🧮 Data Point: Drysdale Zooms To #3
Dealroom's ranking of the most active investors in French startups during H1 2026 shows Bpifrance and Kima Ventures leading. Of course, of course. But the big surprise is that the recently launched Drysdale Ventures has already reached third place in terms of deal volume. As Dealroom COO Matthieu Demolin wrote on LinkedIn: "The 3rd most active venture investor in France didn't exist 18 months ago."
Nicolas Essayan is the man behind the Pre-Seed fund, which came out of the gate in 2025 as an oversubscribed €34 million first fund. It has since backed 45 companies, including Gradium, ZML, and AMI Labs. A four-time co-founder, he brings 18 years of experience across venture capital, private equity and M&A, with previous roles at Motier Ventures, Apax and Morgan Stanley.
The top five also include Blast Club and Y Combinator, highlighting how angel funds, investment clubs, and international accelerators are increasingly challenging established French VC firms on deal volume.
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We detect AI startups across France at their earliest signal: when they are incorporated, still in stealth, or just beginning to leave a public trace. Structured intelligence built from administrative filings, founder activity, and ecosystem signals, designed for VCs, corporate strategists, and LPs.
💸 Weekly Funding Recap: July 24
📇 Company: Arrakis Technologies
🏷️ Sectors: SaaS, Artificial Intelligence
🔍 Description: Arrakis Technologies helps industrial companies design, deploy, and scale custom AI agents across core operational workflows. Its model-agnostic platform combines forward-deployed engineers with applied AI research tailored to sectors including aerospace, energy, logistics, manufacturing, construction, and telecommunications.
💻 Website: http://arrakistechnologies.ai/
📍 HQ City: London, Paris, New York City
🧗 Round: Series A
💰 Amount Raised: $30 million, bringing total funding to $38 million
🏦 Investors: Blossom Capital, Accel, GFC, MainObject, Rerail, Olivier Pomel, Olivier Godement, Junaid Hussain, Business Angels
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Rafael Fernandez-Quintanilla Loeillet-Rouzier (London), Haroun Beltaifa (Paris), Romain Fouilland (Paris), Mikhail Galkov (Germany)
🗞️ News: Arrakis Technologies has emerged from stealth with a $30 million Series A led by Blossom Capital, just six months after its founding, bringing total funding to $38 million. The company embeds engineers with industrial customers and uses a model-agnostic platform to deploy AI agents into procurement, logistics and other operational systems without replacing existing software. Arrakis says it has already signed customers including NYSE-listed companies across the energy, logistics and industrial sectors, with one customer reducing procurement cycle times by 90%. The funding will support a tripling of headcount, further platform and security development, and the opening of offices in New York and the Middle East. Founded in January 2026, the company is positioning itself as a fast-deployment alternative for industrial groups seeking measurable AI outcomes while retaining control of their data and intellectual property. | Fortune, Tech EU
📇 Company: Ascendance Flight Technologies
🏷️ Sectors: Aerospace, CleanTech
🔍 Description: Ascendance Flight Technologies develops hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft designed to provide a more environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and efficient alternative for regional air mobility.
💻 Website: https://www.ascendance-ft.com
📍 HQ City: Toulouse
🧗 Round: Series B
💰 Amount Raised: €14 million
🏦 Investors: Bpifrance, Dassault, Expansion, Celeste Management, M Capital, Aris Occitane, Sowefund
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Jean-Christophe Lambert, Thibault Baldivia
🗞️ News: Ascendance Flight Technologies has raised €14 million in a Series B extension to support the development of its hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft. Founded in 2018, the company is building aircraft intended to reduce the environmental impact and operating costs of regional aviation. The round brings together strategic and financial investors including Bpifrance, Dassault, Expansion, Celeste Management, M Capital, Aris Occitane and Sowefund. The financing is expected to support further aircraft development, testing and industrialization. Additional details on the company’s founders, headquarters and deployment timeline were not provided. | CFNews
📇 Company: Carsup
🏷️ Sectors: Artificial Intelligence, Mobility
🔍 Description: Carsup operates a concierge platform for collector and exceptional vehicles, covering secure storage, maintenance and restoration, transport, buying and resale support, and owner experiences. The company also uses AI to analyze vehicle data and generate personalized maintenance recommendations.
💻 Website: https://www.carsup.io/
📍 HQ City: Orléans
🧗 Round: Series B
💰 Amount Raised: €12 million
🏦 Investors: Ferrari family
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Samuel Lelarge
🗞️ News: Carsup has raised €12 million from existing investors, including the Ferrari family, which increased its participation in the company. Founded in 2019, Carsup manages the full lifecycle of collector and exceptional vehicles, from secure storage and maintenance to transport, resale support and events. The company currently operates 25 concierge locations across France and Europe and manages more than 2,000 vehicles representing over €400 million in assets. The funding will support further international expansion, including entry into a new European market in the fourth quarter of 2026. Carsup expects to double revenue to €30 million this year and surpass 3,000 vehicles under management by year-end. | Maddyness
📇 Company: Brenus Pharma
🏷️ Sectors: BioTech
🔍 Description: Brenus Pharma develops off-the-shelf immuno-oncology therapies for hard-to-treat solid tumors. Its proprietary platform is designed to mimic tumor protein expression, expose tumors to the immune system, and trigger a multi-specific in vivo immune response that adapts as the cancer evolves.
