It’s that time of year. La French Tech, an initiative supported by the French government and the government, collects applications and processes the numbers to rank the 120 best-performing startups in France today, creating a special category of the top 40 companies. Did. The result is his two rankings based on objective criteria (Next40 and French Tech 120).
Before we delve into the criteria and what you get when you join these lists, let’s take a look at this year’s French Tech 120 and Next 40.
Image credit: La French Tech
Compared to last year’s Next40, there were already 29 in the top category. This means 11 startups have joined the group. Some of them are already part of the French Tech 120, outperforming other startups in the industry, including EcoVadis, NW Storm, Innovafeed, Pigment and Verkor.
Next40 newcomers are ClubFunding (real estate investment platform), Electra and ZePlug (two EV charging startups), Flying Whales (airship maker), SAFTI (real estate marketplace) and Wifirst (professional telecommunications company).
As for the Next40 startups last year, some of them have gone public. The French government wants to include privately held companies in these rankings to give some visibility to companies that do not disclose their earnings. This is why Deezer isn’t here this year and OVHcloud was taken off the list last year. Others moved to the second category or dropped out of the rankings entirely. For example, Meero is nowhere to be found.
Next40 rankings are still determined by how much VC funding you have raised. If your company is a unicorn, which means it raises a funding round leading to a valuation of $1 billion or more, your startup automatically becomes a Next40 company. In this way, 26 companies have joined the Next40. As for the other members of the group, between 2020 and 2022 he has made a funding round of over €100 million ($107 million at today’s exchange rate).
In the next category, the French Tech 120, the government chose 40 companies with the largest funding rounds. This year, these startups raised at least €40 million ($43 million).
Finally, the government looked at the earnings of the last 40 selected startups. These companies are growing at a rapid pace, generating at least €10 million in annual turnover and increasing revenues by at least 25% year-on-year over the last three years.
And it’s true that some of these start-ups are making good money now. Mirakl, for example, said that in 2022 he reached $135 million in annual recurring revenue. The startup operates a marketplace for third-party products on a popular e-commerce website. The company processed $6 billion in total merchandise volume last year. Digital marketing automation service Sendinblue reached his €100 million ($107 million) annual recurring revenue. Younited reported revenue of €190 million ($203 million) last year.
These French startups can reach out to La French Tech when faced with administrative issues. La French Tech can then make referrals with French Tech representatives in any of 60 different partner government agencies. These personnel will try to assist startups in obtaining visas for foreign employees, obtaining certificates or patents, selling products to the government, etc.
Overall, the 120 companies in the French Tech 120 have 47,800 employees. These start-ups generate €11.3 billion ($12 billion) in revenue. In other words, most metrics are moving to the top right, but some are growing faster than others. For example, only 15 of her companies have at least one female co-founder or CEO. There is still a long way to go when it comes to female representation and diversity in the French tech ecosystem.
