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- 🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — April 21, 2025. €55.55m in new funding for French companies.
🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — April 21, 2025. €55.55m in new funding for French companies.
What you need to know this week in France: 🤗 Hugging Face acquires Pollen Robotics, 🕵️♂️ Rippling attempts to serve Deel's Paris-based CEO, 👩 €33M for female-focused funds.

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 % of global VC deal value went to AI and machine learning companies in Q1, 2025?
(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)
A.) 27%
B.) 36%
C.) 58%
D.) 71%
What’s new this week in 🇫🇷
🤗 Hugging Face acquires humanoid robot startup Pollen Robotics: the French robotics company develops open source, AI-powered robots designed for human interaction and research applications, including gesture control, teleoperation, object manipulation, and social interaction in both educational and prototyping environments.
👩 BPIfrance and JPMorgan Chase close first €33M of female-focused fund: the Bpifrance Spark Fund supports investment firms with at least 33% female ownership and those promoting social impact, with initial investments targeting high-growth tech companies and sustainability-driven businesses in Europe.
🙈 New French law requires adult-content websites to verify their users are over 18: sites must implement secure age checks like ID scans or AI-verified video selfies to avoid the risk of being blocked by French regulators starting in June of this year.
🕵️♂️ Rippling is trying to serve legal papers to Deel’s Paris-based CEO, but can’t find him: it turns out he’s been hiding out in Dubai following the alleged corporate espionage drama that unfolded between Deel and rival Rippling earlier this month.
⚡ Green hydrogen producer Lhyfe receives a €149M grant: The funds will be used to create a hydrogen production plant near near the Grand Canal in Le Havre
🌍 Headlines from around the world
🖲️ NVIDIA to Manufacture American-Made AI Supercomputers in US for First Time (NVIDIA)
🐬 Google’s latest AI model tries to translate dolphin speech (TechCrunch)
🚀 Figma is (finally) going public (Reuters)
🏦 Founders Fund closes $4.6 billion growth fund
👍 OpenAI is creating a social network, reportedly to compete with X (The Verge)
🏃♂️ Strava acquires UK-based running app Runna (Strava)
😵💫 OpenAI’s new reasoning AI models hallucinate more (TechCrunch)
👨⚖️ The EU delayed penalties on Apple and Meta shortly before beginning trade negotiations with the US (WSJ)
💵 Techstars increases startup funding to $220,000—mirroring YC (Next Unicorn)
New Funding 💶
13 companies raised €55.55M in the last week including €1.1M by Clikodoc (Healthtech) and €850K by CustomsBridge (Logistics)
Klaimy | €1.2M | Insurtech
Paris-based Klaimy raised €1.2 million in pre-seed funding led by Insurtech Gateway, with participation from U-Investors, Tenity, and angel investors. Founded in 2023, the startup offers AI software that helps life and health insurers process complex medical documents, improving the speed and accuracy of underwriting and claims.
Ecklo | €1.2M | Materials Manufacturing
Paris-based Ecklo raised €1.2 million from business angels and Bpifrance to develop its reusable pallet covers made from recycled and recyclable materials. Their solution helps logistics companies cut plastic waste and CO₂ emissions by replacing traditional plastic film with their more sustainable option.
H’ability | €1.2M | Healthtech
H'Ability, an Aube-based startup founded in 2021, has raised €1.2 million from business angels and investors like Bpifrance, Banque Populaire, and CIC. The company develops virtual reality rehabilitation solutions for hospitals and rehabilitation centers, aiming to expand its reach to 100 partners across France and Europe within a year. It is also exploring options to make the technology available for individual customers.
Delos | €2.5M | Artificial Intelligence
Delos, a Paris-based startup founded in 2023, has raised €2.5 million in funding from 20VC, along with investors from Pigment, Dataiku, Hexa, Inovia, Plug & Play, and Kima Ventures. The company is developing a voice-controlled AI-powered software suite for businesses that integrates tools for chat assistants, document storage, and meeting summarization. Delos aims to provide a sovereign alternative to American productivity tools with a focus on data security.
