October ecosystem news by Kyle O’Brien for the French Tech International Community

This community is the key for foreign entrepreneurs in France to expand their network, meet other foreign and French entrepreneurs, share advice on living and working in France, and get access to exclusive content and resources!

Hello, everyone! My name is Kyle O'Brien, Founder of Startup ROI, a weekly newsletter where we explore global technology trends and how they manifest themselves in France. I'm standing in for Chris O'Brien this month. Despite no relation, I will do my best to do justice to the family name ;)

Heading into the 4th quarter of 2021 it appears French Tech is still full steam ahead. October witnessed the continued funding rounds, a cloud IPO and a major announcement from the Macron administration. Let's dig in!

The Funding Keeps on Coming!

The continued flurry of funding rounds included (in ascending order)

• WeCanDoo, Craft/Activity Marketplace (€3.2M)

• Rofim Doctor, Telemedicine (€5M)

• Stage 11, Music for the Metaverse (€5M)

• Beem Energy, Modular Solar Kits (€7M)

• Sheeld Market, Cryptocurrency Broker (€10M)

• Simundia, EdTech (€10M)

• Jow, Automated Grocery (€16.3M)

• CleverConnect, HR Recruiting Software (€30M)

• Homa Games, Gaming (€42.8M)

But by far and away the biggest funding announcement came from French Tech darling Swile. Fresh off the heels of a €70M Series C in June of 2020, Softbank led a series D injecting $200M into the business, launching the employee benefits startup to unicorn status.

The chart below illustrates French Tech fundraising for the past 3 years in terms of # of deals and € invested. While deal volume has remained relatively steady, it's clear the deal value (and valuations!) are increasing dramatically!

Source: Avolta Partners

OVH Cloud IPO

French cloud services provider, OVH Cloud, went public and saw a 6% bump in stock price during the first day of trading. They are the largest European cloud computing company and currently the second biggest listing on the Euronext Paris (roughly €3.5B market cap). "It's a great day for French and European tech sovereignty," said French technology minister Cedric O in a launch ceremony. "We want to make champions here."

#France2030

President Macron announced a sweeping economic plan he's calling France 2030. In his public presentation at the Elysée Palace he outlined the €10B, 5-year strategy to transform industry, technology and the environment while bolstering French culture on the global stage. As part of his bid for re-election he is betting on the unification of traditional industry and the ever-growing startup culture he's worked to develop in the country. Without a doubt, it will have far-reaching implications for the FrenchTech community. Read more about his plan here.