France’s startup scene gains traction led by state bank, Macron factor | Reuters

France’s corporate startup scene is gaining traction against the backdrop of booming investments by venture capital funds and high expectations for a business-friendly government under new President Emmanuel Macron.Bpifrance, the country’s state investment bank, has led the effort over the past five years, acting as a catalyst for the burgeoning industry and a go-between for large cash-roch corporations and young entrepreneurs in need of funds to launch their business.It has in effect become in the country’s number one venture capital fund, having injected 191 million euros in 53 startup companies last year.This taxpayer financing is 13 percent higher than the previous year and Bpifrance is adding 400 million euros to its so-called Large Venture fund, with individual investments of 10 million euros or more, bringing the total up to 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion), chief executive officer Nicolas Dufourcq told Reuters.”The tide has been turning in our favor for about year now,” Dufourcq said in an interview ahead the opening of the French capital’s second technology conference, dubbed Viva Tech, on Thursday.”It is as if the French Tech’s boss had been elected as the new president,” he said, referring to an initiative to promote French technology firms that Macron ran as economy minister in the previous government.The new president, who plans a raft of other startup-boosting measures such as cuts in corporate tax and wealth tax exemptions, was due for a walkabout at the vast conference center on the edge of Paris on Thursday, followed by a speech.

Källa: France’s startup scene gains traction led by state bank, Macron factor | Reuters