A study by Tech.eu and unveiled in exclusivity shows an explosion of investment in France since the beginning of the year. (Extract from Les Echos, 09.03.2016)
This year, the end of winter looks less harsh than usual. Between January and February, 97 investments in start-ups were recorded in France, against 14 in the same period in 2015, according to a study by Tech.eu. This sets the Hexagon ahead in the European rankings, especially in front of its two main rivals, United Kingdom and Germany. “The number of deals explodes, we had never recorded such a performance in France,” commented Jaime Novoa analyst at Tech.eu.
Beyond this first crude result, France is also the country with the strongest growth early this year compared to the start of 2015. A result confirmed by the total value of these 97 operations, which reaches 371 million Euros in just two months. By value, France is ahead of Germany and behind United Kingdom and Israel. “It is not possible to tell if it will last, but it is certainly a strong signal for the start-up community,” says Jaime Novoa.
A strong signal for the start-up community – Jaime Novoa.
The extended study for 2015 shows however what we already knew: the hexagonal ecosystem favors the first exercise called boot. The average ticket is not of much help to understand that, apart from some historical deals like those of BlaBlaCar, SigFox, Scality, Talend and Cloakroom Collective, few would have exceeded the million ‘last year. The investments are mostly by bpifrance (21) and Alven Capital (14), the only two funds that have surpassed 10 operations in a year.
For those who would still worry about the attractiveness of the country, Tech.eu shows that 33 funds accompanied startups in 2015, from which one third amounts 10 to 100 million Euros. 50 per cent of the biggest funds came from abroad where we logically found Americans Insight Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital and the Swedish Vostok New Ventures, for BlaBlaCar. The question is whether the promises of winter will find a comparable assessment in late 2016.