💻 Website: https://www.brenus-pharma.com
📍 HQ City: Lyon
🧗 Round: Series A Extension
💰 Amount Raised: €11 million
🏦 Investors: Sambrinvest, Korea Omega Investment Corp, Angelor, UI Investissement through FRAI, Crédit Agricole through CACE Création and CACF Capital Innovation, Noshaq, Orsa, BIO JAG, Bpifrance through non-dilutive funding
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Benoit Pinteur, Jacques Gardette, Gilles Devillers
🗞️ News: Brenus Pharma has raised an €11 million Series A extension to advance its clinical-stage immunotherapy pipeline and expand its proprietary platform. The financing brings total capital raised since inception to €38 million and introduces Sambrinvest and Korea Omega Investment Corp as new international investors. The company will use the funding to complete the Phase I program for STC-1010, its lead in vivo immunotherapy candidate for microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer. Brenus also plans to advance its next drug candidate and broaden the platform into a multi-asset pipeline. The round included continued support from existing investors and marks the company’s first institutional backing from the Asia-Pacific region. | LinkedIn
📇 Company: Womed
🏷️ Sectors: MedTech
🔍 Description: Womed develops biodegradable intrauterine treatments for uterine conditions including adhesions, fibroids and acute bleeding. Its polymer platform can function as a temporary mechanical barrier or deliver therapies locally inside the uterus, with the aim of reducing reliance on invasive surgery and systemic hormonal treatments.
💻 Website: https://www.womedtech.com/
📍 HQ City: Montpellier
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €7.1 million
🏦 Investors: IRDI Capital Investissement, CEMAG, CANTRAK, Lita, Capital Cell
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Gonzague Issenmann, Xavier Garric, Stéphanie Huberlant
🗞️ News: Womed has raised €7.1 million to expand the commercialization of Womed Leaf and advance two additional intrauterine treatments targeting fibroids and acute uterine bleeding. The financing combines €5 million from professional investors with €2.1 million raised from retail investors through Lita and Capital Cell, more than double the crowdfunding campaign’s initial €1 million target. Womed Leaf, a resorbable intrauterine barrier designed to reduce the recurrence of adhesions after hysteroscopic surgery, received FDA marketing authorization in September 2025 and has been used to treat more than 3,000 patients worldwide. The company will also fund clinical development of locally delivered treatments intended to address fibroid symptoms and control acute uterine bleeding without systematically relying on invasive surgery or body-wide hormonal exposure. Founded in Montpellier in 2018, Womed plans to strengthen its clinical, regulatory, industrial and US commercial teams as it evolves from a single-product medtech into a broader uterine treatment platform. | J'aime les startups
📇 Company: Recupere Metals
🏷️ Sectors: DeepTech
🔍 Description: Produces high-performance electrical wire from 100% recycled copper using a patented mechanical process that eliminates energy-intensive smelting and refining. Its products target electric motors, wind turbines, data centers, electrical equipment, and other industrial applications.
💻 Website: https://www.recupere-metals.com
📍 HQ City: Paris
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €5 million
🏦 Investors: SistaFund, Norrsken Evolve, Endgame Capital, Ring Capital, Triple Impact Ventures, Ventures Together, Earth Capital, Sake Bosch, Business Angels
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Katie Marsh, Julien Vaïssette
🗞️ News: The funding will move Recupere Metals from laboratory validation into early industrial production, supporting customer pilots and the delivery of its first commercial volumes. Founded in 2025, the company aims to produce 6,000 tonnes of recycled copper wire annually by 2028 while helping Europe reduce its dependence on imported copper. The company says its production costs should be comparable to conventionally produced copper. | Maddyness
📇 Company: Hekat Fluidics
🏷️ Sectors: BioTech
🔍 Description: Develops optofluidic instruments for detecting, counting, and sorting biological nano-objects. Its NanoSorter isolates exosomes and other nanoparticles, enabling researchers to study biomarkers that could support earlier cancer detection and personalized treatments.
💻 Website: https://hekat.com
📍 HQ City: Pessac
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €2.4 million
🏦 Investors: Business Angels, Hervé Ariditty, Nicolas Kompalitch, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Sophie Bourzeix, Mathias Girault, Philippe Graindorge
🗞️ News: Hekat Fluidics will use the funding to industrialize and commercialize its NanoSorter, which it describes as the first fluorescence-activated nano-flow sorting system. Initially targeting research laboratories, the company plans to expand into biopharmaceutical applications and eventually clinical diagnostics, with entry into the US and Japanese markets targeted from 2028. | Sud Ouest
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