Record year for French start-ups. In 2022, they collected more than 13.5 billion euros in investments, up 16% compared to 2021. The 120 companies selected as the most innovative alone raised 5.8 billion. These make up the new promotion of the Next40/120, unveiled this Monday, February 20 by the French Tech mission. It selects, each year since 2020, the 120 most dynamic start-ups in the French economic landscape.
Created in 2019 by the French Tech mission, attached to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Next40/120 is a support program for innovative French companies with strong economic potential. If it has given pride of place since its creation to digital platforms, such as Doctolib or BlaBlaCar, which have made it possible to digitize services, the class of 2023 also highlights industrial start-ups which invest in ecological transition.
Like NW Storm, which specializes in electricity storage and charging stations, one of the two “unicorns” – start-ups valued at more than a billion dollars – which appear for the first time in the 2023 selection. Or even Flying Whales for the decarbonization of aviation, Kineis and Loft Orbital in the space field, Innovafeed, Ynsect and Myditek in the food industry.
26 unicorns in the Next40 class of 2023
“Start-ups are setting foot in industry, in particular because the ecological transition requires a lot of technological innovation, explains François Stephan, Director General of the Central School of Electronics (ECE). They can allow France to regain control of its industrial sovereignty by relocating gray matter to the territory, qualified jobs to pilot these technologies. »
The presence in the 2023 list of these companies is all the more significant as the selection criteria are increasingly stringent. There are thus 26 unicorns in the Next40 2023, a sort of informal “CAC40” of French start-ups. The other winners of the French Tech program have raised at least 100 million euros between 2020 and 2022. The 120 companies in the class of 2023 cumulate 11.3 billion euros in turnover in 2022 and now represent more than 48,000 jobs, including 31,000 in France.
Reconciling « French Tech » and « French Fab »
The progress of industrial start-ups is in line with the objectives set by the President of the Republic. These companies have all benefited from the support of the State under the France 2030 plan. They are in the production of electric vehicles, bio-medicines or even innovative medical devices. “The State creates a dynamic, continues François Stephan, there is a ripple effect. It helps start-ups to position themselves on promising topics and reassures investors. »
However, it is still too early to talk about the reindustrialisation of the country. “It remains a relatively timid movement, believes Pierre Veltz, former director of the National School of Bridges and Roads (1). There is always a boundary between, on the one hand, start-ups launched in large cities by young graduates from the Grandes Ecoles and, on the other, a traditional industry present in medium-sized towns, which is looking for talent to to modernize oneself. Many young entrepreneurs are unfamiliar with the basic industrial fabric, yet there are great projects to be carried out. We should make sure that they meet more. »
Emmanuel Macron was to receive at the Élysée, at the end of the afternoon, several hundred business leaders from French Tech to assess their situation and determine areas for improvement for the years to come.