The startup scene in Paris is picking up momentum, with plenty of founders making their way to the city to set up their businesses, especially as the city has fantastic resources for startup founders, making the startup journey one that founders can navigate with ease. Not only are French startup founders coming to Paris to take advantage of what the city has to offer, but founders from across Europe are being drawn to France’s capital.

France’s startup scene is absolutely booming right now and isn’t slowing down anytime soon. According to Atomico’s 2022 ‘State of European Tech report; France has overtaken the UK as a tech nation, based on a ranking on public tech market cap.

France’s 2023 Vision

Back in 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a €30 billion plan to create the "high tech champions of the future.” The plan was dubbed ‘France 2030; with the aim to invest the funds over five years in sectors like robotics, semiconductors, electric cars, and nuclear and renewable energy sources.

Macron planned for around €15 billion to go towards startups, and a further €2 billion for training in sectors which are booming in the country, and the top one is technology.

Macron has also signalled that he wants to see 100 French tech unicorns by 2030. With the current count at 26, France is just over a quarter of the way there, and 20 of those unicorns are headquartered in Paris.

La French Tech

La French Tech is the startup scene over in France. It’s a unique movement bringing together startups, investors, policymakers, and community builders. Its mission is “to make France one of the greatest places in the world to launch and grow global companies that make sense for our future.”

La French Tech sits administratively inside the French government, and physically at the world’s biggest startup campus, STATION F. It involves all the different funding programmes that are offered to all types of tech startups, systems that involve the employment of young talent into the startup ecosystem and tools to help startup founders thrive.

Another facet of La French Tech is ‘French Tech Tremplin,' an initiative that aims to identify aspiring entrepreneurs from tougher backgrounds and welcome them into the French Tech ecosystem. It optimises their chances of success through funding, training, and mentorship. The initiative is designed to level the playing field by mimicking advantages these entrepreneurs would have had easier access to, had they come from more privileged backgrounds.

Support

One of the main reasons that Paris has become this massive hub of startup innovation is the support that has been put in place to nurture these businesses and talent to allow them the space to flourish.

One of these measures that has been put in place is the French Tech Visa. The French Tech Visa is a simplified, fast-track scheme for non-EU startup employees, founders, and investors to obtain a residence permit for France. The French Tech Visa is open to three categories of tech talent: startup founders, employees, and investors, and allows them to live and work in France. The visa is valid for four years on a renewable basis, automatically includes residence permits for spouses and dependent children, and no additional work permits are required. Since the French Tech Visa became available for global startups, it is attracting more and more attention from innovators all over the world.

Paris is also home to one of the world’s largest startup campuses, STATION F. STATION F has 30+ startup programmes, each on a specific theme or vertical. This is to ensure that all startups can find a programme that suits their needs and business. These can be focused on types of founders, such as female founders or those that come from under privileged backgrounds, all the way to online programmes that allow entrepreneurs-to-be to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship and how to turn an idea to a fully-fledged business.

Roxanne Varza, Director at STATION F commented on why she believes Paris is seeing this this massive startup boom: “Paris has gone through a major transformation in the last few years. Many geopolitical factors have caused founders to look away from some of the traditional ecosystems, and France has risen to the forefront during this time. France has always had exceptional tech talent and the government has worked hard to strengthen the funding ecosystem and make visas easier for foreign founders and startup employees. We are now seeing a new generation of founders with solid experience either as previous founders or scaleup employees. Startup creation is at an all-time high, and despite the economic downturn France was the only major European ecosystem to see an increase in startup funding in 2022.”

The business landscape

Businesses in Paris have historically been extremely successful. Paris is home to Europe’s highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies. The city finds itself at the centre of the EU and all of Europe’s major cities are within easy reach, under three hours away. So, it’s no wonder startups are flocking to the city with dreams of making it big.

And it’s not just the business landscape that attracts startups to Paris. The capital has historic landmarks, beautiful galleries and museums, and a fantastic nightlife scene. So, whether on the clock, or off, Paris is a bustling city with plenty to keep you busy.

This article originally appeared in the Sept/Oct issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe