The Startup Ecosystem of France

France has 29 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 8th within the competitive global top 10.

COUNTRY RANKING

France’s startup scene saw an increase in 2023 and jumped 1 spot from the previous year, outranking Australia.

Population

67.9
Million

Regional Ranking

4th
0
In Western Europe

Global Ranking

8th
+
1
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

Eiffel Tower at Paris, France
France’s public sector is highly active on all fronts in developing local startup ecosystems. It is quite unique for a country to have its president involved directly in the promotion and development efforts of the startup scene, as is the case with President Macron. The goal of creating a “startup nation” opened the door for a variety of strong international organizations. The most notable are La French Tech, a platform that brings together the networks of startup ecosystem stakeholders, and the French Tech Visa, an initiative for attracting investors, startup founders, and foreign talent. There is also the Paris Region Entreprises, a business and innovation catalyst in the ecosystem. Moreover, France is home to Station-F, the biggest startup campus in the world.


French government initiatives aimed at boosting investments in new high-risk projects and SME modernization seem to be helpful, such as tax breaks to business angels who reinvest capital gains in innovative firms and the streamlining of business creation procedures. However, the direct investment in startups made by the public sector seems to be relatively high compared to other ecosystems, an example being the State bank of Bpifrance, a major player in startup funding nationally


It’s inspiring to see that some French startups are already leaving their mark globally (Blabla car and Ledger are two of our favorites), and there is much potential for even further future growth. The number of French unicorns is truly a success for the country, and the long lasting impact of these achievements should translate into a higher number of foreign investments. After all, the government has set the goal for the ecosystem to produce 10 more unicorns by 2025, three of which are expected to be in the cybersecurity industry. France has more ambitious goals as stated in their France 2030 plan, which also sets the investment trajectory of the country.


It should be noted that although recent reforms were made, the French business environment is still clearly underperforming compared to the achievements of its entrepreneurs. Relatively strict labor laws and a low level of English proficiency are still limiting the potential of the French ecosystem to grow startups at full speed. This is a good lesson: regardless of the strategic vision of any country in developing its startup ecosystem, you can’t separate it from the general regulations and policies on the ground.

Startups

France Top Startup Industries

Ecommerce & Retail icon
Ecommerce & Retail
#4 worldwide

882 startups

Marketing & Sales icon
Marketing & Sales
#6 worldwide

305 startups

Software & Data icon
Software & Data
#6 worldwide

287 startups

Ecosystem HealthCheck

France Ecosystem Health Check

The health check tables allow you to look at the performance France has in each of the parameters that are part of StartupBlink's ranking algorithm. There are five tables, corresponding to the three subscores, the subscore analysis and industry ana...

  • Overperformance
  • Performance equal to global ranking
  • Underperformance
ParameterParameter Global rankParameter rank change since 2022ResultContribution to total scoreRank gain / loss due to parameter
Total Score8122.916100%0
Quantity Score905.17822.6%1
Sample size of startups80245012.98%0
Sample size of accelerators401812.88%0
Sample size of coworking spaces1006145.85%0
Community Score28N/A0.040.17%0

ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of France

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in France

Our startup ecosystem map for France includes a sample of 2636 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 30 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 3 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

France is ranked within the top 10 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

France’s startup scene is best represented in Ecommerce & Retail, Marketing & Sales, and in Software & and Data.

Top Cities for Startups in France - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal Score
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
Quantity Score
Quality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
9th
+
1
57.477
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
+
2
152nd
+
9
4.281
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
-
1
157th
-
2
4.093
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
-
1
169th
-
13
3.714
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
+
2
210th
+
9
2.469
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
-
1
213th
-
2
2.457
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
-
1
231st
-
14
2.172
00.00
00.00
00.00
8th
0
245th
+
7
2.014
00.00
00.00
00.00
9th
+
1
247th
+
25
1.982
00.00
00.00
00.00
10th
+
1
270th
+
22
1.645
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in France
Deezer startup icon
Deezer
QWANT startup icon
QWANT
Adikteev startup icon
Adikteev

Startups

Successful Ecommerce & Retail startups in France
Planity startup icon
Planity
Bien'ici startup icon
Bien'ici
Malt startup icon
Malt

Featured Startup Ecosystems

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