Thursday, January 16, 2020

"10 French startups to watch out for in 2020"

From EU-Startups
France’s startup scene is on the rise. The mix of international talent, government initiatives and entrepreneurial spirit is showing great results. Investments in French startups is also growing, with Dealroom reporting a whopping €4.3 billion in venture capital funding raised in 2019 and no signs of stopping. In September, 2019 president Emmanuel Macron announced a new €5 billion public-private investment fund, aimed at helping companies to scale up. The way things are going France might quickly become the European’s startup Mecca. In light of all the attention it’s getting, here are 10 French startups to keep an eye on in 2020. 

Georges – Founded in 2016, this Lyon-based startup has developed AI-powered accounting software for freelancers and professionals. By connecting to people’s professional bank accounts, Georges automatically tags revenue and expenses to calculate annual revenue, VAT, etc. And that’s not all. Once it’s all checked, Georges generates paperwork and sends it to tax authorities. Too good to be true? Ask their 10,000 customers and counting. In 2019, they raised over €10 million and announced a merger with its main competitor, the BNC Express software, to further consolidate their position in the market. 


Leavy – When Aziza Chaouachi was a student, she would rent her home on Airbnb to finance the cost of travel tickets. This gave her the idea for a travel app that rewards members in cash or travel credit by renting out their home while being away. It has since snowballed into a network of +65,000 millennials preparing apartments and hosting guests. The Paris-based startup bills itself as a “travel community and marketplace,” and differentiates itself by giving Leavy members cash upfront when they make their space available prior to travelling. Leavy is an 2019, the team raised €12.7 million, a record for travel tech seed rounds.


Majelan – Fast-growing Majelan is a premium podcast platform, where users can search for podcasts, download and listen to episodes. Launched in 2019 across 50 countries, Majelan’s library consists of 280 000 audio series, or 13 million episodes, in 15 languages. It aspires to attract a wide range of audiences – from children to teenagers and families — with a variety of topics, including entertainment, arts, sports, politics, comedy and many more. With €4 million raised in 2018, and a subsequent €6 million raised in 2019, Majelan is well-positioned to disrupt the podcast industry. ...
....MUCH MORE

And, note to SoftBank, not a dog (walker) among them.