🤔 Edito 🤔

Making the case for the French tech ecosystem was pretty darn easy for a long time. Year after year, it went something like this:

Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money...

Funding just kept going up and up and up, and the success seemed pretty self-evident. But now it appears the ecosystem is headed toward its third straight year of either flat (at best) or down (at worst) funding.

To be clear, it's not alone. That's true for most of Europe, and even much of the U.S. outside of the AI biggies.

Even so, at a moment of political unrest, how does one make the case at home in France that innovation and startups are crucial to the economy?

The question is more than academic. As the nation mulls austerity budgets, the big spending on innovation programs or targeted tax programs for research and investment has been mentioned as a frequent target.

While it appears the dreaded “Zucman tax” on mega fortunes has been dropped, France’s 2026 budget blueprint has sent a chill through the country’s startup scene. The government’s new finance and social security bills tighten the rules for the “Jeune Entreprise Innovante” (JEI) status by raising the required R&D spending threshold from 20% to 25%, cutting off thousands of startups from key tax breaks. The IR-PME tax reduction for venture funds (via FCPI vehicles) will also expire at year-end, dealing another blow to early-stage financing, according to Les Echos.

And so, into the fray, comes gently a new report published by the French Tech Mission that tries to avoid being overtly political while also making the point that startups are not just playgrounds for a bunch of elitist Paris boobs from top universities funded by government subsidies for their personal amusement while peasants slog through the muck in France's desolate rural wastelands eating gruel. (I'm paraphrasing here.)

It has published a panorama of the French tech ecosystem that highlights three major trends:

• French start-ups and scale-ups create jobs throughout the country.
• The flow of investments in start-ups remains dynamic. Support by investors for sectors of the future, such as AI, DeepTech, healthcare, and GreenTech, is strengthening in favor of the territories (aka, 'not Paris').
• The links between start-ups and large corporations are improving, moving beyond window shopping to actual partnerships.

The overall message is this: France’s startup landscape has matured. The ecosystem now comprises 18,000 active startups employing 450,000 people, including 45,000 in the French Tech 120 and Next40 programs. Employment among startups grew by 4.6% in the first half of 2025 despite macroeconomic headwinds, underscoring startups’ counter-cyclical role as job creators.

Innovation is not confined to Paris: 56% of startups operate outside Île-de-France (the region that is home to Paris), signaling a decentralization of innovation. Regions like Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes (Lyon), Occitanie (Toulouse), and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Bordeaux) are emerging as powerful growth poles, reflecting a long-term shift from metropolitan concentration toward national diffusion.

Promoting more startups outside of Paris has been a pillar of the French Tech Mission for several years now.

While 47% of funding deals still occur in Île-de-France, 36% are now happening in the southern regions such as Occitanie and Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur (a terrible branding decision in terms of a name for a region. Also, Marseille). The financing pipeline, however, remains polarized: seed and pre-seed rounds are mostly regional (57% of early-stage deals), whereas later-stage (Series C+) rounds are overwhelmingly Paris-centered (64%). This imbalance is even sharper in artificial intelligence: though 44% of AI startups are based in the regions, only 7% of AI funding occurs outside Paris.

Strategic Specialization

Five key sectors driving French innovation.

• Software remains dominant, representing 31% of startups and 123,000 jobs.
• Greentech (11%), industrial startups (9%), marketing tech (9%), health (7%), and deeptech (7%) collectively signal a diversification of the ecosystem.

This diversification matters because it aligns with France’s broader industrial and ecological priorities: reindustrialization, digital sovereignty, and ecological transition. French Tech has evolved from a software-first ecosystem to one tackling systemic challenges ranging from decarbonization and clean energy to quantum computing and medical technology.

Deeptech and greentech, in particular, embody France’s attempt to translate its scientific heritage into economic sovereignty. Two-thirds of Deep Tech startups are outside Île-de-France and are backed by major institutional anchors such as the CEA, CNES, and INRIA. GreenTech startups leverage local resources and challenges (rural mobility, water management, agritech) to produce scalable innovations, according to the report.

