After weeks of political turmoil, France now has a new prime minister: former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. But parliament remains deeply divided, creating uncertainty for many sectors of the economy, including the vibrant startup ecosystem that has so far enjoyed popular support.
La French Tech is not only a term for 25,000 startups in France, but also an initiative supported by the French Tech Mission, a public administration. The agency’s head, Clara Chapaz, is leaving this month after her three-year contract ends, she told Les Échos. The timing is coincidental but remarkable. She told TechCrunch in late August that she hopes her successor will be someone who “isn’t afraid of change” and sees it as an opportunity.
This role is undoubtedly unique. It is part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, but it has a big mission: to support the structuring and growth of the French startup ecosystem, both in France and abroad, with a lean team working at Station F. We need someone who can talk to civil servants, politicians, big business and journalists on equal terms.
It’s too late to apply now, but given what’s been described as a “dream job,” there will be plenty of applicants. Chappaz, who won’t be on the panel, said when we spoke in August that she was getting several calls a day from potential candidates. She probably told them much the same thing she told TechCrunch and her LinkedIn followers: France is “incredibly lucky” to have a French tech mission, and her experience leading that mission has been “outstanding.”
But what happened in the past is not indicative of the future, and whoever succeeds Chappaz will be operating under a very different scenario than the one she took the helm in 2021. That’s because La French Tech itself has changed over the years and has driven new priorities for the French Tech Mission.
Chapa’s has also experienced significant change over the past three years, and not just because it has had three digital secretaries in the same period. This is common in many public administrations. The biggest changes are related to technology itself and the macro context. 2024 is very different from 2021.
Like everywhere else, French startups have experienced the ups and downs of the pandemic and the subsequent fundraising frenzy, but after a few months they have come back to earth. Geopolitical unrest has followed, and the country has realized it needs industry champions to rely on.
For the French Tech Mission, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023, this meant aligning with the strategic France 2030 agenda. The French Tech 2030 was less focused on unicorns and more on deep tech spinouts and economic impact. It’s not that the former is to blame. President Emmanuel Macron was the one who set “25 French unicorns” as a target to be achieved by 2025. (After reaching this milestone in 2022, he called for 100 unicorns by 2030.)
Having scale-ups like BlaBlaCar and Doctolib in France is no small feat, and having them known around the world has certainly helped France’s image. But in the decade since the “unicorn” moniker was coined, global tech has moved on. With the rise of companies like Mistral AI and Pasqal (and the fall of others like Luko), it was time for France to acknowledge that startups had changed, too.
France Digitale, the association representing startups and investors in France’s digital ecosystem, has been well-positioned to witness this evolution among its members since its founding in 2012. “There are startups in every sector, whether manufacturing or healthcare. We see these sectors as strategic priorities for French competitiveness and for French and European sovereignty,” CEO Maya Noel told TechCrunch.
Given these changes, Noel said it would be interesting if Chapaz’s successor came from one of these strategic sectors, but that’s not to criticise her background (Chapaz joined from second-hand fashion marketplace Vestiaire Collective) or her predecessors. In conversation with Noel, the two structures were “quite aligned” and “in constant dialogue”.
Several initiatives adopted under Chappaz’s leadership reflect what the sector has been lobbying for. One example is “Je Choisis La French Tech,” an initiative that brought together 300 companies and 80 institutions to help double the number of public contracts and purchases for startups. “We’ve been asking for this for 10 years,” says Noël.
France Digital would like to see things move faster, for example, on the topic of exits (or lack thereof). Someone with first-hand knowledge of scaling and international expansion could add value, Noel said, but a new director with a public service background could help La French Tech hold the line in the administration if it lacks government support.
La French Tech Mission has a claim that resonates across many political spectrums: that startups are directly or indirectly responsible for 1.1 million jobs and that they are helping to reindustrialize France. Many are also committed to the Parity Pact, which Chappaz and her team have championed to promote gender equality in the tech industry. Her successor will have to play this card well, and we wish them “bonne chance.” That also applies to Chappaz, who is expecting her second child and has not yet decided what she will do next, but says it will be related to technological innovation.
