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€13.5 billion: a new record in 2022 for la French Tech

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2022 is another year to remember for La French Tech! The barometer 2022 released by EY revealed that French startups have raised the record amount of €13.5 billion in 2022, an 17% increase compared to 2021, already a record year.

A challenging year for the Tech ecosystem

Despite a challenging and uncertain macroeconomic context marked by the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, and the inflation that has cooled investors, La French Tech has proved resilient with another record year.

This economic context impacts the European ecosystem, which saw an 18% decrease in venture capital investment in 2022, according to Atomico. The United Kingdom and Germany were not spared, with declines of 15% and 38%, respectively. Europe is not the only continent impacted, as US startups have raised 30% less than in 2021, while Asian startups have seen a 39% drop.

La French Tech is reaching new highs

French startups raised €13.49 billion in 2022 in 735 deals for an average amount of €18.35 billion. If fundraising increased significantly in value, this is due to the many large fundraising deals concluded at the beginning of the year. In the first semester of 2022, €8.4 billion were raised, +63% compared to the same period in 2021, whereas in the second half of the year, only €5.09 billion were raised, -21% compared to 2021.

French Tech Green20

In January 2022, the French ecosystem reached the target of 25 unicorns set in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron, three years ahead of schedule. La French Tech is now the home of 27 unicorns, with 8 new companies reaching this status last year: QontoExotecPayfitAnkorstoreSpendeskEcovadisNW Group and Younited.

Two sectors stood out by increasing the amount raised last year: software and information services and cleantech. The former grew from €2.2 billion raised in 2021 to €3.0 billion in 2022. With €2.1 billion, the latter had a 172% growth, the greater increase!

Learn more: French GreenTech is blooming

The resilience of La French Tech

According to Avolta, the resilience of the French ecosystem enabled France to raise 19% of the total amount of European investments. While the United Kingdom remains far ahead of France with €27.5 billion raised through 1607 deals, France has overcome Germany, which raised €10 billion through 664 deals.

 For the first time since 2017, French acquirers are at the helm of over 50% of deals, both in volume and value. On the other hand, the Americans and the British were less active this year.

What to expect in 2023

After 2022, which highlighted the resilience and maturation of the French ecosystem, what are the prospects for French Tech in 2023?

According to Sifted, seed-stage companies should continue flourishing thanks to alternative funding sources outside venture capital. Government-backed programs such as “Bourse French Tech” carried out by bpifrance will positively impact as well as the investment plan of France 2030 in 20 strategic sectors.

Rather than hypergrowth, in 2023, the focus will be on profitability. Starting in 2022, investment in the cleantech industry and impact startups will likely continue to grow in 2023, with investors becoming more sensitive to climate and environmental transitions.