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.

Metro Thoughts Ⓜ️

Thanks to preparations for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris, which we are fully prepared for, metro line 14 is closed again. This change has extended my commute to a solid hour and given me lots more time to think.

Today, I spent that extra thinking time on how it feels to discover a cool new musician before any of your friends. You know what I mean, right? It feels good to be ahead of the crowd. Being early comes with a nice boost to your social capital. Being early is cool.

I remember a friend showing me Lizzo’s Truth Hurts during a car ride to the airport a full three years before Lizzo went on to win Best New Artist at The Grammy’s. That absolute banger of a track has now been streamed over 900,000,000 times. We knew about her before she was famous. We were early, and that made us just a tiny bit cool.

That feeling is also how it feels looking at French Tech right now. We’ve had a few early hits, but are still a few years out from the Best New Artist award. We’re early. We’re a tiny bit cool. French startups are an exciting space to watch right now.

Anyway, here’s a cool chart I saw. It shows the relative sizes of the largest stock markets by % of total capitalization from 1899 (on the left) to the start of 2024 (on the right).

A few changes are obvious, like growth in the US and Asia and decline in Austria and Russia. But look more closely. In 1899 the 4th largest stock market in the world belonged to France. In 2024, France still stands in the 5th position. Following a 125-year period that saw two World Wars, the rise and fall of opposing political regimes, and accelerating disruption from technological advances that kind of staying power is impressive.

French Tech is fascinating. Not just because of what’s new, but also because of what’s old. When you combine innovation with longevity you get one hell of a combination. So congrats on getting here early. I have a feeling things are about to get interesting.

And with that, let’s jump into this week’s update!

What’s new this week in 🇫🇷

• 💶 Fintech regained the top spot for March funding rounds: After a brutal pullback in 2023, Fintech saw a friendlier funding environment across Europe last month.

• 😰 Early failures cast doubt on the EU’s $40 billion ‘must-succeed’ innovation fund: Despite the alarming headline, it’s not as bad as it seems. The real cost is the time lost on failed companies.

• 🇪🇺🇺🇸 EU and US to work together on AI guidelines: The planned collaboration extends beyond policy into R&D for more sustainable semiconductor chips and infrastructure to support 6G networks.

Lastly, here’s a quick quiz for you. How many times is “AI” mentioned on the listings page for Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch?

• A) 57 times

• B) 312 times

• C) 147 times

• D) 425 times

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

New Funding 💶

7 companies raised €175.5m in the last week

Events This Month 🗓

• April 9-11: Paris Blockchain Week

• April 23: OVHcloud Startup Showcase Paris

• Every Wednesday this month: Startup School: Gen AI with Google

What Else I’m Reading 📚

• France market snapshot (PitchBook)

• The startup fundraising squeeze could persist as VCs struggle to raise (TechCrunch)

• Here’s why AI search engines really can’t kill Google (The Verge)

• Survey: VC optimism returns for 2024 (Axios)

• Venture Capital Booms and Startup Financing (Harvard Business School)

Quiz Answer: How many times is “AI” mentioned on the listings page for Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch? D). 425 times 😳