Paris Is Also France’s Startup Champion

When one visualizes Paris, the image probably doesn’t feature tech founders.

Yet while this year’s Olympics host city may be better known for art, food, architecture and history, it’s actually a significant startup hub as well.

In a typical year, Parisian upstarts raise billions in venture funding. The city is by far the country’s reigning startup capital, usually pulling in the majority of French venture investment.

So far, 2024 has proven no exception, with startups in Paris and other regions of France collectively securing close to $4.7 billion in seed through growth-stage financing. While funding this year remains well below peak, it looks on track to come in roughly in line with last year, as charted below.

This year’s totals got a boost from some particularly large rounds. The one that drew the most headlines was for Paris-based Mistral AI, which is developing an open-source large language model. The startup reportedly raised $500 million in equity and $140 in debt in a June financing at a valuation of over $6 billion.

Electra, which provides charging stations for electric vehicles, was another big fundraiser. The Paris-based company closed on $330 million in a January Series B led by Bpifrance and PGGM Investments.

HysetCo, which offers hydrogen vehicles and fueling services, also closed on a jumbo-sized round of $217 million. The fundraise came amid a strong period for hydrogen mobility-related startup funding.

For a longer list of French startups that raised larger rounds this year, below we used Crunchbase data to list 10 of the top funding recipients.

In coming weeks, the spotlight will be on athletes, rather than founders, competing for glory in Paris. But long after the Olympic stars leave town, startup workers will still be toiling late in the City of Light, for the kinds of wins that don’t come with medals attached.

Illustration: Dom Guzman