French Tech Next40/120
The video consists of a succession of individual contributions filmed on camera or at public events.
[French Tech]
[Images from the Élysée Palace]
Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister Delegate in charge of the Digital Transition and Telecommunications (speaking as part of the announcement of the class of 2023 of the French Tech Next40/120 programme) – We are gathered here this evening to announce and celebrate the winners of this programme, which is now emblematic of the French Tech 120 and Next 40.
Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic (speaking at a French Tech event) – First of all, I’m very proud of you. I’m impressed by the trajectory you’ve taken over the past ten years, individually and collectively. And you’ve helped to transform the country.
Clara Chappaz, Director of the French Tech Mission (on camera) – The French Tech Next40/120 start-ups are the spearheads of the French Tech ecosystem of 25,000 start-ups that the French use on a daily basis.
Jean-Noël Barrot (on camera) – It’s a DeepTech* class, it’s a class of industrial start-ups, it’s a GreenTech** class and it’s a class that’s becoming increasingly gender-balanced, even though we still have a lot of progress to make in this area.
Éléonore Crespo , CEO of Pigment and 1st woman in the Next40 (on camera) – As the first woman director of the Next 40, listen, I hope to be a beacon of hope and to be able to help a lot of women entrepreneurs to do the same thing. In any case, go for it!
Clara Chappaz (on camera) – What’s incredible about this class of 2023 is that there’s been a huge surge in start-ups in the ecological transition. There are ten of them in the Next 40. That’s one in four of the Next 40. And these are companies that are playing a full part in the country’s re-industrialisation.
Aurélien de Meaux, CEO of Electra (on camera) – I think it’s important that there are industrial start-ups focused on the energy transition in the Next 40, because it’s one of the hallmarks of the decade and the government wants to push it forward, so that’s why we’re here today.
Laure Cohen, co-founder of Certideal (on camera) – Economic issues are inseparable from environmental issues. Growth is very important, but it’s also important for us to have a government that supports, shares and understands environmental values.
Jean-Noël Barrot (on camera) – French Tech has been a French success story for ten years now. It’s a success story for all French people. It’s a success for all French people, because French Tech companies have created tens and hundreds of thousands of jobs in every region of France and in the French overseas territories, regions that French Tech helps to revitalise, regenerate and re-industrialise on a daily basis.
Benoît Lemaignan, CEO of Verkor (on camera) – The Battery School is an initiative that we have launched at Verkor in conjunction with the entire battery ecosystem. To do this, we need to train talent across the entire value chain. That’s why we’ve set up this school to train operators and managers in these new professions.
Clara Chappaz (speaking as representatives of the French Tech ecosystem took the floor) – Well done, of course, to all of you, the winners of the French Tech Next40/120, the class of 2023. A class that is stronger than ever, greener than ever and even more industrial than ever.
Emmanuel Macron (speaking at a meeting on the theme of “companies developing factories in France”) – This is the fruit of a collective, massive effort of cooperation between the public and private sectors, from the provinces to Paris and internationally, from investment to entrepreneurship, from research to heavy industry. Your responsibility, wherever you are, is to take up these challenges, to rise to them and to succeed. Thank you very much.
[French Republic – Liberté Égalité Fraternité]
* DeepTech: term used to describe companies developing highly innovative projects.
** GreenTech: term used to designate companies whose field of activity is linked to the ecological transition.
Created in 2019 by the French Tech Mission, the French Tech Next40/120 is above all a programme through which the State supports companies whose weight in tomorrow’s French economy will be even greater than it is today, due to the jobs and value they create, and their development beyond our borders. We will also support them in these commitments.
Programme description
Programme objectif
Turn France’s 120 most successful start-ups into world-class leaders, with individual support on government-related issues (relations with government departments and ministries, regulatory and standards issues), encourage commercial development with private and public sector players (Je choisis la French Tech) and encourage the sharing of experience between peers and expertise in group formats on strategic issues such as international development, financing and setting up a local presence.
Based on objective criteria of economic performance (hypergrowth in revenues or funds raised), this programme gives France’s biggest start-ups a high profile both nationally and internationally. It promotes products and services that have become essential to our daily lives, as well as disruptive innovations that meet the major challenges of ecological transition, re-industrialisation and technological sovereignty.
The French Tech Next40/120 programme aims to provide individual and collective support on strategic issues such as international development, financing, recruitment, local presence, intellectual property and regulatory issues.
Download the press kit – Announcement of the 2023 French Tech Next40/120 laureates
Discover the 120 winning start-ups in the French Tech Next40/120 support programme. You’ll also find the selection criteria, their challenges as winners and the ambitions of the programme.
PDF – 4.94 MB
Service offer
The start-ups selected in the French Tech Next40/120 will benefit from a dedicated support programme for one year, operated by the French Tech Mission teams.
93% of the start-ups supported in 2022 consider that this programme has been an asset for the development of their business (survey carried out among the class of 2022 in December 2022).
This support is divided into four parts.
A dedicated start-up manager
Within the French Tech Mission, the start-up managers dedicated to the French Tech Next40/120 programme have a portfolio of companies. Their job is to identify the companies’ priority issues, activate the appropriate service offering and liaise with the network of French Tech Correspondents.
