TECH FUNDING TRENDS IN FRANCE

A comprehensive, data driven look at emerging trends, investments,

and active investors in France

TABLE OF CONTENTS
6 Investment Trends

12 Geographical Trends: Paris

16 Geographical Trends: UK & Germany
18 Sector Breakdown

23 Selected Industry Breakdowns

27 Top Deals and Investors

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
BOOM IN DEAL ACTIVITY TO TECH COMPANIES IN FRANCE:
Deal flow has been trending up since 2012 and recently surged
71% over 2015 full-year for a 4-year high of 368 deals in just the
first three quarters of 2016.
TECH COMPANY FUNDING REACHES A 7-QUARTER HIGH:
Funding to tech companies in France also reached a new high
mark of $1.5B in 2016. Remarkably, this is a high hit in just the
first 3 quarters of the year. Funding has generally been trending
up since Q213. In Q415, funding dropped but has since then
been growing each quarter. From Q216 to Q316, funding grew
200% to reach $857M in total funding over 145 deals.
FRENCH TECH IN STRIKING DISTANCE OF PEERS: In Q316,
France saw more funding than German tech startups and neared
the levels seen by UK startups.
EARLY-STAGE COMPANIES TAKE MORE DEALS: As with many
nascent tech investment markets, early-stage deal activity
dominates. 62% of deals in Q316 were at the early stage.
ENABLON IS MOST HIGHLY VALUED EXIT IN 2016 YTD:
Valued at $275M at the time of its acquisition by Wolters Kluwer,
Enablon comes in as the highest-valued tech exit in 2016 year-todate. Four of the top French tech exits this year were valued at
>$100M. In second was Nokias acquisition of Withings.

FRENCH CORPORATES STEPPING UP THEIR PARTICIPATION:

Deals with CVCs participating grew 4 percentage points from Q216
to 21% of the total in Q316. This compares to 11% in Q315.
FRENCH MOBILE SECTOR GAINS STEAM: While the internet
sector remains the largest area for investment, mobile has gained
steam over time and took 20% of deals in Q316.
BPI FRANCE LEADS AS MOST ACTIVE INVESTOR IN 2016:
Between Q116 and Q316, BPI France racked up the greatest
number of deals. Kima Ventures came in second. Partech Ventures
and Credit Agricole tied for third.
PARIS TAKES THE LIONS SHARE OF DEALS: $304M was
deployed across 65 deals to tech companies in Paris, France
through to Q316. On a quarterly basis, funding in Q316 is up 64%
while deal count remains even. Top deals include a $61M corporate
minority round to OCTO Technology, $24M to BlaBlaCar, $23M to
Alkemics, and $17M to electric scooter rental service Cityscoot.

Note on Report Methodology

Exits in this report only include the first exit of a company. Funding analysis includes
deals from accelerators and incubators, as well as debt deals, into private companies with
headquarters in France.
For questions regarding this methodology reach out to info@cbinsights.com.

www.cbinsights.com

France tech funding since 2012:

$5.5 BILLION
across

1,018 DEALS
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FRANCE POISED FOR CONTINUED GROWTH

France is the country I would
bet on in Europe more than any
other.
John T. Chambers
Executive Chairman, Cisco

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Investment Trends:
DEALS & DOLLARS
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FRANCE FINANCING TRENDS TO TECH COMPANIES

2012 - 2016 (Q3'16)

368

Deal volume for the past

three years has trended
upwards. Already, deal
flow in 2016 through
Q316 is up 71% over fullyear 2015.

215
166

$602

$1,482

$1,253

$1,507

131

$659

138

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Investments ($M)

2016 ALREADY A
RECORD YEAR IN
DEALS AND DOLLARS
FOR FRENCH TECH

Despite a drop in 2015,

funding in 2016 through
Q316 has picked back up
and has already reached
a 4-year high.

Deals
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FRANCE QUARTERLY FINANCING TRENDS TO TECH

COMPANIES

145

2012 - 2016 YTD (Q3'16)

Q316 SETS A NEW

HIGH FOR DEAL
VOLUME

128

2012

Investments ($M)

2013

2014

Deals

59

56
48

56

2015

2016

$857

$273

$258

$198

$464

36

$335

$202

$159

31

$256

35

$121

$114

$68

$253

$87

$142

$177

29

28

24

$297

33

39

$124

40

41

46

$999

53

52

Deal activity in Q316 has

reached a 4-year high of
145 deals. On a quarterly
basis, deal activity for
Q316 is up 13% over
Q216. After dropping in
Q415, activity has greatly
picked up.
Funding to tech in Q316
is up over 200% since
Q216, nearly reaching
the 4-year high seen in
Q414.
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FRANCE TECH QUARTERLY DEAL SHARE BY STAGE

EARLY-STAGE DEALS
MAKE UP 62% OF
TOTAL DEALS IN
Q316

Q3'15 - Q3'16
6%
11%
3%

16%
3%

2%
1%

13%

14%

13%

8%
3%

7%
1%

11%

12%

1%

17%
4%
6%
11%

22%

13%

56%

55%

64%

66%

62%

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Seed / Angel

Series A

Series B

Series C

Series D

Series E+

0.4%

Early-stage deals
continue to occupy the
largest deal share in
Q316 with 62% of the
total deal count. Latestage deals tend to
occupy no more than
13% of the total deal
share and in Q316 that
share is only at 4%.
Series C rounds are
down for the secondconsecutive quarter.

