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French Tech Funding Wire December 1: 400 RetailTech Startups; Pennylane Funding Rumors; €131M Raised In 15 Rounds
Between Nov 24 and Nov 28, French Tech startups raising VC included Zadient Technologies, AFYREN, Lexip (formerly Pixminds), Water Horizon, Damae Medical, VESTO, Alkion BioInnovations, Ventuno Biotech, Sim&Cure, AURA AERO, Komia, AberActives, Drive Innov, VoilaChef, AlgenScribe, and IvySpec.
La Machine #52: Adopt AI...Or Else!
Adopt AI turned the Grand Palais into a deep-freeze cathedral of lusty futuristic dreamers with 25,000 builders, CEOs, and policymakers chasing the next wave of AI use cases. Beyond the buzzwords: Macron’s sovereignty push, mega-funding shivers, and Europe’s push to compete. Brrrrr! #SnowMiser
Ethiqais: Building a European AI Champion the Ethical Way
A frosty Grand Palais, a flurry of AI buzzwords, and one startup quietly redefining Europe’s tech future. Meet Ethiqais: the ethical, sovereign, quietly-ferocious AI governance team you’ll soon be hearing a lot more about.
La Machine #51 | 50 Shades Of Sovereignty: Macron, Merz & A Franco-German AI Love Story
The Franco-German digital summit delivers a sovereignty-themed AI rom-com. Voice AI surges as GetVocal lands $26M for human-agentic voice agents. Volta raises €11M to drag B2B into the digital era.
Can Volta Bring B2B Commerce Out Of The Stone Age with AI?
While B2C perfected one-click buying, B2B distributors still swim in PDFs and Excel sheets. French-Italian startup Volta just raised €11M to change that. Fast.
Rift Takes Flight: Drone Startup Wants To Be Europe's Eyes in the Sky
Rift raised €4.6M for its on-demand aerial surveillance network of autonomous long-endurance drones that provide governments and operators instant, low-cost “intelligence as a service” as Europe seeks faster, safer ways to monitor and protect critical territory.
Atomico Vs Pitchbook 2025 Street Fight: Is Europe’s Tech Glass Half Full or Empty?
Two reports, two moods: Atomico sees sunshine and a trillion-euro tech titan on the horizon. PitchBook forecasts storm clouds and a stress ball. European tech in 2025 is a sloppy mess with big dreams and a terrible hangover, but a can-do attitude if it can just stop tripping over itself.
Can Volta Bring B2B Commerce Out Of The Stone Age with AI?
While B2C perfected one-click buying, B2B distributors still swim in PDFs and Excel sheets. French-Italian startup Volta just raised €11M to change that. Fast.
From Cavemen to Conversational AI: GetVocal and the Human-Agentic Voice Renaissance
GetVocal raised a $26M Series A to fuel a new era of human-guided, agentic voice AI. Its system blends ancient communication instincts with cutting-edge tech to deliver trusted, enterprise-ready automation.
Spotlight Interview: Hugo Mendes, Co-Founder of New Future of Work VC Fund Clover
Meet the evergreen VC for the Future of work that wants to re-write VC the rulebook.
From Laos to Leading Europe’s Biggest Teleconsultation Platform: The Unstoppable Rise of Sylvie Nhansana
In a world where women still raise just 2% of VC funding, Sylvie Nhansana defies every statistic: engineer, black belt, and CEO of Qare and HealthHero France. She's now building what could become the world’s first truly global teleconsultation platform.
Spotlight Video Interview: Director Julie Huguet on La French Tech Mission
"What we want to do is help entrepreneurs have the best ecosystem to create, to scale, and to go abroad."
Spotlight Interview: ChangeNOW CEO Santiago Lefebvre Wants You To Believe Again
ChangeNOW 2025, the "world expo of solutions for the planet," is in full swing this week. Ahead of the Paris opening, I spoke with Lefebvre about how a bold idea born at COP21 became a global gathering, and why, in a divided world, hope and action still matter.
🇫🇷 French Tech Wire: AI Agents Putting A Smile On Dentists' Faces
Members of the Doctolib mafia have a new startup, La Fraise, that dentists and their patients can't refuse. We're looking over a new Future of Work fund called Clover. Revaia takes the ESG pulse. And Jolt is raising a €1B fund to make startup rhinoceroses a thing.
🇫🇷 French Tech Wire: European Tech's Wild Mood Swing In 2025
Europe is doomed. Or booming. Or both. Atomico and Pitchbook reports offer different outlooks in the latest data nerd fight. Meanwhile, French VCs head to the West Coast. Drone startup Rift wants to be Europe's eyes in the sky. Yann LeCun updates his Facebook status.
🇫🇷 French Tech Wire: Galactic Sheriff Macron Wants SpaceTech Founders To Saddle Up
President Macron calls space a new battlefield and courts defense and space startups with €4.3B; Doctolib’s antitrust fine sparks debate on dominance; Sylvie N’hansana’s rise reshapes telehealth; WebSummit buzz meets downpour.
French Tech Wire: Upway’s Refurbished E-Bike Empire Shifts To Higher Gear
Upway raises $60M to scale its circular e-bike business. Plus: new French Tech 2030 startups, STATION F releases annual Future 40 – 2025 Edition, Mistral AI’s Montmartre HQ, and Doctolib fined.
Editors' Picks
🗣️ Special Edition | Shein, Sex Dolls, and Fast Fashion: The Great French Retail War of 2025 Begins
A controversial partnership between legendary French retailer BHV and the Chinese low-cost retailer erupted into a cultural and economic fight. Amid Paris protests and a government crackdown on illicit goods, France faces a reckoning over algorithmic commerce and its principles.