Startups and Large Corporations

The number of connections between CAC40 companies (the largest companies on the stock exchange) and startups has increased tenfold since 2021, and the share of French startups in these partnerships rose from 45% to 71%. This has also been a pillar of the French Tech Mission strategy. Entrepreneurs who leave France will often cite the difficulty of finding their first large customers as often as they will the issue of money (though late-stage funding is still a problem).

So, the case rests, more or less. The bottom line: the French Tech Mission wants you to know that these programs and their recipients are benefiting the country broadly.

Whether that message reaches the intended audience, well, we'll see, I guess...

Chris

Inside this week's edition:

👀 RIVRS is evolving from a French UGC game studio into a full-fledged publishing platform with a major Asia push. Launching a $1M Creator Fund and new hubs in Vietnam and Hong Kong, it’s betting on speed, AI, and partnerships to professionalize Roblox game creation. CEO and Co-Founder CEO and co-founder Romain Hubert takes a break from a whirlwind Asian trek to explain how the company plans to level up its business model.

Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand

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Tech Talk

🇫🇷 🦸‍♀️ France has a new digital Minister. Again! So, La French Tech has a new new high priestess. Naïma Moutchou got the shiv on Sunday. She's out as AI and digital affairs minister after surviving the first Lecornu government that lasted about 15 hours. The tech baguette is now passed to Anne Le Hénanff, the newly named Minister of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital for Lecornu 2: Electric Boogaloo. That's a welcome change from Moutchou's title of Minister for Transformation, Public Action, AI, and Digital Matters for the Government du Jour. Though let's face it, it's still Government du Jour. Also somewhat welcome will be the fact that she appears to have some background with the internets and digital thingies. As a Member of Parliament, she was appointed Vice-President of the National Assembly’s Study Group on Digital Economy, Security and Sovereignty, as well as a working group on NIS 2, which strengthens European cybersecurity regulations. For the French Tech ecosystem, it’s the fourth (fifth?) Digital Minister in just three years, following Clara Chappaz, (Moutchou?), Marina Ferrari, and Jean-Noël Barrot. Heck, it's technically the third in a week, but, whatever. Life moves fast. All we're saying (again) is...Welcome to the job! But also: don't get too comfortable!

🎖️📈 Speaking of French innovation and economics...French economist Philippe Aghion has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics, alongside Joel Mokyr and Peter Howitt, for their pioneering work on innovation-driven economic growth and the dynamics of “creative destruction.” Aghion, a professor at the Collège de France and the London School of Economics, is renowned for using mathematical models to explain how technological innovation fuels productivity and renewal in modern economies. In France, Aghion has also played a central role in shaping national innovation policy — notably co-chairing the Artificial Intelligence Commission, which in 2024 delivered a landmark report to President Emmanuel Macron on the country’s AI strategy. His influence extends beyond academia, bridging economic theory and public policy to help France navigate the transition toward a knowledge-based economy. The Nobel committee highlighted how Aghion’s work, in tandem with Mokyr’s historical analyses and Howitt’s theoretical insights, provides a unified understanding of how innovation transforms societies. Speaking in Paris after the announcement, Aghion said the recognition underscored the importance of fostering innovation while ensuring social inclusion in times of technological upheaval. | Le Monde

🌱🚀 LinkedIn has unveiled its annual list of the top 20 "booming" (plein essor) French startups. In any case, we'll give you three guesses which company is number one, but only the first guess counts. And if you get it wrong, you will have your French Tech visa immediately revoked...Ready? It's....Mistral AI! Quelle surprise ;)

🟢 ❇️ French green fintech Green-Got has teamed up with Dorval Asset Management to launch Green-Got Sustainable Future, a global equity fund dedicated to financing companies driving the ecological and energy transition. Fully aligned with France’s push for impact investing, the fund channels savings into verifiably green sectors — from clean energy and circular economy to sustainable transport — and is double-certified ISR and Greenfin. With nearly 90% of its assets invested sustainably and a Paris-Agreement-aligned carbon trajectory, it stands among the most ambitious climate-focused funds in Europe.

