The situation is worrying. According to the 2024 barometer of industrial startups and scaleups, conducted by the Start Industries organization, 50% of industrial startups have less than six months of cash flow. And the trend could get even worse in the months to come.
A financing sector in crisis
To conduct its study, Start Industries surveyed 105 companies, 17% of which have more than 50 employees. 72% of them were looking for new funds over the past year, “ and as many will try to raise new funds in the coming year », Supports the organization. Problem is, more than 60% of companies believe they have great difficulty raising funds.
Because the financing sector is also going through a very turbulent period, in an uncertain economic context. As a result, fundraising is down. This crisis affects the entire ecosystem, with bankruptcies increasing within French Tech. But industrial startups are being hit even harder.
This can be explained by different factors. The emergence of an industry requires significant investments which bear fruit over 10-15 years. In this context, the time to achieve profitability is, logically, longer. However, private investors seem to be turning away from this type of solution, favoring the short term. Only 27% of industrial startups were able to benefit from funds from business angels and venture capital firms.
The 2025 budget raises fears of the worst
Likewise, these companies depend largely on public aid: 66% of industrial startups benefited from public subsidies and 53% from repayable aid. The 2025 finance bill unfortunately makes players in the sector fear the worst. This is particularly the case of the abolition of the status of young innovative company, which offers significant tax and social advantages to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in research activities and meeting various criteria, as well as the Credit Innovation Tax (CII).
“ Start Industrie calls on public authorities to protect these systems to maintain the dynamism and the future of players who today represent more than 30% of jobs generated by French startups, and between 30 to 40% of job openings. factories each year in France », writes the organization in his press release.
Despite everything, 69% of entrepreneurs say they are confident about the future of their business in the next 12 months. This figure should nevertheless be counterbalanced with the 16% who consider themselves rather or very pessimistic.
- 50% of industrial startups have less than six months of cash flow.
- 72% are looking to raise funds, but many face difficulties obtaining financing.
- The French Tech ecosystem is going through a turbulent period, and this is all the more burdensome for this type of company, which is faced with specific issues.
