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.

Who runs the world? 👸

Happy Women’s History Month! Especially to the many amazing women currently writing the next chapter of history as founders, investors, advisors, and leaders at world changing companies.

Let’s jump into this week’s update!

📝 Quiz: What % of 2024 VC investments in Europe went to startups with female founders?

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

• A.) 12%

• B.) 18%

• C.) 25%

• D.) 50%

What’s new this week in 🇫🇷

• 🥊 AI Talent Shortage Fuels Fierce Competition in Europe: European AI startups face fierce competition for talent amid a shortage of skilled workers, driven by heavy investment and US companies expanding into the region

• 🤝 Appier Acquires AdCreative.ai for $38.7 Million: Appier has acquired French startup AdCreative.ai for $38.7 million as part of its strategy to expand in Europe. The acquisition strengthens Appier's position in generative AI for advertising, following AdCreative.ai's success in optimizing ad content with AI.

🌍 Headlines from around the world

• 🏦 Trump Signs Order to Create a ‘Crypto Reserve’ (NYT)

• 🪦 Intuitive Machines’ second moon lander dies 1 day after touchdown (TechCrunch)

• 💰 Figma in talks with bankers to explore an I.P.O. this year (NYT) they’re not alone, as Discord is exploring similar talks (NYT)

• 🚫 US likely to ban DeepSeek from government devices (WSJ)

• 🤖 Alibaba’s new open-source AI model reportedly matches DeepSeek’s performance (Venture Beat)

• 🚀 Google Co-Founder Larry Page is launching a new AI startup (The Information)

• 👩‍⚖️ Judge denies Musk’s attempt to block OpenAI from becoming for-profit entity (CNBC)

• 📉 Bitcoin miner turned AI-startup CoreWeave goes public, shares drop 18% after Microsoft cuts back on key deal (CNBC)

• 🚀 Klarna to file for IPO as soon as next week (Sifted)

Startup To Watch – Augment: The MBA for Entrepreneurs 👀

Business education is having a moment of reckoning.

On one side you have traditional MBA programs—prestigious programs priced in 6 figure ranges with the promise of a high-paying job and a high-flying network at the end. But, with 3 month post-graduation unemployment rates for Ivy League schools like Harvard Business School more than tripling to 15% last year that promise appears much less like a guarantee.

On the other side you have the "guru-preneur" industry hawking get-rich-quick schemes in Instagram reels filmed in front of rented private jets. While these influencer-led courses are certainly cheaper than a traditional MBA they’re also practically worthless.

What if there was another path?

A path where students can learn directly from the founders who built Shazam, YouTube, and Waze. A path at a fraction of the cost of traditional programs. A path that can be followed while keeping a full time job.

That's the vision Roy Wellner and his co-founder Ariel Renous set out to build with Augment. After experiencing the limitations of traditional business education firsthand at HEC—”At HEC, I realized that traditional business education wasn’t designed for entrepreneurs,” Roy told me—they became obsessed with creating the program they wish they had access to.

The result is a business education filled with practical knowledge taught directly by the leaders and founders who navigated the challenges of business first hand.

It all began with a cold email and a trip to San Francisco that landed them Shazam founder Chris Barton as their first instructor. From that first success, Roy and Ariel steadily added more household names to cover topics like strategy, leadership, operations, and sales. Augment’s program now contains courses from an impressive list of instructors—including Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia), Steve Chen (founder of YouTube), and Ann Hiatt (Chief of Staff at Google).

While each of Augment’s courses are focused on an entrepreneurial approach to business education, that doesn’t mean the program is only for future founders.

As Roy put it, “Everything we teach—across all our modules—is framed with an entrepreneurial mindset. We believe this approach is important for founders but also for employees who want to spot opportunities and drive growth”

That broad appeal also helps Augment tap into a massive market. While traditional MBA programs enrolled 250,000 students in 2022, the vast majority of business owners operate outside that bubble. Globally, there are over 350 million small and medium-sized businesses, many led by experienced professionals—some looking to raise capital, others focused on scaling sustainably—who want to sharpen their skills and adapt to a changing economy

“There are a lot of business owners who want to learn more about business,” Roy told me. “We’re not talking about the 0.1% going to Y Combinator to build billion-dollar companies. We’re focused on the 99%—serious business owners, talented people who want to grow, scale, and stay updated with the latest trends.”

Of course, business education isn’t just about knowledge—it’s about connections. One of the biggest draws of a traditional MBA is the network it provides. While many online programs struggle to offer the same sense of community Augment has made it a priority.

Roy explained, “I think now more than ever, people need to connect with other people, and Augment is no exception. Every week, we host live classes so students can engage with us and learn from these sessions. We started hosting in-person events last year and plan to do even more this year. There’s one coming up in New York next month, and we’ve already held events in Doha and London. This is one of our top priorities for the year.”

Beyond events, the real measure of success according to Roy isn’t just networking or knowledge—it’s outcomes. “The most important thing,” Roy added, “is that our students are learning, and building their own companies. And that’s exactly what’s happening.”

With a lean team of less than 10 people and $6 million in venture capital funding, Augment is growing rapidly (120 new students last month alone) and is well on their way to becoming the go-to destination for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

All of that makes them a startup to watch.

[By the way, Augment is hiring! If you want to join this international team in their mission to improve business education and fuel the next generation of entrepreneurs check out their open roles here]

New Funding 💶

12 companies raised €177.2M in the last week, not including unnanounced amounts by Cherico (Food & Beverages) and Papkot (Biodegradable Packaging)

Upcoming Events 🗓

• Deeptech Founders & VCs Meet (by Ventech, AFI Ventures, Matterwave and Kvanted) – March 12

• La Tech Au Féminin – March 13

• The Founders Running Club – March 15

• French/acc #4 – March 17

• The French State of AI – March 19

• How to Raise Funds in the US (hosted by Newfund) – March 21

• Pitch Perfect: Pitch to VCs & Get Live Feedback – March 25

• Paris AI Society Afterwork – March 26

• Techstars Paris Climate Coffee – March 27

• Startup Meetup Gemini 2.0 – March 27

Interesting Jobs 👩‍💻

• 🔐 Staff Product Manager Payment & Fraud @ Back Market 

• 📈 Senior Customer Experience Marketing Manager @ Contensquare

• ♟️ Senior Strategic Program Manager @ Spendesk

• ✍️ Product Marketing Manager @ Alan

• 👩‍🎨 Senior Product Designer @ Swan

• 👨‍💻 CTO Founder Associate Intern @ Alan

• 🫡 Chief of Staff at Neuralk

• 🌱 Senior Climate Expert @ Greenly

• 😄 Head of People @ Alice & Bob

What Else I’m Reading 📚

• The Long Tail of AI (Contrary Research)

• A guide to AI prototyping for product managers (Lenny’s Newsletter)

• Notion is a lifestyle (Strategy Breakdowns)

• Tech leaders pivot away from H-1B visa program after populist revolt (Semafor)

• The myth of the loneliness epidemic (Asterisk Magazine)

Newsletter Recommendations 🫶

Quiz Answer: A.) 12%

According to data from the 2025 Female Innovation Index, Female founders in Europe raised just 12% of all VC investment last year. Data from Pitchbook paints an even more challenging picture—with all-female teams raising just 1.5% of all investment value in 2024.