Deeptech is attracting investors. The number of French start-ups with a high degree of technological innovation created each year has doubled since the government launched the Deeptech Plan in 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by Bpifrance.
In 2022, 320 “deeptech” start-ups, bringing disruptive innovation, were launched, compared to 160 in 2018, just before the start of the Deeptech Plan, one of the objectives of which is to reach the number of 500 per year. by 2025. This doubling has been driven “by the rise of a specific funding continuum for deeptech start-ups”, indicates Bpifrance, the armed wing of the State to support innovation.
Almost 1,800 start-up “deeptech” actives
In 2022, “deeptech” start-ups raised 2.6 billion euros in capital, an amount multiplied by 2.4 since the launch of the Plan, synonymous with “favorable investment dynamics”. “France now has nearly 1,800 active “deeptech” start-ups”, further specifies Bpifrance, and 24 of them are present in 2023 in the “French Tech 120” label, which selects the 120 start-ups the most promising French ones.
Among the examples of “deeptech” nuggets, Bpifrance cites Exotec (warehouse robots), Owkin (artificial intelligence applied to medical research) or even Ledger (secure keys for cryptocurrencies), all three of which have become unicorns – unlisted companies and valued at over $1 billion. “The landscape of the sector has been profoundly transformed, with a tremendous entrepreneurial dynamic in the labs and a financing and investment market that is gaining in maturity”, indicates Paul-François Fournier, executive director of innovation at Bpifrance.
The Deeptech Plan was launched by the government in 2019 with the objective of making France a world leader in the disruptive innovation sector. The State, Bpifrance and other public actors seek to stimulate entrepreneurship, in particular so that these young shoots contribute to the reindustrialization of the country. In 2022, the “deeptech” sector has thus enabled the creation of 50,000 jobs in France, according to Bpifrance.