Improved visibility
Companies will be able to take part in initiatives designed to raise their profile, both in France and internationally, such as taking part in events, promoting French Tech Next40/120 in the media and taking part in international delegations via the French Tech Capitals and Communities network.
Support on regulatory and standards issues
The French Tech Mission will provide legal advice on regulatory and standards issues, and will also call on the programmes’ partners (Agence de l’innovation en santé, INPI, CNIL, etc.).
Events to share experience and expertise
Laureates have access to the French Tech Mission events on a range of issues including financing, recruitment, international development, ecological transition, external growth, parity, inclusion and diversity.
Tailor-made support from the French Tech Correspondents network
This network brings together 60 government departments and public services that are partners of the French Tech Mission, and have rallied round to contribute to the success of the start-ups supported by the Mission (Bpifrance, Business France, UGAP, Banque de France, Urssaf, AFNOR, DGFIP, etc).
Programme history
September 2019
Launch of the French Tech Next40/120 programmeCédric O, Secretary of State for the Digital Economy, is launching this first programme to support and promote 120 young French companies considered to be promising and likely to become technological leaders.
February 2023
Announcement of the 2023 laureatesUnveiled at the Elysée Palace in February 2023 by President Emmanuel Macron and Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, alongside Clara Chappaz, Director of Mission French Tech.
Laureates 2023
This 4th promotion of the French Tech Next40/120 is the most selective since its creation. It embodies the record dynamics of the ecosystem in France:
- revenue growth to €11.3 billion in 2022, up from €9.5 billion in 2021
- growth in employment, with 47,800 direct jobs in France and around the world
- the emergence of 8 new unicorns, exceeding the initial target of 25 by 2025
- external growth, with 93 acquisitions by 2022
Laureates Next40
Laureates French Tech 120
Download the press kit – Announcement of the 2023 French Tech Next40/120 laureates
Discover the 120 winning start-ups in the French Tech Next40/120 support programme. You’ll also find the selection criteria, their challenges as winners and the ambitions of the programme.
PDF – 4.94 MB
Key figures for laureates of 2023
revenue growth in 2022, compared with 9.5 billion euros in 2021
direct jobs generated in France and around the world by the start-ups in the French Tech Next40/120 promotion of 2023
have emerged, exceeding the initial target of 25 unicorns by 2025
business acquisitions in 2022 by laureates of the support programme
A committed promotion of 2023
For the first time, the promotion of French Tech Next40/120 shows the way to a collective, complete and virtuous performance.
- Ecological transition: the winning start-ups are committed to carrying out a carbon assessment (scope 1,2,3) by the end of 2023. More than half have already done so, including 92% for all three scopes.
- Parity: the number of women in the French Tech Next40/120 has tripled since 2020, and the class of 2023 welcomes its first female CEO to the Next40, a symbol that should pave the way for even more female leaders. The laureates start-ups are also committed to measuring their gender index in order to improve it and achieve parity.
- Diversity: the laureates start-ups will be involved in a collective project, led and facilitated by the French Tech Mission teams, during the first half of 2023.
Selection criteria
Start-ups are selected for the programme on the basis of objective criteria that allow us to assess the start-up’s growth potential, either by evaluating the confidence of its customers (revenue growth) or its investors (fundraising). This latter measure is particularly important for DeepTech start-ups that need substantial funding for their disruptive innovations and industrial set-up before the start of their commercialisation phase.
Selection criteria for the Next40, the 40 most successful start-ups
The criteria for inclusion in the French Tech Next40, which are particularly demanding, have been raised for 2023. To be selected, the start-up had to :
- Either be a unicorn that is not listed on the stock market
- Or have raised at least €100 million between 2020 and 2022 (selected in order of the number of places available).
Selection criteria for the French Tech 120, the 80 high-potential start-ups
In addition to the Next40 laureates, the 80 start-ups are selected according to two criteria:
- Fundraising to assess investor confidence: have raised at least €40 million between 2020 and 2022 (40 selected in order of fundraising).
- Hyper-growth to assess consumer confidence: demonstrate sales of at least €10 million in the last completed financial year and average growth of at least 25% over the last three completed financial years (40 companies selected in order of revenue).
Testimonials
We’re delighted to be part of the French Tech 120 and to see our growth, expertise and innovation rewarded. We are contributing to the challenges of decarbonising businesses and our economy, and therefore our country’s sovereignty. So we’re all the more delighted that French Tech is taking up these issues.
Find out more about French Tech Next40/120 start-ups
All the data on the start-up ecosystem in the French Tech Next40/120 programme is brought together in this tool, designed for managers, investors and enthusiasts.
Ecosystem dataOur other programs
Je choisis la French Tech
The "Je choisis la French Tech" programme was launched by Jean-Noël Barrot, the French Minister for the Digital Economy, and...
French Tech 2030
Launched in partnership with the Secrétariat Général pour l'Investissement and Bpifrance, the French Tech 2030 program supports emerging players that...
French Tech Tremplin
Launched in 2019, French Tech Tremplin is the programme that promotes equal opportunities and supports entrepreneurs from backgrounds that are...
French Tech Rise
Launched in 2021, French Tech Rise is the Mission French Tech program that aims to reduce inequalities in access to...