👋 Inside this week's edition:
👀 Montpellier-based video game studio Sandfall Interactive stunned the industry this month when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 swept The Game Awards with a record nine wins. It is French tech's biggest global success of the year, proving that a small French studio can outperform the industry's biggest players. We explore the long, and distinctly French, journey of the little gaming studio that created a global sensation.
Chris O'Brien + Helen O'Reilly-Durand
In today’s high-growth environment, security must be built-in—not a blocker.
Our report, Scaling Security, shows how leading European tech companies embed compliance early and automate smartly to scale faster.
Learn how automation transforms SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR into strategic advantages.
See what security maturity looks like at every growth stage.
Security at scale is possible—with the right approach.
Tech Talk
🔌🔋⚡At a moment when Europe is openly second-guessing the all-electric future, French startup Verkor inaugurated its first battery gigafactory in northern France, near Dunkirk. The €1.5-billion plant makes Verkor the third pillar of France’s fast-growing “battery valley,” even as doubts swirl around the 2035 ban on new combustion-engine cars.
Backed by Renault and buoyed by hefty public funding, the company is betting that industrial courage beats political hesitation. It's also hoping to avoid the spectacular flameout of Swedish battery meatballs Northvolt, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year after blowing through €10bn in financing. French ministers on site struck a defiant tone, calling for European protection and “buy-local” rules to shield a still-fragile battery ecosystem. The factory is set to create 1,200 jobs and eventually supply batteries for up to 300,000 electric vehicles a year, starting in 2026. Verkor is either a bold show of confidence or a very expensive leap of faith at a time when the rules of Europe’s electric transition are still very much in flux. | Le Monde
👨🔬🚀 Yann LeCun is wasting no time after Meta, lining up his next act as both kingmaker and founder. The Turing Award–winning AI pioneer is joining European VC firm Hiro Capital as an adviser just as he prepares to launch his own startup, Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, reportedly seeking up to €500 million at a punchy €3 billion valuation before it’s even officially unveiled. LeCun is betting on a new wave of “world model” AI that understands the physical world, while helping Hiro hunt for European contenders in robotics, spatial AI, and beyond. Translation: one of AI’s godfathers is done playing defense inside Big Tech and is now shaping Europe’s AI future from both sides of the table. | Maddyness
🏛️✂️ France 2030 Gets the Red Pen. €1B at Risk as the Senate Hits Pause on Innovation. Just as France’s deeptech ecosystem starts finding its footing, the Senate voted an amendment to freeze €1 billion of France 2030 funding in the 2026 budget. The move would halt all new grants next year (existing projects are safe), as part of a broader deficit-cutting push, leaving €4.3B to cover prior commitments. Startups and lobbying groups are already sounding the alarm, warning that innovation policy can’t be switched on and off like a light. The final call now lies with a joint parliamentary committee and possibly the National Assembly. | Maddyness
💰💔 Speaking of cash cuts...after a promising start to the year, French fintech has hit the brakes. Funding is down to €1.1 billion across 73 deals in 2025, as investors grow choosier, the economy stays shaky, and shiny AI startups steal the spotlight, according to L'Observatoire de la Fintech, KPMG, eToro, and Mastercard. A strong first half (boosted by Younited’s €153 million IPO) gave way to a brutal 67% collapse in the second, turning “momentum” into “rebalancing” almost overnight. While some fintech segments like neobanks no longer need fresh cash, others are discovering that venture capital is suddenly playing hard to get. The upside is that M&A is booming, with 42 deals. That includes Cegid’s landmark acquisition of Shine. | Maddyness
🛡️🤖 Hackers Have AI. Defenders Mostly Don’t. Cybercriminals are racing ahead in the AI arms race: according to Boston Consulting Group, 60% of attackers already use AI to supercharge phishing, malware, and intrusion campaigns, while just 7% of companies deploy AI defensively. The gap is less about denial than delay: over half of executives rank AI-driven cyberattacks among their top three risks, yet only 5% have actually increased cybersecurity budgets to address it. With skills shortages and tight spending holding firms back, the cat-and-mouse game has tilted decisively in the hackers’ favor — and the mice know it. | Les Echos
For the lowdown on Cybersecurity in the AI age, check out our Cybersecurity Deep Dive.
