The 102 laureates of the 5th cohort of the French Tech Tremplin Incubation programme announced at VivaTech

A new cohort that reaffirms the programme’s mission: to nurture entrepreneurial talent across France

Launched by Mission French Tech in 2019, French Tech Tremplin supports entrepreneurs from backgrounds, regions or social circumstances that remain under-represented in the innovation ecosystem. This new cohort once again illustrates the wealth of talent across the whole of France and reaffirms the programme’s ambition: to foster the future success stories of French Tech by giving opportunities to entrepreneurs who, without this scheme, would find it more difficult to access support networks, funding and entrepreneurial resources.

A cohort that better reflects entrepreneurial diversity

Of the 102 successful companies, 33 are led by women, representing 32.4 per cent of the cohort.

Whilst men remain in the majority, this proportion demonstrates the programme’s ability to foster the emergence of more female entrepreneurs in a sector where they remain largely under-represented. It also serves as a reminder that inequalities in access to technology-based entrepreneurship persist and fully justify the continuation of targeted measures to promote equal opportunities.

Talent discovered across the country

One of French Tech Tremplin’s long-standing strengths is its ability to identify entrepreneurs well beyond the major technology hubs. The Class of 2026 is representative of this ambition. The laureates are spread across all French regions, both in mainland France and in the overseas territories.

The regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (17.6 per cent), Île-de-France (12.7 per cent), Hauts-de-France (10.8 per cent), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (10.8 per cent), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (7.8 per cent) and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (6.9 per cent) are among the most strongly represented.

The overseas territories, for their part, account for nearly 14 per cent of the laureates, with entrepreneurs from Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte, Guadeloupe and French Guiana.

A programme that reaches its target audiences

French Tech Tremplin continues its mission to open up entrepreneurship to groups that are still under-represented. Thus:

As these criteria are cumulative, some entrepreneurs fall into several of these categories. These figures demonstrate that entrepreneurial talent exists everywhere and that access to opportunities remains a major challenge for many business founders.

Entrepreneurs starting out with limited resources

This report also highlights the funding difficulties encountered when launching an entrepreneurial project.

These figures serve as a reminder that access to initial funding remains one of the main barriers to the creation of innovative businesses.

A French Tech network active throughout France

This fifth cohort is also the result of the work carried out each year by the French Tech Capitals and Communities, which identify talent at the local level. This year, the regions most strongly represented are:

Thanks to this regional network, French Tech Tremplin continues to open the doors to innovative entrepreneurship for individuals who are still too often excluded from traditional networks.

The 102 laureates will now receive support from partner incubators to consolidate their entrepreneurial projects, develop their businesses and join the French Tech community.