France has been working forward to catalyse the startup ecosystem. The French government aims to have 20 tech unicorns by the year 2025. Notably, the U.S. is leading the race with 165 unicorns while China has 90 and the U.S. has 16 unicorns. And, it looks like France is all set to realise this vision as it is witnessing a series of large funding rounds so far this year.
As per a report by CB Insights, in the second quarter of 2019 ending June 30, 2019, the French tech companies have witnessed record-high deals and investment. In the first half of the year, overall funding of $2.7 billion was pumped into French tech companies, giving rise to anticipations that there could be $5.5 billion funding by the end of this year.
Going by the report, during the second quarter of 2019, while the UK and Germany witnessed flat and diminishing funding activity, France saw an increase in funding, which was the opposite in the first quarter of the year, notes the report.
Talking about investors, it looks like the investors in France have started taking notice of the growth of the country’s tech startup ecosystem. While the country can be proud of this transformation, it is to be noted that there are a number of investors in France that have contributed to the growth of the ecosystem by nurturing tech companies with funds. Without further ado, here we list the most active French investors and their investments in 2019.
Idinvest Partners
Founded in 1997 by Christophe Bavière, Idinvest Partners is a leading in financing small and medium-sized enterprises. The company operates with the mission to fund European businesses at various stages of growth. The management has nearly €8b billion to harness a range of complementary solutions that will help businesses grow and provide equity as well as private debt investment. Idinvest Partners has financed over 3,500 European businesses. Meero, Vestiaire Collective and Ornikar are some companies that were funded by Idinvest.
Kima Ventures
Kima Ventures, established in 2010 by Jeremie Berrebi and Xavier Niel, is one of the world’s most active early-stage investors. The company invests in 2 to 3 startups across the world on a weekly basis. It provides founders with investment, network, and support so that they can reach new heights. Kima Ventures pumps in investments from seed to Series A. While it is a lead investor in most cases, it also works with other investors and entrepreneurs. The company is said to have invested in over 400 startups across 24 countries. And, Collapse, payfit, Kard and CozyCozy are some popular companies in its portfolio.
Credit Agricole
Credit Agricole is a leading financial partner of the French economy and is one of the largest banking groups in the whole of Europe. It is a responsive and responsible bank serving 52 million customers, 1.1 million shareholders, and 9.3 million mutual shareholders. The universal customer-focused retail banking model of Credit Agricole supports customers’ projects. It provides real estate, asset management, corporate banking, consumer finance, leasing and factoring, and investment banking. Its extensive portfolio includes Havr, Woom, and Dessintey.
Elaia
Elaia, a French digital and deep tech venture capital firm was founded in 2002 by Philippe Gire and Xavier Lazarus. Elaia is a leading European digital and deep tech VC firm and is passionate about technology and entrepreneurship. The team backs aspiring tech disruptors including FretLink, Sim&Cure and Hyperlex.
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas Asset Management embraces chances to make a difference in the lives by adding sustainable value to their investments and contributing to make a better world for upcoming generations. The investor manages assets across the world and believes that sustainability and responsibility represent the future across industries. In the second quarter of the year, METRON, Woom and Havr have got funded from BNP Paribas Asset Management.
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