🚀October AI Funding Recap: Poolside, Filigran, Stoïk
25+ French AI companies raised a VC round in October led by Poolside's €453M round.
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La Machine #49: Microsoft AI ❤️ France
The American Tech giant released a report emphasizing all the ways it's spending €4 billion on France's AI transformation. Plus: Nvidia eyes a $1B bet on Poolside, Schneider Electric rides the data center wave, and French publishers warn of AI abuse.
Microsoft Stakes €4B Claim To Lead France's AI Transformation
The tech giant is going all-in on France’s AI future, pledging to train a million citizens, back 2,500 startups, and spread innovation beyond Paris. In a report released this week, the company highlighted partnerships, from Mistral to Danone, to demonstrate its commitment to France's AI ambitions.
La Machine #48: Probabl's Cause Takes AI From Lab to Launchpad
Scikit-learn’s creators aim to turn France’s AI research into global business with Probabl. Plus: Doctolib’s AI parenting assistant, Mistral’s new enterprise platform, France’s civil-service chatbot, OpenAI’s Paris expansion, and this week’s top AI funding rounds.
Mission Probabl: The Quest to Transform French AI Research into A Tech Champion
Scikit-learn, born at a French research institute, is one of the world’s most-used machine learning libraries. Probabl aims to turn it into a global business. Its journey reveals France’s AI potential and the structural hurdles of commercializing public research.
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Making AI Plans: How Freeda Wants To Reinvent Building Buildings
In an industry where even a two centimeter error can derail a multimillion-euro project, Freeda has raised €3.4M to bring the precision of AI to construction plans to stop costly mistakes from happening before a single brick is laid.
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.
🗣️ 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.
From Quantum Physics to Circular Mobility: Upway's Journey To Transforming The E-Bike Market
The French startup raised $60M in Series C funding to expand its refurbished e-bike empire across Europe and the US. With sales doubling yearly and operations already profitable in multiple markets, Co-founder and COO Stéphane Ficaja explains how Upway is chasing its goal of 1M bikes by 2030.