🙈⚫ Speaking of which, France’s Interior Ministry has joined the long list of institutions learning – yet again – that inboxes are attack surfaces. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed a cyberattack breached the ministry’s email servers overnight, giving intruders access to some files, though no confirmed data theft so far. Officials are keeping technical details close to the vest while tightening security and probing every angle, from cybercrime to foreign interference. Against the backdrop of past Russia-linked campaigns targeting French institutions, the message is cautious but clear: nothing “serious” is confirmed — yet. | Security Affairs
🦄 ➡French Tech is now all about exits: the French government wants more start-ups sold, not just funded. Exits dropped 14.5% in 2024. Apparently, French giants are allergic to opening their wallets. La French Tech Director Julie Huguet is on a mission: consult, interview, and figure out why some deals flop and others fly. Think “Je choisis la French Tech,” but with M&A bootcamp vibes for start-ups and buyers alike. Next step: boards, billion-euro commitments from big players, and maybe a program to make French exits sexy again.| Les Echos
🍋⚡️Glad tidings then for the news that French energy company Citron has just snapped up Vertuoz, adding 130,000 public buildings to its empire. iQspot, Deepki, Enersweet…everyone’s on an M&A spree to survive in a crowded market. Décrets tertiaire and BACS make it official: if you don’t optimize energy, you don’t play. Translation: energy efficiency is sexy, strategic, and now very acquisitive.| Les Echos
📵🧒 France is taking a hard line on teens and screens: suspended. TikTok is officially in the hot seat, accused of looping minors into toxic content and sleep deprivation. MPs want digital curfews (10 pm–8 am), no infinite scroll, and possibly shutting down platforms that misbehave. Phones and tablets might soon sport health-style warning labels. | Les Echos
🎮🕹️ Paris just got a new time machine that's powered by joysticks. Opening this Saturday in Arcueil, south of the capital, the MO5 Video Game Museum invites visitors to mash buttons across 140 playable stations, from Pong and Tennis for Two to modern multiplayer setups, all housed in the city’s former town hall.
Backed by France’s most formidable gaming heritage enthusiasts (70,000 items strong, thank you very much), the museum treats consoles and cartridges like bona fide cultural artifacts, including vintage TVs, for maximum nostalgia. Entirely volunteer-run and proudly non-subsidized, it’s less a dusty museum than a living, blinking arcade, complete with plans for talks, repairs, and hands-on preservation. Consider it proof that video games have earned their place in history. | Le Figaro.
Clair Obscur: How France's Sandfall Interactive Made the World's Best Video Game of 2025
When Guillaume Broche took the stage at The Game Awards in Los Angeles on December 11, 2025, he did something unusual for someone accepting the industry's most coveted prize. He thanked YouTube.
"I also want to acknowledge the unsung champions of our industry, the individuals creating YouTube tutorials on game development, because we were completely clueless about making a game before," Broche told the audience, his voice cracking with emotion.
It was a disarmingly honest moment from the founder of Sandfall Interactive, the Montpellier-based studio that had just made history. Their debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, won nine awards that night, shattering the previous record of seven held by The Last of Us: Part II. More significantly, it marked the first time a French game had ever won Game of the Year.
Since its release earlier this year, the game has become a global phenomenon. The soundtrack, a lush, ethereal symphonic composition, has become a worldwide hit. French politicians across the political spectrum have praised it relentlessly. And there is talk of a film adaptation.
The list of reasons the success is remarkable is long, starting with the studio's underdog status and extending to its focus on artistic creativity to deal with financial and technical constraints. But its triumph has created a particular wave of pride because almost every aspect of the game itself leans extremely hard into its Frenchness, from the design to the mood to the music.
For the French tech ecosystem, it also demonstrated that creative ambition, institutional and state support, and cutting-edge technology could combine to produce world-class results, even from a team of just 30 people working primarily out of a Belle Époque mansion in southern France.
