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  • 🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — April 14, 2025. €201.4m in new funding for French companies.

🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — April 14, 2025. €201.4m in new funding for French companies.

What you need to know this week in France: 🥊 France prepares retaliatory tariffs on US tech, 💶 a new €300M fund to back European AI and B2B companies.

Welcome to French Tech Updates! Your weekly source of startup, VC, and tech news and insights. I’m James, a startup-obsessed American living in Paris.

📝 Quiz: What was the median post-IPO valuation for VC-backed European companies listed in Europe over the last decade?

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

  • A.) $30.1M

  • B.) $45.9M

  • C.) $78.6M

  • D.) $101.2M

What’s new this week in 🇫🇷

🌍 Headlines from around the world

  • Amazon is launching its Starlink competitor this week (The Verge)

  • Microsoft pulls back on datacenter plans (Bloomberg)

  • OpenAI and Elon Musk lawsuits heat up with OpenAI countersuit (Reuters)

  • Solid ‘the AWS of fintech’ has filed for bankruptcy protection (TechCrunch)

  • Andreessen Horowitz is seeking to raise a $20 billion fund (Reuters)

  • Shein on course for London IPO (Yahoo)

  • Chinese researchers claim to have created breakthrough with chips 40% faster than TSMC (Interesting Engineering)

New Funding 💶

18 companies announced €201.4M in new funding last week.

Lyzi | €1.3M | Crypto & Blockchain

The crypto payment hub built on Tezos' layer-1 blockchain, has raised a €1.3 million seed round. The startup enables consumers to use cryptocurrency for everyday retail and e-commerce payments, with merchants receiving fiat directly in their bank accounts.

Ed AI | €1.7M | Edtech

The Lyon-based startup founded in 2024 has raised €1.7 million to enhance its AI-driven solution aimed at assisting teachers with grading and providing remediation tools. The company's technology is designed to save teachers time by automating tasks and offering educational support.

Qperfect | €2M | Quantum Computing

BTQ Technologies will invest €2 million in QPerfect at a €10 million pre-money valuation. Founded in 2023 in Strasbourg, QPerfect specializes in neutral atom quantum computing and quantum design automation. Its core platform, MIMIQ, enables high-speed, accurate quantum algorithm execution.

klaro | €2M | HR Tech

Paris-based Klaro has raised €2 million in equity funding with €1 million in additional debt financing from Bpifrance and banks. The startup provides an API that helps employees access public and private financial aid, aiming to boost purchasing power without requiring salary increases. Klaro now targets HR platforms, neobanks, and benefit providers with a white-label, plug-and-play solution.

Goliaths | €3M | Fintech

The Paris-based startup founded in 2023, raised €3 million from a group of business angels, bringing its valuation to €20 million. The platform aims to simplify investing by combining fintech, social networking, and educational content across a a range of investment products. With €3 billion in transactions so far, Goliaths.io has set a target to reach €20 billion in trading volume by the end of 2025.

Connektica | €3M | Aerospace

Connektica, a Franco-Canadian startup founded in 2019 and co-located in Montréal and Toulouse, raised €3 million from a private French investor. The company specializes in digitizing and automating manufacturing processes for the New Space sector and is now aiming to expand its commercial deployment to the aerospace and defense industries. Its technology has already been tested with over 100,000 flight components.

Sim&Cure | €3.1M | Healthtech

Sim&Cure, based in Montpellier, France, raised €3.1 million from IRDI Capital Investissement, SWEN Capital Partners, ELAIA Partners, and HOLNEST. The company develops AI-driven Digital Twin software to assist in planning and optimizing treatments for cerebral aneurysms, improving procedural efficiency and patient outcomes. This funding will help expand its presence globally, particularly in Asia-Pacific, and support new product development.

Diagnoly | €5.5M | Healthtech

Diagnoly has raised €5.5 million to standardize prenatal ultrasound screenings with AI. The company’s tool, Fetoly, runs directly on tablets without cloud access, analyzing full ultrasound videos in real time to detect anomalies and assist clinicians, regardless of their expertise.

Nowos | €6M | Cleantech

Paris- and Amsterdam-based NOWOS has raised €6 million in a round led by Shift4Good, with Fair Capital Impact Fund and Goeie Grutten Impact Fonds also participating. The startup repairs and reuses lithium batteries, initially for e-bikes and scooters, and now expanding into energy storage, robotics, and medical devices. The funding will support new hubs in Poland and Germany and help scale its circular battery repair model across Europe.

4Moving Biotech | €7.6M | Biotech

Lille-based biotech 4Moving Biotech raised €7.6M from the France 2030 fund to advance clinical trials of its drug for knee osteoarthritis. A spin-off of 4P-Pharma, the company is developing 4P004, a treatment aimed at helping with both pain and underlying disease to delay knee replacement surgery.

Faume | €8M | Circular Economy

Paris-based Faume has raised €8 million from Amundi’s Just Transition fund, with Daphni and Bpifrance also participating. The startup helps fashion and luxury brands like Lacoste and Victoria Beckham launch their own branded second-hand platforms by managing logistics, refurbishment, and resale. With the new funding, Faume plans to expand in Italy and the UK and add AI-powered pricing tools.

pyannoteAI | €8.1M | Artificial Intelligence

Paris-based pyannoteAI raised €8.1M ($9M) to support its speaker-aware voice AI platform which is currently used by more than 100,000 developers. Founded in 2024, it offers advanced speaker diarization (detecting and labeling who speaks and when) optimized for real-time transcription and voice applications. Backers include Crane, Serena, Motier Ventures, and Kima.

Qevlar AI | €9.1M | Security

Paris-based Qevlar AI has raised €9.1M to develop AI agents that automate tasks in security operations centers. Their software investigates and triages cybersecurity alerts without human input, helping analysts focus on serious threats.

Okeiro | €10M | Healthtech

Paris-based Okeiro, formerly Predict4Health, has raised €10 million from Alven, Red River West, and Forepont Capital Partners. The startup uses AI to predict kidney graft survival, helping doctors better monitor transplant patients and personalize post-operative care.

Ÿnsect | €10M | Food & Beverages

French insect protein startup Ÿnsect, which entered into insolvency proceedings in February, has raised €10 million in bridge funding from existing investors. The funding provides a few months of runway while it seeks a buyer or further investment. The company also announced a CEO change, bringing in turnaround expert Emmanuel Pinto to lead its restructuring.

Roof | €20M | PropTech

Roof, a Paris-based proptech startup, raised €20 million in a round led by Mata Capital M. The company transforms existing real estate into co-living student residences, combining private rooms with shared amenities like gyms and coworking spaces. The funding will support the creation of over 1,000 new student rooms in major French cities.

Sekoia.io | €26M | Cybersecurity

Sekoia.io, based in Rennes, raised €26 million in a Series B round led by Revaia, with participation from UNEXO, Bright Pixel Capital, Omnes Capital, and Bpifrance. The startup offers an AI-powered security operations platform used by managed service providers and large enterprises to detect and respond to cyber threats.

Pennylane | €75M | Fintech

Paris-based Pennylane raised €75 million from Meritech Capital Partners, CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, and DST. Pennylane, which creates business banking and accounting software, currently serves 350,000 SME customers and 4,500 accounting firms.

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Quiz Answer: B.) $45.9M

Comparatively, European VC-backed companies who listed on US exchanges over the same period of time did so at a median valuation of $631.1 million, over 13X more than their domestically listed peers.