That headline is from Sifted, not me. Explanation below,
From Sifted.eu, March 26:
Following a record year for French tech, these are the companies that could be on their way to unicorn status
French tech is having a moment. The country was the only major tech ecosystem in Europe that saw its startups raise more money in 2022 than in 2021 — and the French government is keen to keep up momentum, with President Macron setting the lofty goal of having 100 unicorns by 2030.
Over the past few months huge amounts of money have been pumped into the French tech sector and the government is looking at financial reforms that would further boost entrepreneurship and investment.
France also minted seven new unicorns last year — the joint-second most of any European country in a year where the number of new $1bn+ valuations dropped. And while investors tell Sifted they expect far, far fewer new unicorns in the next 12 months, a number of startups could be on their way to hitting the mark in the next couple of years.
Sifted used data from Dealroom and spoke to VCs to find out which French tech companies are most likely to hit unicorn status next. Each company was founded after 2005, raised its last round in 2021 or later and has a valuation between $500m-999m, according to Dealroom.
The French startups that could hit unicorn status
DeepkiWhat: A SaaS platform for the real estate industry to measure sustainability metrics.Latest valuation: $660m-990m (March 2022, Dealroom estimate)Founded in 2014, Deepki collects and aggregates data on sustainability metrics like carbon emissions, water and energy usage and waste — as well as other ESG measurements. It last raised in a $150m Series C in March 2022, and also made it onto Sifted’s 2022 climate tech soonicorns list.Platform.shWhat: Platform-as-a-service startup.Latest valuation: $560m-840m (June 2022, Dealroom estimate)Founded in 2014, the startup manages all the infrastructure behind building and running a website or app for companies. It raised a $140m Series D in June 2022.DNA ScriptWhat: Biotech that makes DNA for labs.Latest valuation: $825m (January 2022)Founded in 2014, DNA Script helps labs create custom DNA, and also made Sifted’s techbio soonicorns list. It last raised in January 2022, with a $35m extension to the $165m Series C it picked up the previous autumn.ClubfundingWhat: Real estate investment platform.Latest valuation: $550m-825m (September 2022, Dealroom estimate)Clubfunding is a crowdfunding platform that allows real estate entrepreneurs to drum up alternative financing for their projects by issuing bonds. It raised €125m in September 2022 — its only round to date.
....MUCH MORE
Something we posted in August 2010:
...One of my mentors could not stand indecisive traders. He loathed them almost as much as he loathed losses.Remember that the next time somebody tells you they have something they want you to watch.
If one said about an instrument "I'm watching it" he'd bellow "You like to watch? What are you, a freaking voyeur?" Except he didn't say "freaking".
If you were asked about implementing a certain strategy and said "I'm thinking about it" the response was "What are you, a freaking philosopher?", again substituting a different word.