Other
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FRANCE TECH EARLY-STAGE DEAL SIZE

AS THEY GET MORE

NUMEROUS, EARLYSTAGE DEALS DROP
BELOW $1M

Q3'15 - Q3'16

$1.4
$1.3
$1.2
$1.1
$0.9

Early-stage deal size has

been trending
downwards since Q315
as overall deal count
grows.
In Q316 median earlystage deal size was
$900K, down over onethird since Q315.

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Median Early Stage Deals Size ($M)

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10

CVC PARTICIPATION IN FRENCH DEALS TO TECH COMPANIES

Q3'15 - Q3'16

11%
19%

18%

17%

21%

CORPORATES
PARTICIPATE IN ONEFIFTH OF TOTAL TECH
DEALS IN FRANCE
Q415 saw an uptick in
the share of deals
backed by CVCs before
falling for 2 consecutive
quarters.
Q316, however, is up 4
percentage points over
Q216 for a 5-quarter high
of 21% of total deal flow.

89%

81%

82%

83%

79%

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Other Investors

Corp / CVC Deal Participation

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11

Geographic Trends: Paris

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12

PARIS LEADING FRENCH TECH SCENE

Paris is surging with innovation, research and
startupsParis offers history, culture and fivesense experiences. And its multitude of top-tier
universities produce programming and
engineering talent at a fraction of the Silicon
Valley cost.
Gary Shapiro, President & CEO
Consumer Technology Association

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13

PARIS DOMINATES
DEAL FLOW TO
FRANCE-BASED
STARTUPS
Paris leads France with
162 deals to private
companies in 2016
through Q316. No other
city managed to grab
more than 8 deals.
Paris-based Zenly was
the largest mobile deal of
the quarter.

www.cbinsights.com

14

PARIS QUARTERLY FINANCING TRENDS TO TECH COMPANIES

Q3'15 - Q3'16

65

65

PARIS: $304M
DEPLOYED ACROSS
65 DEALS TO TECH
COMPANIES IN Q316
Top Deals - Q316
OCTO Technology
$61M // Corporate Minority

32

27

BlaBlaCar
$24M // Private Equity

23

$388

$85

$225

$185

$304

Zenly
$23M // Series B

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Investments ($M)

Deals
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15

Geographical Trends: UK & Germany

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16

FRANCE HAS BANNER

QUARTER AS
FUNDING SURPASSES
GERMANY
For the past 5 quarters,
funding to France based
startups lagged behind
that of the UK and
Germany.
In Q316, buoyed by a
$279M deal to OVH.com,
total funding was 85%
higher than that to
Germany-based startups
and only 7% behind the
UK.

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17

SECTOR BREAKDOWN
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18

FRANCE TECH QUARTERLY DEAL SHARE BY SECTOR

Q3'15 - Q3'16
4%
9%
2%
16%

6%
13%

13%
4%

15%

7%

7%
9%
2%

7%
10%
6%

13%

13%
20%

70%

67%

64%

70%

57%

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Internet
Computer Hardware & Services
Software (non-internet/mobile)

MOBILE GROWS DEAL

SHARE. MOBILE AND
INTERNET TAKE 77%
OF DEALS
Internet investment
dropped 13 percentage
points in Q316 to settle
at 57% of deal count.
This is the lowest share
for the sector in the past
5 quarters.
Mobile & Telecom saw a
corresponding increase
in deal share, reaching
20% in Q316.

Mobile & Telecommunications

Electronics

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19

FRANCE MOBILE & TELECOMMUNICATIONS INVESTMENT

ACTIVITY
Q3'15 - Q3'16

29

$98M INVESTED OVER

29 DEALS TO MOBILE
SOFTWARE &
TELECOM
COMPANIES IN Q316
Top Deals Q316
Zenly
$23M// Series B

17

WeMap
$2M // Seed
9

Nomad Education
$0.9M // Seed

$38

$28

$17

$98

$22

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Investments ($M)

Deals
www.cbinsights.com

20

$33.7M

$23.6M

$22.7M

$20.5M

$12.3M

COMPETING IN THE MOBILE SECTOR

Q316 saw significant growth in deal share to the France mobile sector. The
above companies, shown with total funding received to date, had the largest
rounds of Q316 in mobile. Two of the top five deals were to marketing
platforms Ogury and Adotmob. Zenly, at $23M the largest mobile deal in
Q316, was funded by Benchmark and Kima Ventures, among others.
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21

FRANCE INTERNET INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

Q3'15 - Q3'16
89
83

$307M INVESTED
OVER 83 DEALS TO
INTERNET
COMPANIES IN Q316
Top Deals Q316
BlaBlaCar
$24M // Private Equity

39
32

Alkemics
$23M // Series B

36

$438

$96

$200

$208

$307

Cityscoot
$17M // Series A

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Investments ($M)

