April ecosystem news by Chris O’Brien for the French Tech International Community

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Welcome back to our monthly French Tech News roundup. I am your host and guide, Chris O’Brien, an American journalist and the founder of The French Tech Journal newsletter.

France can boast a growing roster of companies with valuations north of $1 billion. But BlaBlaCar is the OG of French unicorns. If you’re newish to France and don’t know BlaBlaCar, it’s a ridesharing platform that was raising 9-figure rounds of venture capital back when such huge fundings were few and far between. Along the way, it’s expanded into buses. BlaBlaCar has had its share of ups and downs but has continued to persist. That pluck paid off again last week when the company raised another $115 million following a difficult year because of the pandemic. Fortunately for BlaBlaCar, several of its most important markets – Brazil, Mexico, India, and Ukraine – didn’t shut down and so business remained robust enough to cushion the downturn elsewhere. Next stop: The company expects to be profitable in 2022 and is eyeing an IPO.

Meanwhile, insurtech startup Alan became the newest entrant into France’s unicorn pantheon when it raised €185 million. Alan has battled France’s bureaucracy and its medical establishment to launch an insurance platform that has been a hit on its home turf. Now it’s expanded to Belgium and Spain. Jean-Charles Samuelian, Alan’s cofounder and CEO, told Sifted.eu that he wants the company to become a healthcare super app that is a hub for all of a patient’s wellness needs. Samuelian told Maddyness: “The unicorn status doesn’t excite us internally… Unicorn status is more like a launching pad than the end of the road.”

Another French unicorn Ynsect, which has raised more than €300 million, also has a growing appetite for growth. Ynsect, which built a strong vertical business growing bugs to create animal food, had recently received permission to develop a version of its nutrients for humans. To accelerate that new product, Ynsect announced it had acquired Protifarm, a Dutch company that manufactures mealworms. The company says this will allow it to more rapidly start producing bug food for people. As climate change threatens food supply chains, protein-rich insect food is seen as a possibly sustainable and healthy alternative.

Notable Names

This past month, I got a chance to chat with Fleur Pellerin for Sifted. Pellerin made her mark when she created the French Tech program as a member of the previous government. After she departed, Pellerin founded the Korelya venture capital firm. Their goal is to build a bridge between European entrepreneurs and markets in the Far East. The firm has invested most of its first fund, is now raising a second fund, and brought on a new partner to broaden its international outlook. Pellerin told me that the ability to link the two regions has proven to be very attractive to European entrepreneurs whose first instinct is often to look west to the United States: “When we created Korelya, we were not sure that it would be of any interest to founders to grow their business in Asia. But what we found is that most of the companies reacted very positively to that value proposition. And we were able to enter very competitive financing rounds because we had that angle.”

And now you’re caught up! See you next month.

Chris O'Brien