This week I noticed three noteworthy new startup fundraisings in France. Memo Bank (a small business bank), Jumbo Privacy (a consumer privacy and security app), and Swile (meal payment cards). 

Other than announcing significant VC rounds in the same week, what do these French startups have in common? 

All are created by serial entrepreneurs

Memo Bank’s CEO, Jean-Daniel Guyot, had previously founded Captain Train, a fantastic train ticketing tool that I use frequently, which was acquired by Trainline back in 2016. 

Pierre Valade launched Jumbo Privacy last year, having previously created Sunrise, a gorgeous calendar app that was acquired by Microsoft for $100m in 2015, only to be subsequently shut down.

Previously known as Lunchr, Swile secured €70 million in a Series C round. Swile’s founder, Loïc Soubeyrand, was one of the former co-founders of Teads, a company I recall meeting years ago in Montpellier but regrettably could not persuade my fund’s investment committee to pull the trigger at the time. Teads was acquired by Altice for €285 million in 2017.

As Alexandre Dewez pointed out on Twitter, three successful French entrepreneurs returning to the fray to build again is a strong positive signal that France’s start up ecosystem has matured.

It is a marvel to behold how far the ecosystem has come in two short decades. French Tech is a model for other aspiring innovation ecosystems around the world.