💸 Top Funding Deals 💸
📇 Company: NanoXplore
🔍 Description: French semiconductor scale-up specializing in FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chips designed for extreme environments. NanoXplore supplies radiation-resistant electronic components used in European satellite programs (Galileo, Copernicus) and is now accelerating its push into the defense sector to reduce Europe’s dependence on U.S. and Taiwanese chips.
💻 Website: NanoXplore
📍 HQ City: Sèvres
🧗 Round: Growth
💰 Amount Raised: €20M
🏦 Investors: MBDA, Fonds Innovation Défense
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Edouard Lepape (CEO & Co-founder)
🗞️ News: NanoXplore raised €20M to accelerate its expansion into European defense electronics and scale production of sovereign FPGA chips. Already supplying components used in satellites and MBDA missiles, the company aims to replace at least 50% of U.S.-made components in Europe within 4–5 years. While chip design remains in France, NanoXplore plans to rely on advanced manufacturing at TSMC in Taiwan from 2028 to 2029, highlighting Europe’s structural gap in high-end semiconductor fabrication. | Maddyness, Nanoexplore
📇 Company: Ankar
🔍 Description: AI-powered platform designed to simplify and accelerate the patenting of innovations. Ankar provides a unified solution covering the full patent lifecycle—from idea validation to drafting and prior art analysis—helping companies protect and better monetize their intellectual property in the age of generative AI.
💻 Website: Ankar
📍 HQ City: London, United Kingdom
🧗 Round: Series A
💰 Amount Raised: $20M (on top of $4M previously raised)
🏦 Investors: Atomico (lead), Index Ventures, Norrsken, Daphni
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Wiem Gharbi, Tamar Gomez (French co-founders)
🗞️ News: Founded by two former Palantir executives, Ankar raised a $20M Series A to scale its AI-driven patent management platform. Used by Fortune 500 companies such as L’Oréal and law firm Vorys, the solution analyzes over 150 million patent filings and 250 million scientific publications to help companies identify, shape, and protect patentable innovations. The funding will be used to double the team from 20 employees and accelerate international expansion, particularly in the U.S., with the ambition of becoming the core software infrastructure for global innovation in the AI era. | Maddyness, FrenchWeb
📇 Company: Club Employés
🔍 Description: French HR Tech scale-up providing a dematerialized employee benefits platform for SMEs and their CSEs. Club Employés combines a SaaS tool to manage social benefits with a large marketplace of discounted offers, aiming to improve employees’ purchasing power while simplifying operations for elected staff.
💻 Website: Club Employés
📍 HQ City: Lyon
🧗 Round: Growth / Expansion Round
💰 Amount Raised: €15M
🏦 Investors: Verto (lead); historical investors include Angelor (diluted) and business angels
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Romain Rostagnat (CEO), Pierre-Thomas Lebatteux
🗞️ News: Founded in 2016 and now profitable, Club Employés raised €15M from Verto to accelerate product development and international expansion. The company serves more than 10,000 clients and 1.6 million users, operates 16 offices across France, and has recently opened in the UK, with Belgium and Italy next. Employing 350 people today, it plans to grow to 500 within 12–18 months and expand into new offerings such as meal vouchers, positioning itself as a key challenger to Swile and Edenred in the employee benefits market. | Les Echos, Maddyness
📇 Company: Arcads.ai
🔍 Description: French AI startup offering an automated video marketing platform using AI actors to industrialize short-form content production for social media. The platform enables rapid generation and localization of UGC-style videos, product demos, unboxings, and fashion try-ons in more than 35 languages, designed for high-volume, performance-driven marketing teams.
💻 Website: Arcads.ai
📍 HQ City: Paris
🧗 Round: Seed
💰 Amount Raised: €14M
🏦 Investors: Eurazeo (lead), Alpha Intelligence Capital, Sequoia Scout Program, international investors
👨💼👩💼 Founders: Dylan Fournier, Romain Torres
🗞️ News: Arcads.ai raised €14M in its first institutional round to accelerate the industrialization of AI-generated video marketing. Founded in 2024, the company reports more than 6,000 customers, over 100,000 videos produced per month, and a user base primarily located in the United States. The funding will support product development and international expansion, with a planned presence in San Francisco to better serve the U.S. market, where digital video advertising spend continues to scale rapidly. | FrenchWeb
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