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  • 🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — December 2, 2024. €90.7 million in new funding for French companies.

🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — December 2, 2024. €90.7 million in new funding for French companies.

What you need to know this week in France: 🆕 LightOn IPO, 🤖 Mistral startup program, 😱 more government turmoil.

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.

Attachez vos ceintures 💺

We may be nearing the end of 2024, but the debate over France’s 2025 budget shows no sign of ending soon. Michel Barnier’s coalition government could be nearing collapse amid a fresh round of sparring last week with Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National and the threat of a no-confidence vote by the Nouveau Front Populaire. This latest act of brinksmanship has pushed French 10-year bond yields to their highest levels in 12 years—briefly surpassing yields in Greece on Thursday.

While many factors have contributed to the fundraising crunch in France (and elsewhere in Europe), the ongoing budget and debt crisis combined with rising interest rates certainly doesn’t help. Regardless of the outcome, it looks like we’re in for an extra bumpy few weeks, if not longer, and will not be coasting into the winter holidays.

With that, let’s jump into this week’s update!

📝 Quiz: France has one of the largest tech workforces in Europe. How big is the population of French tech workers?

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

  • A.) 116,000

  • B.) 247,000

  • C.) 517,000

  • D.) 729,000

What’s new this week in 🇫🇷

🌍 Headlines from around the world

  • 🎓 MIT introduces tuition-free option for undergraduates with family income below $200K (MIT)

  • 🤑 OpenAI allows employees to sell ≈$1.5 billion in stock in SoftBank tender offer (CNBC)

  • 🙅‍♂️ Australia bans social media for children under 16 (NPR)

  • 🥳 ChatGPT turns 2-years-old (Bloomberg)

  • 👩‍⚖️ US Department of Justice moves ahead with Google antitrust case—including a potential forced divestment of Google Chrome (The Verge)

  • 🚙 Autonomous vehicle scale-up Pony AI shares jump 15% following Nasdaq IPO (Boursorama)

  • 👋 EU anti-trust regulator Margrethe Vestager is stepping down after 10-years pursuing big tech companies (NYT)

  • 🏦 Revolut has been quietly growing its business banking services (Sifted)

New Funding 💶

11 companies raised €90.7 million in the last week

darwin | €1M | Climate Tech

darwin has raised €1.5 million from Astérion and other climate-focused investors to scale its AI-powered platform for biodiversity impact analysis. Founded by Aurore Falque-Pierrotin, Cyprien Hallé, and Antoine Vallier, Darwin helps companies measure and address their environmental footprint, focusing on biodiversity and ecosystem dependencies.

Wally | €1.7M | Real Estate

Digital real estate club-deals platform Wally has raised €1.7 million, alongside €600,000 in bank deb. Founded in 2023, Wally claims to democratize access to high-yield real estate investments like hotels and co-living. The platform has attracted 6,000 investors and aims to acquire over €50 million in assets by 2025.

Mago | €1.5M | Generative AI

Mago has raised €1.5 million in seed funding from Atlantic Labs to support their AI video production tech. The startup's technology transforms videos with artistic styles like cartoon drawings or paintings. Currently in a closed beta, Mago plans to launch its tool in early 2025 and integrate it with platforms like Unreal Engine and Blender to enhance professional workflows. The funding will also double its team from 6 to 12 employees.

Argil | €3.9M | Generative AI

AI-video company Argil has raised €3.9 million in a seed round led by EQT Ventures, with participation from Seedcamp and others, to expand its personalized video tools. Argil’s app creates hyper-realistic multilingual video avatars, allowing users to produce high-quality content quickly and affordably. The platform targets creators, educators, and small businesses, offering tools like automated editing and text-to-video conversion.

Kapsera | €4.2M | Agriculture

Bordeaux-based Kapsera has raised €4.2 million, led by Banque des Territoires and The Yield Lab Europe, alongside existing investors such as Demeter Investment Managers. The company develops sustainable microencapsulation solutions for agriculture and food, using natural materials like alginate to enhance bio-solutions such as biocontrol products and probiotics. The funds will support industrialization efforts, with its first production unit set to open in 2025, aiming to address global sustainability challenges.

TEEPTRAK | €5M | Industrial Performance Technology

TEEPTRAK, an industrial performance monitoring business, has raised €5 million from SHIFT Invest, XAnge, and EDF to fuel its global expansion. TEEPTRAK’s solutions enable manufacturers to optimize production through real-time data monitoring, sustainable hardware, and AI-powered analytics, delivering measurable productivity gains of 5–30%. With the new funds, the company will establish offices in Chicago and Shenzhen, hire 100 new employees, and strengthen their European presence.

Volta | €6M | B2B

Volta, a startup with dual-headquarters in Paris and Milan, has raised €6 million from investors including Emblem and Founders Future to digitize B2B wholesale trade in Europe. Founded in 2024, the platform, which has been called Shopify for B2B transactions, helps wholesalers and distributors manage online catalogs, automate orders, and improve sales processes using AI-driven tools. Volta aims to expand across Europe and into the U.S. in the near future.

Biolevate | €6M | PharmaTech

Paris-based Biolevate has raised €6 million to develop ELISE, an AI-powered platform that streamlines the creation and management of scientific and regulatory documents for the pharmaceutical industry. By leveraging natural language processing and automated analysis, ELISE helps reduce regulatory errors, speeds up compliance, and improves collaboration. Founded in 2023, Biolevate aims to accelerate the delivery of vital treatments by addressing documentation challenges.

Raidium | €16M | Medical Imaging

Raidium, HQ’d in Paris, has raised €16 million in a seed round led by Newfund and Kurma Partners, with participation from Founders Future, Galion.exe, and the EIC Fund. Founded in 2022, Raidium uses AI to change radiology thanks to a platform they claim to is 2,500 times faster than manual methods for analyzing 3D medical images, supporting precision medicine by automating detailed diagnostics. Raidium plans to expand in the U.S. and Europe and seek FDA and CE approvals.

Lactips | €16M | Bioplastics

Lactips, developers of a 100% biodegradable and water-soluble polymer as an eco-friendly alternative to industrial plastics, has raised €16 million from investors including Blue Ocean Fund and BNP Paribas Développement. The new funds will be used to expand into the Americas and Japan while increasing production at its Saint-Paul-en-Jarez facility.

Devialet | €30M | Audio Hardware

Devialet, a French audio technology company known for its premium speakers, has raised €30 million in a critical funding round from existing investors to address financial challenges and declining sales. After hardships over the summer, the startup plans to reposition as a luxury brand, expand internationally into China, the U.S., and the Emirates, and explore partnerships with luxury brands and industries—including the automotive and hospitality sectors.

Events This Month 🗓

Interesting Jobs 👩‍💻

What Else I’m Reading 📚

Quiz Answer: C.) 517,000

This figure has increased more than 8-fold since 2015, but still represents less than 2% of France’s 27.7 million workers.