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  • 🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — November 18, 2025. €95.85M in new funding for French companies.

🇫🇷 French Tech Updates — November 18, 2025. €95.85M in new funding for French companies.

What you need to know this week in France: 🚀 €4.2B space battlefield, 💶 €200M for XAnge, 😱 2026 budget woes continue.

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 exits by venture-backed European companies in 2025 have been via an IPO?

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

  • A.) 32%

  • B.) 28%

  • C.) 15%

  • D.) 2%

What’s new this week in 🇫🇷

🪽 XAnge Raises €200M for AI and Deep Tech-Focused Fund: The Franco-German VC firm announced a €200M first close for its new early-stage fund, XAnge 5. Backed by EIF, Bpifrance, CNP, and others, the fund targets startups across AI, deep tech, and sustainability with check sizes from €1M to €15M. XAnge also plans to extend its reach across Europe by opening new offices beyond France and Germany betting on disciplined investing amid the growing AI bubble gold rush.

🚀 France Declares Space a Battlefield, Adds €4.2B to Defend Orbits: At the opening of France’s first Space Command HQ in Toulouse, President Macron warned that “space is no longer a sanctuary” and announced a sharp strategic pivot. Military space spending will jump by €4.2B between 2026 to 2030 for a total of €10.2B. The plan includes new patrol‑inspector satellites, expanded surveillance aimed at ensuring Europe remains autonomous and competitive in an increasingly militarized race to dominate the skies.

📉 French tech alarmed by revived exit tax and business levies in the 2026 budget proposal: As French lawmakers hash out the 2026 budget, new proposals to expand France’s exit tax and raise corporate taxes are stirring backlash in the startup scene. Critics warn the changes could push founders and investors to leave the country, echoing 2012’s “Pigeons” revolt against anti-startup tax policies. Rather ironic for measures intended to get entrepreneurs to “restez.”

🤖 The godfather of deep learning is stepping away from Meta: French-born AI legend Yann LeCun is leaving Meta to launch a new venture based on “world models.” LeCun is convinced that current models are dumber than cats, he’s betting the future of AI lies in machines that learn like babies through vision, interaction, and intuition instead of today’s text-trained LLMs.

🧾 Comet Software plans more SaaS acquisitions across Europe: The Paris-based vertical software consolidator locked in a €40M acquisition line from Ares Credit to fuel its next round of acquisitions. With nine niche vendors already under its belt, Comet is scaling its decentralized model and aims to reach €100M in combined revenue by 2027.

🌍 Headlines from around the world

💸 Meta announces plans to spend $600B in the US over three years (siliconANGLE)

🤖 Meta will tie employees' performance to their "AI-driven impact" starting next year (Business Insider)

✏️ OpenAI says it’s fixed ChatGPT’s em dash problem (TechCrunch)

🔐 Chinese Hackers Used Anthropic’s AI to Automate Cyberattacks (WSJ)

🤝 Salesforce acquires one-year-old startup Doti AI for an estimated $100 million (CTech)

🚀 Blue Origin sticks first New Glenn rocket landing and launches NASA spacecraft (TechCrunch)

🎮 Steam introduces its own gaming console (Gear Patrol)

👷‍♂️ Anthropic to spend $50 billion on U.S. AI infrastructure (CNBC)

🚛 Swedish self-driving truck firm Einride to go public via SPAC deal at $1.8 billion valuation (Reuters)

🪙 Coinbase introduces a platform for ICOs (Yahoo Finance)

New Funding 💶

14 companies announced €95.85 million in new funding last week including €650K by fluiidd 🧑‍🔧 Industrial and €500K by Mariloo 🗓️ GovTech.

Le Relais du Bien-être | €1M | 🩺 Health Tech

Troyes-based Relais du Bien-être raised €1 million to expand its network of wellness retreats for caregivers and people recovering from burnout, illness, or grief. The programs, which are free for participants, hosted over 1,000 people in 2024 and will now target corporate clients as part of a national expansion.

