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.

The boundaries of possibility 🎆

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about the boundaries of possibility—and how they change over time.

That’s kind of a lofty statement, but it started with a simple thought about guitars.

I started playing guitar in middle school, around the age of 12, and was immediately hooked. I fell in love with the music of the greats, like Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses, and dreamed of playing like them.

Over the course of several years and hours of practice I was able to slowly learn most of their riffs and solos. By the time I reached high school I could confidently say I was the best guitarist in my class.

Then I met Adrian.

Adrian moved from another school district and could do things on guitar I could not. He played faster and cleaner and has mastered more challenging techniques. I couldn’t keep up. I had no idea this was possible for someone at our age until I saw it in person.

In that moment, my boundary of possibility expanded.

Today, anyone can find Adrian-level guitarists after a few searches on YouTube, Spotify, TIkTok, etc. And it’s impressive to see that level of skill from a distance. But it hits different when you see it in person. It hits different when you see it from someone you know…someone like you. I saw what was possible and realized I could do that too.

How does this relate to startups? The same concept applies.

Seeing huge successes from a-far is inspiring, but in an aspirational, “that’s great for them” kind of way. Yes, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon became the biggest companies in the world in just a few decades, but they were led by founders so legendary that they border on being super-human. It’s great for them, but not us mere mortals.

It’s equally easy to mentally constrain that kind of success to the West Coast of the United States and the ecosystem that exists there. Surely that couldn’t happen in Europe. There’s no way that could happen in France.

Except it is happening here. Today, France has Mistral raising over €1 billion in venture capital funding and Doctolib pulling in €300 million in revenue. Today, France is home to the largest startup campus in the world and is the 5th largest destination for VC investment globally.

Most importantly, each of these success stories pushes the boundary of possibility a little further. For every founder raising millions of Euros there is a group of friends and colleagues who see that becoming possible for them too. It hits differently when it’s someone you know. It hits differently when it’s someone like you.

So, with that, let’s push the boundaries of possibility together and jump into this week’s update!

📝 Quiz: Which age group were most founders in when they started companies that went on to achieve 🦄 unicorn ($1 billion+) valuations?

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

• A.) Ages 10-20

• B.) Ages 20-30

• C.) Ages 30-40

• D.) Ages 40-50

What’s new this week in 🇫🇷

• 🇪🇺 Mario Dragh advocates“radical change” to close the innovation gap: The former Italian PM issued a new report along with a warning to European leaders: increase competitiveness in tech or continue to fall behind. His entire speech is worth watching here, but this quote sums up the sentiment. “In fact, there is no EU company with a market capitalisation over EUR 100 billion that has been set up from scratch in the last fifty years, while all six U.S. companies with a valuation above EUR 1 trillion have been created in this period. This lack of dynamism is self-fulfilling.”

• 🏝 Pre-product AI startup Poolside nears a €3 billion valuation: The AI foundation model company, which relocated to Paris from the US, is reportedly in talks to raise €500 million at a valuation around €3 billion. The team is currently developing an LLM to write software code, although their initial product is not yet publicly available.

• Vera Baker joins 4P Capital as the fund’s newest Partner based in Paris: Born and raised in San Francisco with a background in startups and angel investing, Baker will lead early-stage VC investments for 4P Capital. “I’m excited to bring this experience to 4P Capital as we expand impact across Europe and the US” she said in a press release early this morning.

New Funding 💶

We’re now two weeks into September and total funding raised has already eclipsed August by over 2X. Last week, 11 companies raised €139.5m including €2.7 million by Trust-place, €2.2 million by Bib Batteries €2 million by Actionable, and €1.1 million by Bonx.

Events This Month 🗓

• FDDAY – September 18

• Founders First: The EF approach to building talent-driven startups – September 26

• Go Entrepreneurs Lyon – September 26

Interesting Jobs 👩‍💻

🔎 VC Analyst Intern @ Eurazeo

👑 Head of Product @ ManoMano

🌱 Growth Marketing Manager @ Electra

👩‍💻 Product Manager @ Pigment

👑 Head of GTM Planning & Campaigns @ LumApps

🤝 Business Development Representative @ Photoroom

👑 Head of Revenue Marketing @ Alma

📈 VP, Sales & Marketing @ Shipup

👑 Head of Global Brand & Communications @ LumApps

🎨 Senior Product Designer @ Swile

📊 Senior Product Marketer @ Bunq

What Else I’m Reading 📚

• Air conditioning, an economic wonder (Ben Carlson)

• Why light has energy but no mass (Float Head Physics)

• Russia’s espionage war in the arctic (The New Yorker)

• How pour over coffee got good (Works in Progress)

• Inside French tech’s fierce battle for the best AI talent (Sifted)

Quiz Answer: C.) Ages 30-40

New research from Stanford University found the average age for US-based unicorn founders is 35 years old, with plenty of range both above and below that average. The data certainly skews younger, with nearly 67% of these founders starting their company before the age of 41, but also goes to show it’s never too late to start.