The year 2024 has not been easy for the French startup ecosystem. In an uncertain economic and political context, it becomes more difficult to raise funds. Despite everything, some young companies have made significant funding rounds over the last twelve months. Here are the ones.
Mistral AI
It is, unsurprisingly, Mistral AI which carried out the largest operation of the year in French Tech, with 600 million euros raised. A feat which brought the valuation of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup to 6 billion euros. The American giant Microsoft is among its investors, and has established a partnership with the young French company.
Founded in 2023, Mistral has established itself as one of the most promising companies in the coveted sector of generative AI. It develops large language models for businesses. Its competitor to ChatGPT, Le Chat, is also available to all users.
Electra
Electra, a specialist in charging for electric vehicles, comes in second place with a fundraising of 304 million euros. A ranking which demonstrates the attractiveness of investors for AI and greentech, even in a gloomy context.
The company founded in 2021 is working to develop a network of ultra-fast charging stations across Europe, with the mission of accelerating the transition to electric mobility. Its objective: “ that recharging is as simple as filling up with gasoline, saving time and comfort for motorists “.
H Company
And third place in this ranking is occupied by a startup specializing in… AI! In May, H Company raised 220 million euros from French and foreign investors. This start-up is developing models capable of breaking down complex tasks into several sub-tasks, aiming to improve worker productivity and automate business workflows. H Company AIs are designed to reason and plan, allowing them to approach problems like humans do.
HysetCo
HysetCo, a pioneering startup in hydrogen mobility, raised 200 million euros in April, with the ambition to accelerate the deployment of its solutions and decarbonize urban transport.
The startup offers a comprehensive approach that includes the development and operation of a network of hydrogen refueling stations, the provision of an integrated hydrogen vehicle rental service, as well as offering solutions to manage its fleet . It is mainly aimed at professionals, particularly taxi drivers.
The Exploration Company
The Exploration Company is a new space company in this top, which owes its presence in this top to a fundraising of 150 million euros carried out in November. Founded in 2021, the startup aims to democratize access to space through an affordable solution. Its Nyx capsule is modular, reusable and can be refueled directly in orbit. Above all, it is Europe’s first private space capsule.
The company has already sold six missions, and has established a partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to strengthen the Old Continent’s capabilities in space exploration and commercial activities.
Pigment
Thanks to a fundraising of 134 million euros, Pigment reached a billion euros in valuation and therefore obtained unicorn status. The startup offers an all-in-one platform based on artificial intelligence, which makes it possible to aggregate financial, marketing, HR and even commercial data in order to help company management make more efficient and agile choices.
The aim is to enable them to plan, decide and adapt to any change. It counts big names in the industry among its clients, such as Coca-Cola, Deliveroo, Figma and Merck Pharmaceuticals.
Stone
The proptech Stonal completed a funding round worth 100 million euros in May. Founded in 2017, it aims to help real estate professionals make informed decisions about their properties. It provides them with easy access to complete and reliable data, across economic, technical and financial dimensions. Its SaaS solution automatically collects, structures, classifies and analyzes data from documents, plans and external sources.
Stonal manages a portfolio of more than 200 million square meters, including 1.3 million homes in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.
Langa International
Cleantech Langa International raised €85 million in January 2024. This independent renewable electricity developer and producer specializes in various projects including solar, wind, storage and hydroelectric technologies.
Active mainly in Europe, South America, Africa and island territories, the startup plans to produce more than 6 gigawatts through its various projects, with 400 megawatts already in operation or ready to be built.
“ Strong values guide our exchanges and our commitments to our partners, employees, customers and premises. Shared by a diverse and plural team of more than 120 members from 15 different nationalities, they constitute the foundations of our identity and guide our choices. “, explains Langa.
Unseenlabs
This year, Unseelabs reached a new stage in its development with a funding round of 85 million euros. Founded in 2015, this space startup offers its customers the opportunity to carry out a “ maritime surveillance from orbit “.
It puts its constellation of satellites at their disposal, allowing them to detect and geolocate radio frequency signals, to have a precise idea of the position of the transmitting boats. Its clients include authorities, insurance companies and NGOs.
Zama
Zama closes this ranking with a fundraising of 73 million euros carried out in March. Founded in 2020, it intends to solve data privacy problems by creating encryption technologies.
It not only helps secure data processing in sensitive industries such as healthcare and finance, but also builds encryption that allows computing on data while keeping it completely private. Finally, its open-source cryptographic libraries that make advanced encryption accessible to developers.
His roundtable reflects the growing needs for effective cybersecurity solutions, while cybercrime continues to skyrocket with ever more sophisticated attacks.
