A turbulent economic context

In 2022, despite a very tense context, France has shown resilience. French Tech Next40/120 companies raised a total of €5.8 billion in funding, including €4.3 billion for French Tech Next402.

In 2022, 8 new unicorns were born, including 7 in the 1st half of the year: Ankorstore, Spendesk, Ecovadis, Exotec, NW Group, PayFit, Qonto and Younited.

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Compared to 2021, the cumulative revenue of the 120 most promising French startups has climbed by 20%. Between 2019 and 2022, 72% of them have at least doubled their revenues. Thanks to this, these startups have been able to massively recruit: the average number of employees has increased by 70% in three years.

The most promising sectors and territories

The largest investors are internet services and software, having raised €2.98 billion and €2.94 billion in funding respectively. While these amounts are comparable in value, they are the result of very different dynamics. While the amounts raised by Internet services have dropped by 24%, those raised by software have jumped by 36%. Fintechs followed with 92 deals for €2.337 billion, Cleantech with 72 deals for €2.085 billion and finally Life Sciences with 83 deals for €1.369 billion.

Unsurprisingly, Paris Region remains the leading region in this ecosystem. Startups in the Paris region accounted for 73% of the amounts raised and 64% of the deals in 2022. The Hauts-De-France region raised €9.79 million, while the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region came in last place with €8.41 million raised.

Compared to other European countries, France ranksthird, with 735 deals for EUR 13.49 billion raised. This puts it ahead of Germany, with 664 deals for EUR 10.04 billion raised. However, these two countries are largely surpassed by the United Kingdom, which has almost twice as many deals for more than EUR 27 billion invested.

The Class of 2023 French Tech 40/120

For the class of 2023, the selection is increasingly focused on disruptive innovations, ecological transition and industrial sovereignty.

This promotion reflects the transformation project that the Government is carrying out with "France 2030". A growing number of the start-ups selected are helping to strengthen technological excellence and reindustrialize France. With their disruptive innovations and their ambitions, these new economic players are making a very concrete contribution to achieving these national objectives.

This new class also attests to the relevance and quality of the support provided by "France 2030": all the industrial and DeepTech start-ups in the French Tech Next40 have benefited from it.

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For the first time in the history of the French Tech Next40/120, in addition to the selection based on their economic performance, the start-up candidates of the class of 2023 were asked to make commitments in the following areas

  • Parity: by transmitting to the French Tech Mission the results of their gender equality index, together with proposals for action to improve it;
  • Inclusion: thanks to a collective work that will be driven and animated by the French Tech Mission in the first half of 2023;
  • Ecological transition: with the completion of a "scopes 1, 2 and 3" carbon assessment by the end of 2023.

Entrepreneurs now have to sail into the wind and provide tangible proof of development to raise funds... The opportunities to be seized remain as numerous as ever, particularly in the face of environmental and technological challenges.

The French Tech