Tracxn, a leading global SaaS-based market intelligence platform, has released its Geo Quarterly Report: France Tech - Q3 2023. The report, based on Tracxn’s extensive database, provides insights into the France Tech space.
France is one of the top five funded startup ecosystems in the world and the second-highest funded region in Europe in 2023 to date.
The French Tech startup ecosystem witnessed its highest-ever funding in Q1 2022 after which, there was a downward trend in investments till Q1 2023. Funding in this space has again started to witness a steady increase in 2023. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, funding has been rising by more than 10% this year.
In the third quarter of 2023, French tech startups raised $1.9 billion, 4% higher than $1.8 billion in Q3 2022 and 11% higher than $1.71 billion raised in Q2 2023. This is largely due to an uptick in late-stage investments, which rose 50% to $1.1 billion in Q3 2023 from $732 million in the previous quarter (Q2 2023). This is also an increase of 10% from $1 billion in the corresponding quarter last year (Q3 2022).
The opposite trend was observed in early-stage funding. The French Tech sector attracted early-stage funding worth $547 million in Q3 2023, which is 23% lower than $712 million in Q2 2023 and $680 million raised in Q3 2022, respectively. In Q3 2023, seed-stage investments were worth $171 million, a 36% drop from $270 million raised in Q2 2023 and a growth of 113% compared with $80 million raised in Q3 2022.
Four companies have raised $100M+ funding in the third quarter of this year. Further, Verkor became the first Unicorn in this space in 2023, after raising $913 million in a series C round.
No companies from the France Tech sector went public in the third quarter of 2023. However, 21 acquisitions took place, lower than 41 in the previous quarter and 51 in the corresponding quarter last year.
Among French cities, Grenoble took the lead in terms of funding, followed by Paris and Palaiseau. Startups based in Grenoble raised $947 million in the third quarter of this year, while those headquartered in Paris and Palaiseau raised $660 million and $116 million respectively.
Le Village by CA, Kima Ventures, and Bpifrance are the most active investors in this space. Bpifrance, Motier, and Kima Ventures emerged as the top seed-stage investors in Q3 2023, while Ventech, Index Ventures, and Orbimed were the top early-stage investors in Q3 2023. Airbridge Investments was the most active late-stage investor during the same quarter.
