This week, two well-known entrepreneurs made a comeback with new startups. Cybersecurity and healthtech stood out with several big fundraises. We also saw major French corporates investing in startups, launching funds, and supporting innovation programs. On the public side, the French government confirmed it will invest the remaining €15 billion from the France 2030 plan, focusing on deeptech and industry. A strong signal that private and public forces are both betting big on the future.

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Startup funding news 💸

Rounds of $15M+:

• Fintech Pennylane raised €75 million in a round led by Meritech and CapitalG, boosting its valuation to €2 billion. As France gears up for mandatory e-invoicing in 2026, the startup - already serving 350,000 businesses - is scaling its AI-powered platform to become the go-to solution for digital financial workflows.

• Cybersecurity startup Sekoia.io has raised €26 million in a Series B round led by Revaia, with participation from UNEXO, Bright Pixel, Omnes, and Bpifrance. The funding will boost its AI-driven threat detection platform, support global expansion, and strengthen partnerships with managed security providers.

• Roof has raised €20 million, led by Mata Capital M, to modernize student housing by converting old buildings into co-living spaces with shared amenities. It plans to add over 1,000 student rooms across major French cities.

Rounds €5M to €10M:

• Cybersecurity startup Qevlar AI has raised €13 million to scale its automated investigation platform for security operations centers. The funding will support US expansion, team growth, and product development, as the company aims to become a European cybersecurity leader with tech that cuts alert analysis time from 40 to 3 minutes and achieves 99.8% classification accuracy.

• Okeiro, formerly Predict4Health, raised €10 million from Alven, Red River West, and Forepont Capital to scale its AI-powered platform that predicts kidney graft survival and optimizes transplant patient care. Already CE-certified and reimbursed in France, the solution is expanding to other organs and markets, with FDA certification underway and promising clinical trial results across six countries.

• ​Klara raised €10 million in a Series A round led by Endeit Capital, with participation from existing investors Side Capital and Ankaa Ventures. Its SaaS platform focuses on upskilling frontline workers by integrating training into daily workflows and tracking skill development. With clients like Safran, Carrefour, and Otis, Klara grew 175% in 2024 and opened a London office.

• Voice AI startup PyannoteAI has raised $9 million in seed funding to advance its speaker diarization technology, which identifies and separates speakers in audio recordings. The round was led by Crane Venture Partners and Serena, with participation from angels including Hugging Face CTO Julien Chaumond and AI researcher Alexis Conneau. The company’s open-source tools on Hugging Face have been downloaded 45 million times per month by over 100,000 developers.

• Faume, the circular fashion platform helping brands like Lacoste and Victoria Beckham launch second-hand programs, has raised €8 million. The funding will support its tech development and international expansion as demand for sustainable fashion solutions continues to grow.

• Diagnoly raised €5.5 million from Newfund and XAnge to scale Fetoly, its AI-powered tool that standardizes prenatal ultrasound diagnostics in real time. CE- and FDA-certified, Fetoly runs offline on tablets and aims to reduce variability in fetal anomaly detection across practitioners.

Rounds €1M to €5M:

• Parallel raised €3.2 million from Frst, Y Combinator, Bpifrance, and others to deploy AI agents that automate hospital admin tasks like medical coding. Founded in 2024, the startup aims to ease bureaucratic burden without changing existing IT systems.

• Connektica, a Canadian-French startup specializing in automated testing for satellite components, has raised €3 million to accelerate the commercial deployment of its SaaS platform. Connektica's software automates and standardizes radio frequency testing, reducing costs and improving quality for satellite manufacturers.

• Goliaths.io, a Paris-based fintech founded in 2023, has raised €3 million from business angels, bringing its valuation to €20 million. The platform combines investing, education, and community features, offering access to stocks, ETFs, crypto, and structured products.

