The Startup Ecosystem of France

France has 35 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 9th within the competitive global top 10.

COUNTRY RANKING

France’s startup scene saw an increase in 2022 and jumped 3 spots from the previous year, outranking China.

Population

67.9
Million

Regional Ranking

4th
+
2
In Western Europe

Global Ranking

9th
+
3
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

Eiffel Tower at Paris, France
France’s public sector is highly active on all fronts in developing local startup ecosystems. It is quite unique for a country to have its president involved directly in the promotion and development efforts of the startup scene, as is the case with President Macron. The goal of creating a “startup nation” opened the door for a variety of strong international organizations. The most notable are La French Tech, a platform that brings together the networks of startup ecosystem stakeholders, and the French Tech Visa, an initiative for attracting investors, startup founders, and foreign talent. There is also the Paris Region Entreprises, a business and innovation catalyst in the ecosystem. Moreover, France is home to Station-F, the biggest startup campus in the world.
French government initiatives aimed at boosting investments in new high-risk projects and SME modernization seem to be helpful, such as tax breaks to business angels who reinvest capital gains in innovative firms and the streamlining of business creation procedures. However, the direct investment in startups made by the public sector seems to be relatively high compared to other ecosystems, an example being the State bank of Bpifrance, a major player in startup funding nationally.
It’s inspiring to see that some French startups are already leaving their mark globally (Blabla car and Ledger are two of our favorites), and there is much potential for even further future growth. The number of French unicorns is truly a success for the country, and the long lasting impact of these achievements should translate into a higher number of foreign investments. After all, the government has set the goal for the ecosystem to produce 10 more unicorns by 2025, three of which are expected to be in the cybersecurity industry. France has more ambitious goals as stated in their France 2030 plan, which also sets the investment trajectory of the country.
It should be noted that although recent reforms were made, the French business environment is still clearly underperforming compared to the achievements of its entrepreneurs. Relatively strict labor laws and a low level of English proficiency are still limiting the potential of the French ecosystem to grow startups at full speed. This is a good lesson: regardless of the strategic vision of any country in developing its startup ecosystem, you can’t separate it from the general regulations and policies on the ground.

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ECOSYSTEM

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in France

Our startup ecosystem map for France includes a sample of 2427 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 30 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 3 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

France is ranked within the top 10 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

France’s startup scene is best represented in Foodtech, Education, and in and Transportation.

Top Cities for Startups in France - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2022 National Rank & Change ▲
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
2022 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal ScoreQuantity ScoreQuality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
10th
+
1
52.877
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
155th
-
23
4.974
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
+
1
156th
+
8
4.947
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
-
1
161st
+
2
4.828
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
+
1
211th
+
21
3.857
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
+
1
217th
+
16
3.709
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
-
2
219th
-
4
3.691
00.00
00.00
00.00
8th
+
2
252nd
-
5
2.922
00.00
00.00
00.00
9th
+
2
258th
+
8
2.789
00.00
00.00
00.00
10th
-
1
272nd
-
28
2.490
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in France
QWANT startup icon
QWANT
OpenClassrooms startup icon
OpenClassrooms
Ornikar startup icon
Ornikar

Startups

Successful Foodtech startups in France
Chefclub startup icon
Chefclub
InnovaFeed startup icon
InnovaFeed
Onatera startup icon
Onatera

Startups

Startups Ranking by Industry

Foodtech icon
Foodtech
#5 worldwide

On our map, you can explore a total of 805 startups for Foodtech.

Education icon
Education
#6 worldwide

In Western Europe, France's Education is in top 6. France has a concentration of about 278 of the region's total Education startups that are represented on our map.

Transportation icon
Transportation
#7 worldwide

France's Transportation is ranked 7th in the world. Our database contains 264 for this industry.

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