Dealflow France #14: Flowdesk raises €52M. Appier acquires AdCreative.ai. PSG launches sportech accelerator.
- Jaime Novoa from Dealflow France <dealflowfrance@substack.com>
- Hidden Recipient <hidden@emailshot.io>
Dealflow France #14: Flowdesk raises €52M. Appier acquires AdCreative.ai. PSG launches sportech accelerator.Welcome to the 14th edition of the Dealflow France newsletter: a weekly summary of everything that happened in the France startup and investment ecosystem.
Welcome to Dealflow France! Dealflow France is the best way to follow the French startup and VC ecosystem. If by any chance you’ve known about Dealflow Spain or Dealflow LatAm, you know what to expect. But just in case: a manually-curated weekly email with the week’s most relevant articles, delivered to your inbox every Monday morning in one single and easy-to-read email. If you have any feedback, please reply to this email or reach out at jaime@dealflow.es Merci beaucoup! Startup funding news 💸Rounds of $15M+:
Rounds €5M to €15M:
Rounds €1M to €5M:
M&A transactions 🎊Appier acquires AdCreative.ai for $38.7M to enhance its AI-driven advertising solutions. This marks Appier’s fifth acquisition since 2018, strengthening its expansion in Europe. Publicis acquires Lotame to strengthen its data-driven marketing. The deal boosts its database to nearly 4 billion profiles, enhancing personalized campaigns and expanding Epsilon globally. Fedrigoni acquires a stake in Papkot to scale its plastic-free paper coating technology. Founded in 2020, the startup develops recyclable packaging coatings. Investor & accelerator news 🚀PSG launches PSG Labs, an accelerator for sportech startups. The first hub will open in Doha, focusing on AI, Web3, fan engagement, and performance. Startups will join a 3-month boot camp with club collaboration. Bpifrance reports a 32% drop in industrial startup funding, totaling €2.83B in 2024. Only 38 new sites were inaugurated, down from 60 in 2023. Greentech and deeptech led investments, while other sectors struggled. Sofinnova Partners raises €1.2B to fund 50-60 life sciences startups. The firm, managing over €4B, invests across biotech, medtech, and digital health. Investors include top institutions, sovereign funds, and corporates. La Caisse des Dépôts launches the 3rd edition of TechSprint to develop an interoperable data space supporting the ecological transition. Backed by €100B mobilized between 2024 and 2028, the program supports Greentech startups and projects in water management, real estate, and logistics. Opportunities & Deadlines 👀
Startup news 💡Cure51 partners with AP-HP to access tumor and survivor data from five Paris hospitals. The startup uses DNA sequencing and big data to advance cancer treatments and personalized medicine. Fleet partners with OpenAI to launch Fleet CoPilot, an AI-powered IT assistant for SMEs. The tool optimizes device management, security, and HR integration. Initially deployed to select clients, it will expand gradually. Jolimoi reaches profitability with €20M revenue in 2024, growing 19%. The beauty social selling platform, which raised €7M in 2022, plans to expand AI capabilities and grow 20% in 2025. French cleantech startups raised €2.4B in 2024, down from €3.5B in 2023. Electra (€304M), Valorem (€200M), and HysetCo (€200M) led major rounds. Despite a tough economy, energy and mobility remain top sectors for investment. Big company & policy news 💡L'AMIAD inaugurates its research center and partners with Mistral AI to strengthen France’s defense AI sovereignty. The €15M investment includes building a defense institute at École Polytechnique. The partnership focuses on AI research and industrialization for military applications. At MWC 2025, Steve Wozniak criticized AI’s lack of transparency, the dominance of Big Tech, and the decline of Silicon Valley as the sole innovation hub. He called for AI regulation, warned against excessive VC funding for startups, and advocated for a return to engineer-led innovation. Interesting reads 💡Victor Cuxart and Stephanie Combe (Alma) explore debt financing for startups in high-interest environments. Their article breaks down borrowing options, risks, and best practices for managing debt effectively. Lucas Bédout (Hyperline) criticizes recent changes to France’s ESOP (BSPCE) taxation. He explains how the new law imposes upfront taxes on stock options, making them riskier for employees and less attractive for startups to retain talent. Yann Leonardi analyzes Decathlon’s bold rebranding strategy. Initially skeptical, he dives into how the sporting goods giant is shifting from a budget retailer image to a global brand powerhouse—comparing its ambitions to Tony Montana in Scarface. |
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