Take 2mins to get up to speed on the French Tech 120

As Director of La French Tech, I'm thrilled to welcome the startups of our first cohort of French Tech 120. This La French Tech's flagship program for some of the country's top growth-stage companies, developed under the leadership and auspices of Cedric O, our State Secretary for Digital Affairs. The hashtag #frenchtech120 is trending and is all over the French press. For those of you following us from abroad, here are 7 quick points to fill you in.

The basics

1?? Definition. More than just another list, the French Tech 120 is the only program of this scale and ambition developed by a government. It grants: Access to a historically unprecedented list of advantages, pooled together by 40+ ministries and government agencies, and adapted to the needs of startups experiencing hypergrowth. Spotlight that boosts their brand, as they need to recruit massively and expand globally. Startup Success Managers who help them make the most of the program as single contact points for government affairs.

2??Selection. No jury--these startups, headquartered in France, were selected purely on the basis of quantitative criteria applied to the last 3 years. Keep on scrolling if you don't want to be bothered with details, otherwise voilà:

Next40

• We automatically tossed in the unicorns.
• Then, we looked at companies with the biggest rounds over the last 3 years, minus companies with less than 10M revenue or 30% year-on-year growth.

The remaining 80

• We counted companies who raised a round equal or more than 20M in equity over the last 2 years, without the growth or revenue criteria. Why you ask? France is fertile terrain for deeptech startups, especially in biotech, who don't have the same growth journeys.
• We added in the companies who demonstrated impressive growth--without taking into account fundraising. How we crunched the numbers: We listed all companies with less than 10M in annual revenue, with year-on-year growth of at least 50% over 3 years + those with at least 25% year-on-year growth making over 10M in annual revenue, also over 3 years. Then we ranked them by annual revenue, and cut off at 40.
• Then, to encourage regional diversity, we proactively made room for 7 more companies to ensure that each French region had at least 2 startups.

(Special shout-out to our partners @Bpifrance for the rigorous selection process!)

3?? Companies. Ta-da!

Notable highlights from today's unveiling

4?? Jobs. In 2020 alone, they'll be hiring 11,000 people! This is more than a side note.

When the economy of tomorrow becomes that of today, we want to make sure that our kids have the jobs in France continuing to shape it.

5?? Verticals. The vast majority are #B2B (No surprise there.) The most represented vertical by far is #healthtech (20% of the cohort) followed by #retail (16%) with #fintech #content (Edtech, entertainment, etc.) and #cleantech/mobility all tied at 3rd place (each at 11%) 

4?? Maturity of the ecosystem. 250 companies were eligible, but we cut off at 123. Last year, only 127 companies were eligible for a similar, less-known program (called "Pass French Tech" with lower selection criteria.) That's what happens when your ecosystem leapfrogs the usual development curve. French startups collectively raised 5B in 2019, 3.7B in 2018 and 2.6B in 2017. Stick with us, as we pick up momentum.

Things we need to work together to improve ASAP

5??Gender balance. Only 5 of the companies have female founders or CEOs. Painful now, and unacceptable for the future.

If you are a VC and haven't signed the Sista x CNumm pledge yet, it's not too late to get onboard. And if you are a founder or ex-founder with an ambitious project on how to get us 35% by 2025, tweet at us @LaFrenchTech. We're interested.

6??Regional balance. 68% of our cohort is concentrated in Paris. To be fair, while those startups are Parisian, a lot of their founders are from all over the country. Also, B2B startups tend to headquarter closest to their big corporate clients and investors. That said, I've seen such incredible companies blossom from across France and want to see even more of that diversity in La French Tech! Cédric O, State Secretary for Digital Affairs, called together the "Council of French Tech Capitals and Communities" to address this issue head on.

7??Balance of the Force. Not that I'm heralding our French Tech 120 as the "Chosen Ones" (#starwars for those who aren't following) but we are definitely counting on them to become the champions France needs. Those who care about their impact on the economy, the planet and society as a whole. Let's be lucid here: Many will get acquired or fizzle out. But many will also help determine the future of the country. Working closely with them helps us support them as they grow and, hopefully, make the right choices.