Klodios | €1.2M | 🧠 Health Intelligence

Caen-based Klodios raised €1.2 million to upgrade its health monitoring platform, blending AI-driven analysis with hands-on support for healthcare organizations. The startup helps navigate complex regulatory and medical information flows by automating and personalizing surveillance. Backed by Normandie investors and Bpifrance, Klodios plans to become a key player in health intelligence across Europe.

Paage | €1.9M | 🎬 Creator Tools

Paris-based Paage raised €1.9 million in a seed round led by Aglaé Ventures to expand its no-code platform that uses AI to generate e-commerce-ready web pages. Targeting creators and small brands, it bundles content, commerce, and CRM into one interface. The funding will boost international growth and deepen AI and product integrations.

K-Words | €2M | 📢 Adtech

Paris-based K-Words raised €2 million in a round led by daphni to scale its AI-powered contextual ad platform. The startup lets advertisers activate keywords directly inside editorial content without relying on cookies and with full GDPR compliance. With LLMs reshaping online discovery, K-Words aims to turn the open web into a high-intent, privacy-friendly search layer.

Zaiffer | €2M | 🔐 Crypto

Paris-based Zaiffer raised €2 million to launch its “confidential tokens” protocol, blending DeFi privacy with regulatory compliance. Built on Zama’s fully homomorphic encryption tech, cTokens shield transaction amounts while remaining audit-friendly.

OWLO | €2.5M | 🔬 Healthtech

Paris-based OWLO raised €2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by daphni to develop real-time, 3D, non-invasive microscopy tech. Spun out of the grande école ESPCI, the startup targets IVF and pharma research with imaging tools that assess embryo viability without relying on dyes. The company aims to boost IVF success rates and unlock new applications in drug discovery.

Dialog | €3.8M | 🛒 E-commerce

Paris-based Dialog raised €3.8 million ($4.4 million) in a seed round led by Galion.exe to grow its AI shopping agents that help e-commerce brands guide customers like in-store advisors. Already used by 300+ brands, Dialog, originally founded in 2021 as part of Hexa’s HX21 batch, has sparked over a million chats and 30,000 cart adds.

Green Spot Technologies | €5M | 🌱 Agriculture

Toulouse-based Green Spot Technologies raised €5 million to scale its production of fermented food ingredients made from plant by-products. The startup is also launching Milatea, which is a a new B2B brand targeting bakeries, pastry chefs, and food manufacturers.

FILIZ | €6M | 🎓 Edtech

Paris-based FILIZ raised €6 million from HEXA Scale to expand its platform that digitizes apprenticeship admin for schools and companies. Already used by 500+ institutions, it plans to launch a full ERP suite by 2026 and expand across Europe in 2027.

sunday | €18.1M | 💳 Fintech

Paris-based sunday raised €18 million in a Series B round (~$21M), led by DST Global Partners. Originally built for fast restaurant payments via QR codes, the company now offers a full suite of tools for ordering, CRM, loyalty, and AI-powered dynamic menus. It plans to double revenue and expand into new French and US cities, with upcoming launches in Dubai and a new kiosk product set for summer 2026. Sunday claims over 80 million diners have used its system across 3,000 restaurants worldwide.

U-Space | €24M | 🛰️ SpaceTech

Toulouse-based U-Space raised a €24 million Series A round to scale up its modular satellite factory with a goal to produce one satellite per week by 2027. The company already has three satellites in orbit and plans to expand internationally, targeting the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets, as a provider of satellite constellations (think Starlink, GPS, etc.).

Beside | €27.2M | 🤖 AI

Paris-born but US-operating startup Beside raised €27.2 million ($32 million) in funding, combining a Series A led by EQT Ventures and a seed round led by Index Ventures. The company, founded by Maxime Germain (ex-Alan and co-founder of Jour), builds AI for SMEs that understands full conversations from calls, texts, emails, and meetings and turns them into insight for service pros and small businesses. With 20,000 paying customers and $4M ARR, Beside is betting that your plumber's phone calls are the next productivity goldmine. Additional high-profile backers include the founders of Slack, Hugging Face, and Alan.

Upcoming Events 🗓

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Quiz Answer: D.) 2%

Source: JP Morgan 2025 EMEA Exit Report