Deals
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22

SELECTED INDUSTRY BREAKDOWNS

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23

FRANCE ADVERTISING TECH INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

Q3'15 - Q3'16

11

$30M INVESTED OVER

11 DEALS TO AD
TECH COMPANIES IN
Q316
Top Deals Q316
Ogury
$15M // Series B

TVTY
$7M // Series B

Sync2ad
$2M // Series A

$13

$5

$1

$8

$30

Q3'15

Q4'15

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Investments ($M)

Deals
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24

FRANCE MARKETPLACES INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

$34M INVESTED OVER

9 DEALS TO
MARKETPLACES IN
Q316

Q3'15 - Q3'16
10
9

Top Deals Q316

StarOfService
$10M // Series A
Stootie
$8M // Series A

Investments ($M)

$42

$34

Q4'15

$9

Q3'15

Ulule
$6M // Series A

$2

$36

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Deals
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25

FRANCE TRAVEL TECH INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

Q3'15 - Q3'16

$23M INVESTED OVER

8 DEALS TO TRAVEL
TECH COMPANIES IN
Q316

13

Top Deals Q316

8

Cityscoot
$17M // Series A
Yescapa
$3M // Series A

Group Corner
$1M // Seed

Investments ($M)

$23

Q4'15

$66

Q3'15

$4

$1

$25

Q1'16

Q2'16

Q3'16

Deals
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26

TOP DEALS AND INVESTORS

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27

FRANCE TECH: MOST ACTIVE INVESTORS

2016 (Q3'16)
RANK

INVESTOR

SELECT INVESTMENTS

RANK

INVESTOR

SELECT INVESTMENTS

Nomad Education, Drivy,

BizMeeting

Alkemics, Evaneos

Zenly, PayFit, Heetch

HomeRez, Tellmeplus

Alkemics, Lendix, ManoMano

Dictanova, Argosim

Mimosa, Helpfood, Stokkly

Zenly, Dayuse

Tediber, Tiller Systems, Cubyn

13

OpenClassrooms, Sqreen

Cozy Cloud, SamBoat,

TravelerCar

13

AntVoice, Wizbii

Klassroom, Evioo

13

Intersec, Cozy Cloud

Babbler, Intersec

BPIFRANCE LEADS
AS THE MOST ACTIVE
INVESTOR IN FRANCE
THROUGH Q316
Bpifrance and Kima
Ventures round out the
1st and 2nd spots for
most deals in the first 3
quarters of 2016. Partech
Ventures and Crdit
Agricole tied at the No. 3
spot while 360 Capital
Partners, MAIF, and
SmartAngels.fr round out
the top 5.

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28

TOP FRANCE TECH EQUITY DEALS

Q3'16
COMPANY

AMOUNT/ROUND

ROUND INVESTORS

$279M/ Private Equity

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co,

TowerBrook Capital Partners

$61M/ Corporate Minority

Accenture

$55M/ Private Equity

Keensight Capital

$24M/ Private Equity

Baring Vostok Capital Partners

$23M/ Series B

Benchmark,
IDInvest Partners,
Kima Ventures,
Jerry Murdock

$23M/ Series B

Partech Ventures,
Serena Capital,
SEB Alliance,
Index Ventures,
Cathay Capital Private Equity

$20M/ Series B

Aster Capital,
Serena Capital,
CapHorn Invest

$17M/ Series A

LeasePlan

$15M/ Series B

Ventech,
CoVent Partners,
IDInvest Partners,
Airtek Capital Group (ACG)

$13M/ Series C

Omnes Capital,
CapHorn Invest,
Naxicap Partners

OVH.COM, OCTO TOP

LIST OF LARGEST
DEALS IN Q316
Internet service provider
OVH.com leads the pack
in Q3 with $279M in
private equity from
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
& Co. and TowerBrook
Capital Partners.
In 2nd is IT consultancy
OCTO Technology with a
deal in which Accenture
took a $61M minority
stake.

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29

WEARABLES AND
SOFTWARE-AS-ASERVICE TOP EXITS
RANKINGS
The most highly valued
exit by a French VCbacked tech company in
2016 YTD was the March
acquisition of software
company Enablon by
Wolters Kluwer.
In 2nd was the $191M
acquisition of wearables
company Withings by
Nokia.

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30

INSURANCE FRAUD
PREVENTION
SOFTWARE TOPS AI
DEALS
After completing a $10M
Series A in May 2016,
Paris-based Shift
Technology is now the
most well-funded AI
company in France.

In 2nd is Tellmeplus,
based in Paris and
Montpellier, with $4.7M
in Seed financing from
February 2016.

www.cbinsights.com

31

TOP EXITS IN FRANCE

RAISED $39M OR
LESS PRIOR TO EXIT
In a move to bolster their
network traffic
management and
analytics functions,
Sweden-based Enea
acquired Qosmos
which had raised $39M
for $57M in October
2016. Enablon was
acquired for $275M after
raising only $15M.

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32

@LaFrenchTech

www.lafrenchtech.com
@cbinsights
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