An exciting week for French VC, with several established firms announcing new funds and gearing up to invest in the next wave of AI and deeptech startups. From Serena’s €200M early-stage vehicle to Supernova’s €300M late-stage deeptech fund. Let’s dive in.

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Startup funding news 💸

Rounds of +€15M:

• Vibe has raised $50 million in a Series B round to expand its AI-driven video streaming ad platform in the U.S., aiming to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2028. With access to over 120 million American households and partnerships with platforms like Roku and Disney+, Vibe is capitalizing on the rapid growth of connected TV advertising and already generates over 10% of its ads via AI.

• Edflex, the AI-driven corporate learning platform, has raised €15 million from Bpifrance (Digital Venture fund), Educapital, Ternel, and Wille Finance. The funding will accelerate the rollout of its “Edflex Copilot” solution, enhance integration with workplace tools like Teams and SAP, and support global expansion as the company positions itself as a European leader in next-gen digital learning.

Rounds €5M to €15M:

• Goodvest has raised €12 million in a Series B round led by Serena to scale its climate-aligned savings platform, offering investment products that exclude fossil fuels and support ecological transition. With €200 million already under management and a goal of reaching €1 billion by 2027, the company aims to expand its team, enhance its wealth management offering, and accelerate the decarbonization of French savings.

• Qovery, the DevOps automation startup, has raised €11 million in a Series A round led by IRIS. Positioned between PaaS simplicity and cloud-native flexibility, Qovery aims to drastically reduce deployment time while scaling its AI-driven platform and expanding into the U.S., which already accounts for half of its business.

• DJUST has secured an additional €7 million in funding to scale its AI-driven “agentic commerce” platform, aiming to streamline B2B transactions through automated features like mail-to-order and voice-to-order. With plans to double its order volume to €3 billion, the company is ramping up R&D, expanding across Europe, and enhancing its team and product offering to lead the future of digital B2B commerce.

• TiHive has raised €8 million to scale its terahertz and AI-powered quality control technology, which enables real-time inspection of every product directly on production lines. Backed by Karista, Wind, and the EIC Fund, the funding will support global expansion, new chip development, and help industries reduce waste and emissions by embedding advanced quality checks into manufacturing.

• iNGage, a Grenoble-based startup developing next-gen MEMS inertial sensors as a GPS alternative, has raised €6 million in a seed round led by Supernova Invest and 360 Capital. Originating from 15 years of research at CEA-Leti and Politecnico di Milano, the company aims to commercialize ultra-precise navigation tech for defense, automotive, and robotics, where GPS signals are unreliable or unavailable.

Rounds €1M to €5M:

• Vocca.ai has raised €4.7 million to deploy its medical voice AI assistant, which automates phone-based appointment scheduling and admin tasks for healthcare practices. Trained on medical terminology and workflows, the solution reduces missed calls and no-shows, improves patient experience, and allows medical secretaries to focus on complex tasks, with plans to equip 10,000 practitioners by 2026.

• Rippletide, founded by serial entrepreneur Patrick Joubert, has raised €4 million in seed funding to expand its AI agent platform that promises under 1% hallucination rates and full decision explainability. With a new San Francisco hub and a transatlantic growth strategy, the startup aims to help enterprises confidently scale reliable AI agents across sectors.

• Popsink, founded by Benjamin Djidi and Alexandre Colella, has raised €3 million in seed funding led by IRIS, with participation from XAnge, Seedcamp, Irregular Expressions, and several business angels. The startup enables real-time data flow from legacy systems to modern platforms like Snowflake and Databricks, aiming to bridge the gap between operational data and AI deployment across Europe and North America.

• Chat3D, a Lyon-based startup founded by Félix Balmonet and Glenn Avezoux, has raised €3 million from Mesh Ventures, Campus Fund, Innov’Alpes, Bpifrance, and several business angels. Its generative AI platform instantly transforms photos, sketches, or text into 3D models, and the funding will fuel international growth and the launch of a public-facing, freemium version of the tool in October 2025.

• Synboli has raised €3.5 million to develop AI-powered, eco-friendly polymers for sectors like healthcare, cosmetics, and construction. Spun out from CNRS and the University of Bordeaux, the startup combines AI and advanced chemistry to create sustainable, biodegradable materials at scale.

• Franco-American startup Metreecs has raised $2.7 million following its Y Combinator stint, aiming to revolutionize logistics through AI-powered demand forecasting and digital twins that simulate supply networks with real-world data. Backed by top investors like Kima Ventures, Bpifrance, and Founders Future, Metreecs plans to expand into Italy and the U.S. while helping retailers cut overstocks, reduce shortages, and boost sales—all with a focus on economic and environmental impact.

• MokN has raised €2.6 million in seed funding to expand its “phish-back” technology to the U.S., using fake login portals to trap cybercriminals and neutralize stolen credentials before attacks occur. Already protecting over 500,000 users and generating €1M+ in ARR without prior funding, MokN will use this round to scale in the U.S. and strengthen its product and sales teams in France.

• 2501.AI, a startup developing autonomous AI agents for IT and Cloud infrastructure support, has raised €2 million in a pre-seed round led by Galion.exe, KFund, and Kima Ventures. Their platform automates incident resolution, critical alert management, and security updates, aiming to modernize SRE and DevOps roles while reducing operational costs and accelerating issue resolution across enterprise systems.

• PikkoPay, a startup aiming to simplify in-store checkout with a smartphone-based, cashierless payment system, has raised €1.5 million to accelerate national deployment.

