2019: A vintage cuvée for Impact USA Alumni!
Impact USA alumni top $460M in post-program funding
Just like good wine, French Tech startups sometimes just need time to aerate, open-up, and reveal its true potential. 2019 has been, so far, one of the best years for Impact USA startups with several recent funding announced by alumni Botify, Mirakl, Vade Secure and 360 Learning. These four companies alone have raised more than $200 million total in funding only in the present year.
Four months ago, Mirakl (Impact USA 2014) raised a series-C $70 million funding led by Bain Bain Capital while Vade Secure, the global leader in predictive email defense, just announced that it has entered a €70M financing agreement with General Catalyst.
This week also marked a tremendous milestone for Impact USA: our alumni’s total post-program fundraising now amounts to more than $450M!On top of that, 2017 alumnus Dawex was nominated among the top 50 hot Tech companies in the world by Crunchbase.
Since its first edition in 2014, 40 out of 86 Impact USA alumni have raised at least one round of funding in either the U.S. or in Europe. Among them, the biggest rounds were raised by Mirakl, AB Tasty, 360 Learning, Botify, and Vade Secure. They were led by top-tier VCs such as Alven Capital, Kima Ventures, ISAI, 360 Capital Partners, Partech Ventures, Aster Capital, Korelya Capital and Bain Capital.
The graph below details the amounts raised by these alumni since 2014after completing the program:
Total amount raised by alumni post program ($M)
A general trend in the French Tech Ecosystem
Only in Q1 of 2019, twelve French Tech startups raised more than $50M each, whereas there were only four startups during the same period last year. Among them companies like Ivalua (54M€) or Agorize (13M€) with ambitions to expand in the US market.
According to the EY Venture Capital Barometer for 2018, whilst the number of transactions only increased by 6% between 2017 and 2018, the sums raised surged by over 40%, surpassing €3.6 billion. French and international investors are now convinced of the potential of French Tech companiesand are no longer hesitating to finance the most ambitious projects of these entrepreneurs. They are offering them the resources to become key players in markets with large scale-up potential.
French, yes, but with international ambitions
Their playground is now global: French Tech companies have understood the opportunities and benefits of expanding abroad and so have investors. According to the Global Native report done by Stripe, French Tech startups that have expanded internationally right after their first year of business,have increased their revenue to 141% over their first five years of existence, compared to those companies who choose to expand only in France. French unicorn Meero, who just raised $250 million, is one example — as 80% of its business is done out of France.
Why Impact USA alumni succeeded
On top of cutting-edge technology and world-class teams, Impact USA alumni fully immersed themselves in this mini Executive MBA program by developing their sales capabilities, creating deep partnerships, and meeting US experts, mentors, and VCs.
The program offers “critical topics, high quality and diverse speakers, connections for the long term” says Virgine Ducrot CEO of Boxtal, 2019 alumnus.
In 2019, Impact USA has been revamped and optimized to allow entrepreneurs to make the most of program in a shortened period. This, in combination with the american startup ecosystem, provides them with solid foundations upon which to grow and scale, establishing their first commercial and partner relationships.
After a successful Spring batch in New York, the latest edition of Impact USAwill begin in San Francisco starting September 30th.
If you’d like to learn more about what it takes to scale in North America, you can hear it from one of our 2019 Alumni firsthand, Graham Steel CEO and Co-Founder of Cryptosense.
To apply or get more information regarding Impact USA: go here.
Thanks @Ania Atek
