2023-07-05 06:03:52
In the French tech ecosystem, three-figure rounds and the appearance of new unicorns are desperately awaited, but that does not mean that the picture is completely black. Admittedly, the venture capital market has collapsed in value, with only 4.1 billion euros raised at the end of the first half of the year, against 8 billion over the same period in 2022, i.e. a spectacular fall of almost 50%.
However, it held up well in value, since 448 transactions were recorded over the first six months of the year by our MaddyMoney index. For comparison, there were 453 in the first half of 2022, more or less the same a year later. The difference is therefore made at the level of the different stages of financing of startups. And in this little game, it is by far the early-stage that has the wind in its sails. If we refer to the month of June alone, the latter captured 55 transactions, far ahead of the 17 series A or even the five series B identified over the period.
In total, 682.3 million euros were raised by French startups in June. An amount down slightly compared to May (748 million euros), which remained in line with previous months, with 727.9 million euros raised in April and 753.6 million in March. This decline is also felt in the dynamics of employment in the ecosystem.
More than 14,000 jobs created between May and June
At least in June, 6,015 net job creations were listed by the Barometer of the employment of startups in France, produced by Numeum, the leading professional union for digital companies in France. While this figure remains impressive, insofar as it alone accounts for more than 30% of the total jobs created since January 2023 and is positioned above the record of the previous year (5,722 jobs created in February 2022), it is lower than the 8,348 jobs created in May.
However, this month was very special, since it followed a very difficult month of April, marked by the loss of 3,467 jobs in the ecosystem. At the time, 2,419 startups had chosen to cut their workforce to adapt to a more gloomy economic climate, while 770 young shoots had chosen to continue recruiting. Since then, a new positive dynamic has been set in motion.
Startups that continue to recruit despite less spectacular operations
In June, 2,591 startups opened new positions, while 1,488 decided to close them. As a result, the number of job-creating start-ups over the month was 75% higher than those eliminating jobs, notes Numeum’s Startup Employment Barometer in France. At the end of the first half of the year, greentech is the good student, with 3,342 jobs created in six months (17% of total recruitment in the first half), ahead of transporttech (1,754) and fintech (1,690). On the other hand, e-commerce is in low spirits and leaves the Top 10 for the first time since January 2022.
“The recurring dynamic of employment in start-ups in France is supported by sectoral waves of innovative solutions. When a sector reaches a level, a new one takes over. This certainly partly explains the resilience of French tech employment in the current period. The strong dynamic of greentech, however, seems more structuring and more sustainable: France is gradually establishing itself as one of the spearheads of solutions in the service of ecological and climate transitions at European and international level.analyzes Guillaume Buffet, administrator and chairman of the commission in charge of Numeum startups.
A French startup has an average of 27 employees
In total, 19,305 jobs have therefore been created in French Tech since January, compared to 23,000 over the same period in 2022. Of the sample of 10,674 French start-ups analyzed by Numeum, three quarters of startups were creating jobs (4,541) or stabilizing jobs (3,457), while a quarter of them (2,676) reduced their payroll in the first half of 2023. Numeum was thus able to deduct from the first six months of the year that a French startup is made up of an average of 27 employees, compared to 24 at the same time in 2022.
This therefore confirms that the ecosystem is proving resilient despite the current economic slump, with startups continuing to raise funds and recruit to continue their development. Admittedly, we are now a long way from completely crazy times when hundreds of millions of euros rained down on French Tech in the space of a few hours.
Nobody has forgotten these completely crazy 24 hours between Tuesday September 21 and Wednesday September 22, 2021, during which 1.3 billion euros of investments came to feed the ambitions of several French nuggets: Sorare (585 million euros), Mirakl (470 million euros), Vestiaire Collective (178 million euros) and Sunday (85 million euros). However, the French ecosystem continues to progress healthier, with fewer spectacular operations and exorbitant valuations which could raise fears of an overheating phenomenon.
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