Mistral AI

1 billion euros in 2025, returning to their 2023 level after a dip in 2024, driven by AI and technological sovereignty. The figures were released mid-March. 1 billion euros: this is what deeptech startups in France attracted in 2025, according to Bpifrance's annual report. An amount that represents about half of what the entire French Tech raised over the same period. 8 billion) and returns to the high level of 2023. Behind these amounts, a dynamic driven by artificial intelligence and technologies deemed strategic. Cybersecurity, space, defense, semiconductors, cloud, quantum: 72% of the funds raised concern sectors where sovereignty has become an argument.

Investors are sensitive to this. 7 billion euro fundraising round in 2025, single-handedly explaining the resilience of the French market. The number of creations follows. 410 deeptech startups were created in 2025, compared to 207 in 2019, the year the Deeptech plan was launched. 4 billion euros in revenue and 50,000 direct jobs. Bpifrance reminds that Paris is now "the 3rd global deeptech ecosystem in terms of amounts raised". Tavignanu Valley: a fire outbreak forces the closure of Mare a Mare Mistral AI's mega-fundraising dominates the 2025 landscape.

But it is not alone. In quantum, Alice & Bob raised 100 million euros, Quobly 115 million. Wandercraft, a specialist in walking exoskeletons, completed a 66 million round. In space, Loft Orbital is among the notable rounds. The movement intensified in early 2026. 5 billion dollars. Source: La Tribune Denez Prigent at the Interceltic Festival: "Sea shanties are part of this heritage treasure of Brittany" Generative AI shifts the center of gravity of funding. 3 billion raised in 2025, up 9%. But the mere presence of an AI component is no longer enough: the technology must be translated into concrete business value.

This dynamic is not spontaneous. Launched in 2019, the Deeptech plan was then integrated into France 2030, the major investment program desired by the State to support strategic technologies. The objective: to foster the emergence of more companies stemming from French research and better finance their transition to industrial scale. The plan targets specific sectors: energy, semiconductors, health, defense, space. Several years of public support have created a favorable ground. Local ecosystems are strengthening, throughout France, around public laboratories and competitiveness clusters.

Despite these results, Europe is lagging. The amounts raised on the American side dwarf French performance. 5 billion dollars even before its first product, illustrates the appetite of American funds for AI. Mistral AI, despite its status as a French emblem, remains modest compared to the funding rounds of its transatlantic competitors. The legal and fiscal fragmentation of the EU still hinders capital flows. Bpifrance and several sector players advocate for a strengthening of the European ecosystem: harmonization of rules, more transnational funds, prolonged public support.

The challenge remains: to transform French research advances into champions capable of competing on a global scale. French deeptech has regained momentum in 2025, but the race is far from won. AI and technological sovereignty have reshuffled the funding cards.