• Klaro, a startup enhancing employee purchasing power, raised €3 million to expand its HR tech platform. Evolving from a direct-to-employee app to a plug-and-play API, Klaro integrates with HR systems, neobanks, and employee benefit platforms. With over 2,200 national and local aid programs, it helps users identify eligible benefits and assists with applications.

• BTQ Technologies is investing over €2 million in French startup QPerfect, acquiring a 16.67% stake to advance neutral atom quantum computing. QPerfect’s MIMIQ 1.0 simulator enables large-scale, offline quantum algorithm testing, supporting secure and scalable applications.

• Ed.AI, a Lyon-based edtech startup, raised €1.7 million from Ring Capital, AFI Ventures (Ventech), and CentraleSupélec Venture to scale its AI-powered tool that automates grading and generates personalized remediation plans for students in math, French, and history-geography.

• Feedae, a La Rochelle–based startup specializing in AI-driven analysis of call center conversations, has raised €1.6 million from IRDI Capital Investissement. The company currently serves around 20 clients and aims to reach €1 million in revenue by 2025. It has also partnered with Volubile to expand into multilingual and automated interactions.

• Lyzi, a crypto payment startup, has raised €1.3 million to expand its Tezos-powered solution across 400,000 retail locations. The platform enables merchants to accept various cryptocurrencies - including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tezos - with instant euro conversion, eliminating volatility risk.

M&A transactions 🎊

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa has acquired Seqino, a French digital invoicing platform certified as a Partner Dematerialization Platform (PDP). This strategic move enables the bank to offer a turnkey solution for electronic invoicing, ahead of France's mandatory e-invoicing reform set for September 2026. Seqino's services will be available directly to SMEs and mid-sized companies, as well as in white-label form for banks, accounting firms, and software providers.

Fintech Deal Makr has acquired Scorf, a financial analysis platform, to enhance its AI-powered M&A services. The acquisition follows a €750K funding round from Arx Corporate Finance and angel investors, supporting its goal to streamline SME transactions.

Data governance platform DataGalaxy has acquired YOOI, a Paris-based startup specializing in managing data and AI investments as value-driven portfolios. YOOI's platform offers a 360° cockpit to oversee the entire lifecycle of data and AI initiatives, enabling organizations to optimize value, control risks, ensure compliance, and track ROI.

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

​Capgemini and ISAI have launched ISAI Cap Venture II, an €80 million investment fund targeting mature B2B startups in SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS. Building on their 2019 collaboration, the fund will invest €1-5 million tickets in Series A and growth-stage companies, leveraging Capgemini's global reach to help startups scale. The first fund backed 15 startups, including Alation, Zelros, and Copado.

Bpifrance and JPMorgan Chase have announced the first closing of their joint fund, Bpifrance Spark, securing €33 million. This fund aims to promote gender parity in venture capital by investing in early-stage and growth funds where women hold at least 33% of the capital, as well as in impact-driven funds. Initial investments include Revaia Growth II and Alter Equity III. The fund is supported by BNP Paribas Cardif, FDJ UNITED, LVMH, Ardian, and Xavier Niel, with a final target of €150 million.

Huawei has launched the 12th edition of its Digital InPulse program, aimed at supporting French startups in their international expansion. This year's competition features two categories: "Tech for Competitivity" and "Women for Innovation." Ten winners will be selected to participate in a business trip to China's Greater Bay Area in January 2026, providing opportunities to explore the Chinese market and connect with potential partners.

Handilab and L'Oréal have launched a call for projects to accelerate innovation in disability inclusion. This initiative invites startups working on accessible employee support, inclusive customer experiences, adaptive beauty solutions, neurotech, and femtech to apply. Selected startups will receive a year-long residency at Handilab's innovation hub in Saint-Denis, benefiting from coworking spaces, a user lab, an inclusive auditorium, and exposure to investors and corporate partners.

JCDecaux is expanding its Nurture program with a “Startup Challenge” offering five startups free ad campaigns worth €140,000 across Europe. Aimed at young B2C and B2B2C companies, the initiative helps boost visibility through out-of-home media and strategic support.

