In less than a decade France has gone from tech backwater to the startup engine of the EU. It recently celebrated its 12th company to achieve a $1 billion valuation and is well on the way to President Macron’s goal of “25 unicorns by 2025.” Kat Borlongan, director of La French Tech, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how her government taskforce has been working to effectively drive growth in the French startup scene.
They also discuss:
- Why achieving tech sovereignty has become a key motivator for governments.
- How France’s visa scheme is part of their offensive strategy to attract top tech talent.
- Why the French government is directly investing in startups via public investment bank Bpifrance.
@katborlongan
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further resources:
- “Building Unicorns in Europe” (Exponential View podcast with Reshma Sohoni, 2019)
- “The State of European Tech 2020″ (Atomico, 2021)
- “Paris overtakes Berlin for tech start-ups after boost from Macron“ (Financial Times, 2019)
- “La French Tech ecosystem map“ (Interactive dashboard on France’s tech startups)
HBR Presents is a network of podcasts curated by HBR editors, bringing you the best business ideas from the leading minds in management. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Harvard Business Review or its affiliates.
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