🤩 🕐 💯 We knew him when...Thibaud Hug de Larauze, co-founder of Back Market, had a crazy idea to recycle electronic gadgets way back in 2014. Now he's been named to Time's World's 100 Most Influential Rising Stars. Move over, Taylor Swift! 💅

🎓🤺 The CNLL has won its battle to prevent France's prestigious Polytechnique (X) school from adopting Microsoft 365. France’s elite university has hit pause on its plan to migrate to Microsoft 365, following fierce pushback from the National Free Software Council (CNLL). The group hailed the U-turn as a “major victory” for digital sovereignty — and a warning shot to universities tempted by Big Tech convenience. The CNLL argued that hosting sensitive research data on US cloud servers would breach French law, the EU’s GDPR, and even basic common sense — citing the Cloud Act and other “extraterritorial” threats. Polytechnique’s retreat comes as Austria’s data watchdog ruled Microsoft 365 Education illegal under GDPR for student tracking, further fuelling Europe’s data independence crusade. The CNLL isn’t done yet: it’s urging all higher-ed institutions to ditch “foreign dependency” and go full open source, offering help to those ready to switch. In short: time to trade that shiny Microsoft license for a little digital liberté. | CNLL

🪖🤑 Bpifrance has launched a new “Bpifrance Défense” fund, opening defense finance to ordinary citizens. The fund is accessible from just €500. It aims to mobilize up to €450 million to back French and European startups, SMEs, and mid-caps tied to defense and technological sovereignty. With an expected annual return of around 5%, the semi-open fund has a 20-year lifespan and allows partial withdrawals starting in 2030. Partners, including AXA France, BPCE, and Meilleurtaux Placement, are on board to distribute the product, signaling strong financial backing. CEO Nicolas Dufourcq hailed it as a “second revolution” by blending citizen investment with national sovereignty. The move comes amid a European push to bolster strategic industries and reduce reliance on foreign defense suppliers, offering French savers a chance to “give meaning to their money” while funding the next generation of defense innovation. | Ground News, Le Figaro, Bpifrance

🛩️ 💥 French hybrid aircraft startup VoltAero has entered judicial restructuring after running out of cash, marking a rough landing for one of Europe’s most ambitious electric aviation projects. The company, led by former Airbus exec Jean Botti, had been gearing up to mass-produce its five-seat Cassio 330 hybrid planes in Rochefort. A high-profile investment deal with Malaysia’s SEDC Energy and France’s ACI had promised a new assembly hub in Asia—but ACI’s own financial troubles derailed the plan. “We were victims of unfortunate circumstances,” Botti lamented, adding that VoltAero is now racing to find new investors to keep its wings aloft. We had referenced VoltAero in our Sustainable Aviation Sector Deep Dive in 2024, but alas... | Maddyness

☎️🛍️ Bouygues Telecom, Free (Iliad), and Orange are standing firm after SFR’s rejection of their initial €17 billion takeover bid. The three French telecom rivals have joined forces in an unprecedented move to acquire and split most of SFR’s assets, seeking to stabilize the debt-laden operator’s future. Their proposal, backed cautiously by Bercy (aka, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance), aims to protect critical infrastructure and maintain service continuity. But unions warn of potentially massive job cuts. With foreign investors also circling, the battle for SFR has become a high-stakes test of France’s industrial sovereignty and telecom equilibrium. | Le Monde

🥩 🌱 The French cultured-meat scene just got its first heavyweight. Paris-based Gourmey, known for its lab-grown foie gras, has merged with Vital Meat, its only French rival, to form Parima — a self-styled “European champion with global ambitions.” The deal, sealed amid a funding winter for foodtech, unites Gourmey’s culinary flair with Vital Meat’s industrial muscle and bioreactor tech in Nantes. Now, the new group faces its biggest hurdle yet: securing EU approval to sell lab-grown meat in a country where it’s still banned and convincing consumers to take a bite of the future. | Les Echos

From Rennes to Roblox:
How Gaming Startup RIVRS is Betting Big On UGC Publishing Model In Asia

Far from the heart of Rennes, where a 24-year-old CEO launched RIVRS to ride the wave of User Generated Content (UGC) games, the company is now opening Vietnam and Hong Kong offices to launch a new business it believes has the potential to be many magnitudes larger by professionalizing the way such games are created and published.

