Also inside: the Great French Tech Election Freak out; and Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch is optimistic about France's AI ecosystem, but says the nation faces big disadvantages due to hiring rules and financing.
Also inside: Materup, Hero, Ramify, Zeliq, Onafis, and Mercateam.
While BeReal's fall from grace is now complete, the deal represents another milestone in the turnaround of Voodoo. The gaming company defied predictions of its demise and is now rumored to be on a path to an IPO. Resurrecting BeReal might be its biggest challenge yet.
The co-founder recently testified at the French Senate where he addressed concerns over the nation's competitiveness in AI, problems with fundraising and recruiting in France, and what drives him personally.
Also inside: Super Capital Co-Founder Corentin Orsini explains how a deal newsletter grew into a network of 1,000 investors and a portfolio of 180 startups.
Also inside: Descartes & Mauss, Deema, Vortex-io, Nanomade, Finovox, and Veeton.
The Y Combinator alum raised a €3 million Seed Round to build out its HR and payroll platform for French SMBs. The big challenge: Proving a product that targets France can scale into a giant.
Sparked by a newsletter from a former tech journalist, Super Capital has grown into a network of 1,000 investors with 180 companies in its portfolio.
Also inside: XMOBILITY CEO Magali Alix-Toupé revs up the engine of her new Le Mans accelerator.
Buyouts by PE firms may be the best hope for the exits that the French ecosystem craves. LumApps CEO Sébastien Ricard and Bridgepoint partner David Nicault break down the metrics that made this deal work.
On the new Le Mans accelerator: “Long term, we will have succeeded when we have found and helped launch the pioneers who will drive the decarbonization of transport."
Vizcab and Continuity also raised as SaaS, Data, and AI remained money magnets.
Also inside: Etienne Boutan breaks down the strategy behind Intuition, a €15 million early-stage fund focused on consumer and creator tech; and Hot Seed Deals.
On starting a €15m consumer tech fund: “If you're a consumer investor and you're backing early-stage deals, there's no competition."
The startup has raised $20 million to develop a tool that helps enterprises rapidly optimize their deployment of GenAI-powered services.
