Every year, the French government and its La French Tech initiative shares two startup rankings: Next40 and French Tech 120. The startups on these lists are, respectively, the top-performing 40 and 120 startups respectively in France.
This is the third time that the French government has drawn up these lists. Of the 120 French Tech startups, 36 of them appear on the list for the first time.
Here is this year's French Tech 120 - the red logos are also part of the Next40:
There are two ways to appear on Next40:
- You've raised more than €100 million in the last three years or you're a unicorn, which means your company's valuation has reached $1.000 billion or more.
- It generates more than 5 million euros in revenue with a year-on-year growth rate of 30% or more during the last three years.
As for the remaining 80 startups in the French Tech 120:
- 40 of them have raised more than 20 million euros in a funding round in the last three years.
- 40 of them are selected based on annual turnover and growth rate.
Of course, those indices are limited to French private companies working in the innovation sector. For the French Tech 120, there are at least two new companies for each administrative region, which reveals a trend throughout France, not only in the largest urban centers.
2021 has been a hugely successful year for tech finance around the world, and that goes for Farancia as well. “Today, you have to raise at least 50 million euros to be on Next40,” France's digital minister Cédric O told a news conference. In 2017, the French startups together they raised 2500 billion euros. In 2021, they raised close to 12.000 million euros.
In addition to the funding rounds, he listed other benefits for the French tech ecosystem. For example, there have been two IPOs of more than €1000 billion in 2021, that is, as many IPOs of more than €1000 billion as in the last 25 years.
There has been some consolidation as well. In recent weeks, Doctolib acquired Tanker, Luko also acquired its German competitor Coya, but also Frichti was acquired by the Berlin-based startup Gorillas.
“I wanted to quickly remind everyone what Next40 and French Tech 120 are. Many think of it as a ranking. Of course, it is a ranking and you can be proud to be part of it”, said the director of La French Tech, Clara Chappaz.
“But aside from the qualifying element, it's a support program. Today there are some members of the French Tech mission who act as ambassadors and support in the initiation of ideas. They support startups like Back Market and the rest of the companies to facilitate interaction with public administrations on all kinds of issues”, he added.
There is a French Tech representative in 60 different administrations. They try to help startups in obtaining visas for foreign employees, obtaining a certification or a patent, selling a product to a public administration, etc.
However, it also highlights that, as in previous years, the French government believes that tech startups should do more when it comes to diversity and inclusion.
While there are now 14 female founders in the French Tech 120 instead of 7, "we have to do more when it comes to promoting women in the ecosystem," said Cédric O.
“Without the wealth tax [ISF] reform, without the single tax, without the labor reform, without the Tibi initiative, without the stock option [BSPCE] reform, without the French Tech visa, […] French technology would not be where it is today” Said Cedric O.
Last year, the French Government also shared the verde20, a program dedicated to environmental and green technology startups, as it typically takes more time to raise capital or generate revenue when you are such a startup.
With 26 startups achieving unicorn status, the French tech ecosystem has been doing particularly well lately. But if you take a step back, last year the number of unicorns worldwide jumped from 569 to 959 unicorns.
These two metrics show that the technology industry is becoming increasingly important in the economy in general and that it is a global competition. Some French startups are on the right track to become European or global leaders in their respective verticals. And it's going to be interesting to see who's going to turn a local hit into a global one.