Over the past several months, CEO and co-founder Romain Hubert has been bouncing around the Far East to lay the groundwork for this new phase. During a call from Indonesia just after the company made its big announcement at Gamescom Asia in Bangkok this week, Hubert explained that the move in Asia represents the beginning of a fundamental shift that will expand RIVRS beyond its roots as a game developer to a gaming platform, from creator to enabler for other developers to leverage its to rapidly build games on the Roblox platform.

In addition to the new offices, the company is starting a $1 million Creator Fund to attract partner developers to help them build and launch their own games. And the company has hired Aurélien Palasse, who has been a Ubisoft executive in Asia for almost 14 years, to be Managing Director Asia.

"We have a real opportunity to go fast, right now, with this new activity," Hubert said. "This is the moment to create something big, a big company."

💸 Top Funding Deals 💸

📇 Company: Adcytherix
🔍 Description: Marseille-based biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) using novel payload classes to overcome resistance and expand the reach of ADC therapies to poorly responsive tumors. Its lead candidate, ADCX-020, targets high unmet need diseases such as cancer.
💻 Website: —
📍 HQ City: Marseille, France
🧗 Round: Series A
💰 Amount Raised: €105M
🏦 Investors: Andera Partners (lead, via BioDiscovery 7), Angelini Ventures, Bpifrance (Large Venture & InnoBio), Kurma Partners, Surveyor Capital (Citadel), aMoon, Pontifax, Dawn Biopharma (KKR), Pureos Bioventures, RA Capital
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Jack Elands (CEO, ex-Emergence Therapeutics), Xavier Preville, Carsten Dehning, and Pontifax Venture Capital
🗞️ News: The largest ADC-focused Series A in Europe in 2025 will accelerate the clinical development of Adcytherix’s lead candidate ADCX-020, with IND and CTA filings expected by the end of 2025. The company will also expand its pipeline of proprietary ADCs, leveraging novel payloads. This round highlights growing investor momentum in Europe’s bioconjugate and targeted oncology sectors, alongside recent raises from Tubulis (€308M, Munich) and Ciloa (€6.5M, Montpellier). | EU-Startups

📇 Company: Step Pharma
🔍 Description: French biotech developing next-generation targeted therapies that selectively destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. Its lead programs focus on inhibiting CTPS1, a key enzyme required for DNA synthesis in cancer cells, with promising results across hematologic cancers, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases.
💻 Website: https://www.step-ph.com
📍 HQ City: Saint-Genis-Pouilly (Ain, France)
🧗 Round: Series C
💰 Amount Raised: €38M
🏦 Investors: V-Bio Ventures (lead), Kurma Partners, Pontifax, Bpifrance, Hadean Ventures, Sunstone Life Sciences Ventures, Inserm Transfert Initiative
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Prof. Alain Fischer and Dr. Sylvain Latour; company co-founded by Kurma Partners, Institut Imagine, and Sygnature Discovery
🗞️ News: Funds will expand Step Pharma’s clinical data, complete ongoing Phase 1 trials, and advance into Phase 2 for its CTPS1 inhibitor programs targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases. | Maddyness

📇 Company: Probabl
🔍 Description: French AI startup spun out from Inria and official operator of scikit-learn — the world’s most-used open-source machine learning library (2.5B+ downloads). Probabl develops industrial-grade, sovereign, and transparent data science solutions to help enterprises move from fragmented, artisanal ML practices to scalable, traceable, and responsible AI operations.
💻 Website: https://probabl.ai
📍 HQ City: Paris / Saclay / Sophia Antipolis / Berlin
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €13M (total funding €18.5M)
🏦 Investors: Serena, Capital Fund Management (CFM), Mozilla Ventures, French Tech Souveraineté (Bpifrance – France 2030)
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Yann Lechelle (CEO, ex-Scaleway), Gaël Varoquaux (Scientific Advisor, Inria), and 12 co-founders from the scikit-learn community
🗞️ News: Largest commercial open-source software (COSS) seed round in Europe to date. The funding will accelerate Probabl’s mission to industrialize open-source AI, expand internationally, and build enterprise-grade tools around scikit-learn. The company positions itself as Europe’s flagship for sovereign, open, and transparent AI — championing the philosophy that “open always wins.” | Maddyness, La Tribune, FrenchWeb

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