Celest Science | €2M | Climate Tech
Celest Science, a Montpellier-based startup founded in 2023, has raised €2 million from 17 investors to develop AI-driven climate risk modeling tools. The company uses advanced AI to predict climate-related risks like droughts and floods, with a focus on improving accuracy over traditional methods. Interestingly, the company has initially targeted the U.S. insurance market before a planned expansion into Europe.
Brink Therapeutics | €3.5M | Biotech
Brink Therapeutics, a Paris-based startup founded in 2024, has raised €3.5 million in seed funding to develop a safer, more precise alternative to CRISPR gene editing. The startup is building a safer gene editing tool that avoids cutting DNA (as is the case with CRISPR) to reduce the risk of harmful mutations. Their aim is to improve CAR-T cancer therapies, which modify immune cells to better attack cancer.
FEBUS Optics | €4M | Infrastructure
Pau-based Fébus Optics has raised €4 million in funding from investors including Thales Corporate Ventures, Pléiade Venture, and Crédit Agricole. The company specializes in fiber-optic surveillance solutions, turning cables into long-distance sensors for sectors like energy, transportation, and infrastructure security. Fébus Optics plans to use the funds to expand its presence in Asia and grow its team.
Ensol | €6M | Cleantech
Ensol has raised €6M in equity and €8M in debt financing for a total of €14 million to expand its residential solar energy services. The funding, led by Breega and supported by climate funds Endgame and Watermelon, will accelerate its growth and launch a solar subscription model to make solar energy more accessible. Ensol offers a comprehensive solution that optimizes solar self-consumption, and aims to create a virtual power plant by connecting homes for decentralized energy production.
Dolphin Semiconductor | €10M | Semiconductors
Dolphin Semiconductor raised €10 million from Singapore’s Vertex Growth to support its expansion and product development. The company designs essential building blocks used in computer chips—helping create more efficient and more powerful devices.
Klara | €10M | HR Tech
Paris-based Klara has raised €10 million in a funding round led by Endeit Capital. The startup offers a platform that helps companies manage and track skill development for frontline and deskless workers. The funding will support product development and international growth for the startup, whose current clients include major enterprises such as Safran and Carrefour.
Mila | €12M | Insurtech
Mila, based in Paris, raised €12 million in a round led by Elevation Capital Partners to support its growth in France and internationally. Mila offers insurance products for the real estate sector, like coverage for unpaid rent and building liability. The company, profitable since 2023, plans to expand its services to small businesses.
Upcoming Events 🗓
Climate Coffee in Paris – April 24
Climate Capital Unbound: Navigating the U.S. Shift and Global Opportunity – April 25
LPB 25 - London, Paris, Berlin multi-modal AI Show-case – April 25
Women in VC: Run & Breakfast – April 29
MKIA 25 – April 29
GOSIM Open Source AI Conference – May 6-7
{Tech: Paris} AI Hackathon – May 24
The Paris AI Conference 2025 – June 16
Interesting Jobs 👩💻
What Else I’m Reading 📚
Unlocking France’s AI Potential 2025 (Amazon)
The Hypergrowth Startup Index (HubSpot)
20,000 AI generated songs are uploaded to Deezer everyday (engadget)
TechpressoWhy you’ll like it: Daily updates on the latest tech and AI news in an easy-to-read format. Stay in the know while finishing your morning coffee. | Trends.vc![]() Why you’ll like it: Short summaries of breaking topics in the world of startups and Venture Capital. An easy way to find new ideas and opportunities. |
Quiz Answer: C.) 58%
According to data from PitchBook, 58% of Q1 VC deal value went to AI and machine learning startups with these deals accounted for 28% of all deal volume. In the US and Canada, the dominance of AI was even more stark—with over 70% of all deal value going to funding for AI companies.