S1 2021 : 11 new deals, 4 follow-on rounds, 4 exits! 🚀

In France, as elsewhere in Europe, the 1st half of 2021 has been historic for tech, with amounts raised and round sizes growing considerably compared to 2020.

The total funding raised by French startups skyrocketed reaching €4.7 billion in the first half of 2021, 74% more than during the same period last year and almost as much as the whole of 2020. This good performance was driven by mega rounds: 9 companies raised funding rounds of over €100m in the 1st half of the year, and seven new companies reached unicorn status, two new records!

While the catch-up effect after a year marked by COVID-19 is undeniable (many tech companies were able to benefit from support mechanisms put in place during the crisis helping them adjust their fundraising schedule), the scale of the rebound demonstrates the growing maturity of the FrenchTech ecosystem and rewards the hard work of all its players during many years, starting with its entrepreneurs.

We believe that these excellent results are just the beginning. Every day we see the arrival of a new generation of startups, greater in number and driven by entrepreneurs determined to build future category leaders. French tech still has a lot to offer!

Bpifrance DV’s activity was also exceptional in the 1st half of the year with 11 new deals and 4 follow-on rounds with +€400 million raised by our portfolio companies, including +€20 million invested by our team, as well as 4 successful exits!

At the half-year mark, we can notice three main trends by looking back at our investments :

1st Trend: A focus on Quantum Tech and Cybersecurity startups

• SIS ID is developing a solution to combat bank transfer fraud. In the context of increasing cyber attacks, SIS ID provides an automated solution to secure payment data. We co-led their €5 million round along with Opera Tech Ventures and Aonia Ventures.
• Mantra is developing a phishing simulation tool to enable IT departments and system administrators to raise employee awareness of phishing attempts. We co-led their €1.6 million round alongside OneRagtime and Axeleo Capital.
• C12 Quantum Electronics is a quantum industry startup that believes materials innovation will enable the emergence of quantum processors. The startup is conducting R&D to design a qubit from a carbon nanotube. We participated in their €8.2 million financing round alongside 360 Capital, Airbus Ventures and BNP Paribas Développement.

2nd Trend: New deals in the very promising gaming sector

• Powder is a social network with a vision to become the “camera of the metaverse” by allowing players to capture, customize and share their gaming highlightsIn just a few months, Powder has managed to build a highly engaged community, which convinced us to participate in their €11.5 million Series A.
• Enginn Technologies is developing a SaaS tool for on-demand generation of human voices using Deep Learning.
• PowerZ is a project with a unique positioning in the market, bringing together the worlds of video games and education. In less than a year, the company launched the first hours of the game and built a community of tens of thousands of children and parents. We led their €7 million Series A round with the participation of Raise Ventures and historic investors such as Educapital.

3rd Trend: Large follow-on rounds for portfolio companies that have become clear category leaders

• OpenClassrooms, the French leader in online training, grew by 150% last year and intends to continue its geographic expansion thanks to a €70 million round of financing from Lumos Capital, GSV Ventures and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. We have been alongside OpenClassrooms since their Series A in 2016 and are very happy to continue supporting this major player in the Edtech ecosystem 👨🎓
• ManoMano, after raising €110 million in 2019 and €125 million in 2020, continues its meteoric rise and welcomes aboard Dragoneer Investment Group by raising close to €300 million. Valued at €2.6 billion, the company intends to continue its European expansion 🦄

BUT ALSO:

• Babbar, the SEO specialist, has secured a €2 million seed round that we co-led with Go Capital.
• Mayday is developing an omnichannel knowledge management platform for customer relations. We co-led their €2.5 million seed round with MAIF Avenir.
• Faume offers a technological and logistical platform for brands launching second-hand item sales. We led their €2 million seed round.
• WeMaintain is shaking up the very deep and oligopolistic elevator maintenance market with a solution based on an innovative business model combined with an innovative technology. We participated in their €30m round alongside Red River West, Verve.vc and historic investors.
• Farmitoo, the online marketplace for farm equipment has closed a €10 million Series A alongside Ventech and IXO Private Equity.
• SportEasy, a tool dedicated to the management of sports teams and events for amateur sports groups, clubs and associations, has closed a €5 million Series A led by Seventure and Macif.

4 EXITS, A RECORD HALF-YEAR!

💥 OVRSEA, the digital freight forwarder, has been acquired by Bolloré Logistics, just over 2 years after we led their seed round.

💥 Lengow, the e-commerce optimization platform has been acquired by US private equity fund Marlin Equity Partners.

💥 Neotys, a company developing an application performance testing platform, has been acquired by American firm Tricentis.

💥 Talentsoft, one of the European leaders in talent management solutions, has been acquired by Cegid, giving rise to a French champion and leader in the European market for cloud-based payroll and human resources management solutions 🚀