Startup news 💡

French healthtech unicorn Alan has unveiled a gamified redesign of its app, dubbed "Alan Play," aiming to make health engagement as compelling as popular games like Candy Crush. The revamped app introduces a level-based progression system that rewards users for healthy behaviors - such as walking and meditation - with points called "berries." These points can be redeemed for discounts in the Alan Shop or donated to charities.

Seven years after selling Goodeed to La Banque Postale, founder Vincent Touboul Flachaire has bought back the startup with the help of 15 investors, including Céline Lazorthes and Xavier Durant. Now CEO again, he plans to relaunch the impact-driven ad platform in the US with a goal of redistributing €10 million to nonprofits.

Antoine Hubert, co-founder of the insect protein startup Ÿnsect, is preparing to launch a new venture named Keprea, even as Ÿnsect remains under judicial reorganization. Keprea also focuses on insect farming and the founding team includes Emilien Bohuon, former R&D director at Ÿnsect, and Béatrice Vassy, CFO at Dental Monitoring, who will lead the new company. While Ÿnsect recently secured €10 million in emergency funding to sustain operations, Keprea is expected to launch by September 2025.

Lucie Basch, co-founder of Too Good To Go, has launched a new startup called Poppins, alongside two former colleagues, to promote everyday object sharing. Backed by notable angels like Frédéric Mazzella and Alexandre Mars, the app already features 20,000 shareable items across France and aims to shift consumers from ownership to collective prosperity.

Insurtech Seyna reported €91 million in revenue for 2024, up from €72.9 million in 2023. The company offers over 120 white-label insurance products across seven verticals, serving nearly two million policyholders in five European countries. With a solvency ratio of 204%, Seyna plans to expand further under its "Horizon 2027" strategy, aiming for European leadership by enhancing its tech platform and entering new markets.

En Voiture Simone: now profitable, the online driving school is gearing up to capture a share of a €1 billion market. With €30 million in revenue in 2024 and a target of €45 million for 2025, the startup is accelerating growth through digital expansion and favorable regulations.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has selected French startup Outsight for a $17.2 million contract to deploy its 3D LiDAR-based Spatial Intelligence platform. This initiative aims to enhance real-time monitoring of passenger and vehicle flows, improving operational efficiency, safety, and the overall traveler experience.

Alia Santé is developing synthetic health data to overcome barriers in medical AI, aiming to boost model performance while ensuring full data privacy. Backed by regulatory approval and fresh funding goals, it aspires to become a key player in AI-powered healthcare.

Actor Kyan Khojandi, famed for Bref, enters French Tech with Le Bon Moment, a startup studio co-founded with Donatien Bozon to launch creator-led consumer brands. They’re raising €1 million to develop their first two projects, starting with food and beverage.

Big company & policy news 💡

​Despite economic challenges, the French government has reaffirmed its commitment to invest the remaining €15 billion of the €54 billion France 2030 innovation plan over the next three years. The focus will be on accelerating advancements in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space, nuclear energy, and dual-use technologies. To date, €38 billion has been allocated, supporting approximately 7,500 projects, creating 150,000 jobs, and resulting in 6,000 patent filings.

Interesting reads 💡

Maddyness explores the fundraising capabilities of senior entrepreneurs, highlighting a Bpifrance study that shows founders over 50 face no greater challenges in securing funding than their younger counterparts. The report even suggests replacing the term "senior" with "expert" to better reflect their value and experience.

​Maddyness explores the shortcomings of the European Union's AI Act, highlighting concerns over its legislative process and potential impact on innovation. François Pachet, an AI researcher, criticizes the law's development, noting that expert consultations were often disregarded in favor of pre-determined conclusions. He points out that the process was dominated by legal professionals lacking technical expertise, leading to a rigid and potentially counterproductive regulatory framework. Pachet advocates for greater inclusion of technical experts in policymaking to ensure that regulations effectively address the complexities of AI technologies.​

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