban life for the next generation.

Superhuman Founder
Rahul Vohra On
Reverse Engineering Product Market Fit

Email productivity tool Superhuman has been a buzzy startup since its launch and was last valued at $825 million in 2021. In early July, Superhuman dropped the news that it had been acquired by Grammarly‬ for an undisclosed sum. The deal follows Grammarly's $1 billion funding round this year as it seeks to transform itself into a platform of AI workplace tools.

Just a few weeks before the deal, I had the chance to interview Superhuman CEO and Founder Rahul Vohra on stage at ‪Viva Technology‬ 2025. Beyond the company, Vohru has emerged as a guru of sorts on the topic of product-market fit.

In our conversation, Vohra reveals the exact methodology he used to build one of the fastest-growing productivity startups. Instead of relying on vague definitions of product-market fit (PMF), Rahul shares a data-driven framework called the "PMF Engine," including a 4-question user survey and a repeatable process to go from struggling to thriving.

💸 Top Funding Deals 💸

📇 Company: BrainEver
🔍 Description: BrainEver's platform treats neurodegenerative diseases based on Homeoproteins (HPs).
💻 Website: https://brainever.fr
📍 HQ City: Paris
🧗 Round: Series B
💰 Amount Raised: €33M
🏦 Investors: European Innovation Council, IBionext, Relyens
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Alain Prochiantz, Bernard Gilly
🗞️ News: PR

📇 Company: SiPearl
🔍 Description: Designer of microprocessors for European exascale supercomputers, with a focus on HPC, AI, medical research, and energy management
💻 Website: https://www.sipearl.com/
📍 HQ City: Maisons-Laffitte
🧗 Round: Series A
💰 Amount Raised: €32M (final trance of €130M round)
🏦 Investors: Cathay Venture
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Philippe Notton
🗞️ News: Data Center Dynamics

📇 Company: Arago
🔍 Description: Crafting next-gen AI accelerators
💻 Website: https://www.arago.inc/
📍 HQ City: Paris
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €22.1M
🏦 Investors: Earlybird Venture Capital, Olivier Pomel, C4 Ventures, Acequia Capital, Jack Abraham, Bertrand Serlet, Thomas Wolf, David Fattal, Protagonist, Visionaries Tomorrow
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Eliott Sarrey, Ambroise M Ller, Nicolas Muller
🗞️ News: Maddyness

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