M&A transactions 🎊

Dating app Happn has been acquired by Chinese tech firm Hello Group, signaling a strategic move to expand its presence in Asia and Africa, while leveraging Hello Group’s experience with platforms like Momo and Tantan. Amid growing fatigue with traditional swipe-based dating, Happn aims to revitalize its offering—focusing on real-life encounters and AI-powered features—as it adapts to shifting global trends in the dating app market.

Just two weeks after raising €25 million in a Series B round backed by PayPal and Y Combinator, Finary has made its first acquisition by buying wealth management platform Affluent. This strategic move boosts Finary’s AI capabilities and financial planning tools as it aims to scale its investment platform across Europe and surpass €5 billion in assets under management within three years.

French CRM and Lead-to-Cash platform Sellsy has been acquired by Italian software group TeamSystem, as part of its strategy to expand across Europe and strengthen its SME offering. With over 23,000 clients and 180 employees, Sellsy plays a key role in the upcoming French e-invoicing reform and will continue operations under current leadership, while integrating AI and BI features into its platform.

Prosus has acquired French used-car marketplace La Centrale for €1.1 billion via its classifieds arm OLX, expanding its footprint in Western Europe’s automotive sector. The move follows Prosus’ recent acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway and supports its broader €2 billion investment strategy in France.

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

Ventech has closed its sixth and largest fund at €175 million, a 15% increase from the previous one, with half of the capital dedicated to AI, focusing on transformative vertical applications rather than capital-intensive foundational models. The French-European VC firm also targets digital health, industrial software, cybersecurity, and tech sovereignty, reinforcing its pan-European presence with local offices to support early-stage innovation across the continent.

Serena has launched a new €200 million early-stage fund, “Serena IV,” targeting applied AI and the energy transition, with initial investments already made in four startups including AI-powered contract platform Formality. Managed by partners Sébastien Le Roy, Olivier Martret, and Paul Moriou, the fund underscores Serena’s shift to a broader European focus and belief that applied AI still holds vast untapped potential despite growing market hype.

Supernova Invest has launched a new €300 million late-stage fund, Supernova Tech Scale II, to back Europe’s most promising deeptech startups across sectors like health, climate, AI, and semiconductors. Aiming to fill the critical funding gap in later rounds, the fund will deploy tickets of around €15 million to help these startups scale globally and secure Europe’s position in breakthrough innovation.

C4 Ventures, the fund founded by former Apple Europe head Pascal Cagni, has launched a new €100 million fund to back Europe’s next deeptech and AI champions, with a focus on hard-to-replicate innovations across AI, robotics, quantum computing, and space. With a strong track record of 12 unicorns among 54 investments, the firm aims to strengthen European tech sovereignty by supporting standout startups through Series A rounds.

Mathieu Tarnus, founder of Groupe Positive, has launched 404 Ventures, a self-financed evergreen fund investing €50K–€200K tickets in seed and pre-seed startups across Tech, Deep Tech, SaaS, and Impact. With no institutional LPs, the fund emphasizes flexibility, long-term support, and a hands-on, co-investment approach alongside other VC partners in Europe and the U.S.

Entrepreneurs First is launching The Bridge, an eight-week residency in San Francisco to help European founders gain early access to the U.S. startup ecosystem, even before forming a team or startup idea. Starting in April 2026, selected participants will receive housing, visa support, up to $250K in pre-seed funding, and mentoring from Silicon Valley insiders—positioning them to scale globally and attract higher valuations.

Meta and Hugging Face are renewing their open-source AI acceleration program at Station F in Paris, now joined by SNCF Connect & Tech as a new partner. The initiative will support five French startups from January to June 2026 with mentorship, tools, and collaboration opportunities, reinforcing France’s status as a thriving hub for open-source AI innovation.

The Paris Chamber of Commerce (CCI Paris) has opened applications for its NeoStartups and Growth Startups programs, offering tailored support for early-stage founders and scale-up-ready startups across all sectors. With expert-led workshops, one-on-one coaching, and access to a powerful network—including major tech events and corporate partners—these programs aim to help startups structure their foundations or accelerate growth starting October 17, 2025.

Startup news 💡

Gojob has secured a €120 million investment from Japanese temp work giant Persol, making it the company’s largest shareholder and fueling Gojob’s international expansion and AI development. With ambitions to reach €1 billion in revenue within five years, Gojob leverages its proprietary AI to match candidates to jobs in under 15 minutes, aiming to revolutionize recruitment while reducing hiring biases and enhancing employment access globally.

Danish group Ageras has chosen to unify its various fintech brands under the name of Shine, the French startup it acquired from Société Générale, turning it into its new European flagship. With 350,000 SME clients and growing recognition, Shine will now encompass Ageras’ brands across Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany, aiming to serve millions of small businesses across Europe from a single unified platform.

Animaj has announced a major partnership with Studio 100 to relaunch the iconic Maya the Bee franchise outside German-speaking markets and Benelux, starting in early 2026 with weekly short-form content on YouTube. This move follows Animaj’s rapid rise as a digital-first kids’ entertainment studio and supports its global ambitions after raising €175 million since 2023.

Adikteev, the mobile adtech firm specializing in app user re-engagement, has raised €28 million in a management buyout led by AgilaCapital, giving its founders majority control. With €150M in projected 2025 revenue and 98% of sales from international markets, the company plans to scale further while exploring new acquisitions and AI-driven products.

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