'france' Tag
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Disrupting Japan: Why Japan is looking to France for startup inspiration
December 10, 2024I consider Tim Romero to be the OG of podcasting on Japan’s digital renaissance and have personally benefited from the wisdom of his Disrupting Japan series since the day I arrived in Tokyo. Naturally, I leapt at the opportunity for Matt and I to join Tim for a winding audio journey together. It was a […]
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Another veritable milestone for Japan’s investment ecosystem
November 18, 2024Today represents a significant milestone for Japan’s investment world. Eurazeo, France’s largest asset manager specializing in private equity, private debt, and venture capital, has announced the establishment of its presence in Japan. This represents an endorsement of Japan from a global fund with 13 offices around the world. Eurazeo holds a special place in my […]
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Unicorns make M&A; M&A makes unicorns
September 11, 2024Last week Ecovadis announced its acquisition of Ulula, a human rights analytics platform. Ecovadis is an admirable company, one of France’s pioneering startups in sustainability analytics solutions, and now rapidly emerging as the gold standard for business ESG ratings. Ecovadis is also one of France’s 40+ tech unicorns. The purchase of Ulula represents Ecovadis’ second […]
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ユニコーン製造工場となったフランス
June 26, 2023フランスは、世界で最も活気のあるスタートアップのエコシステムを維持するという野心を縮小させる気配はない。先週パリで開催された VivaTech カンファレンスで、フランスのマクロン大統領は、TIBI の延長を発表した。このイニシアチブは、金融機関のパートナーに60億米ドルを VC 資金に振り向けるよう促すことによって、3年間でフランスのスタートアップに300億米ドルの資金を供給することに成功した。 金融機関がアンカー LP として VC ファンドを支援すると、好循環の乗数効果が発生し、VC ファンドは他の LP からより多くの資金を調達することができるようになる。TIBI の延長により、このような政府系パートナー機関からフランスの VC ファンドに、特にアーリーステージのベンチャーファンドに重点を置く形で、さらに70億ドルの資金が供給される予定だ。 偶然なのか、それとも直接のインスピレーションなのか、ゆうちょ銀行は今日、「スタートアップをユニコーンにする」ための同レベルの資金提供を日本で発表したばかりだ。そこで、フランスがどのようにして36のユニコーンを生み出したのか、検証する好機だと思う。
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Unicorn production in France
June 20, 2023France shows no signs of throttling back its ambition to maintain one of the world’s most vibrant startup ecosystems. At the VivaTech conference in Paris last week, French president Emmanuel Macron announced an extension of TIBI, an initiative which successfully catalyzed $30 billion of funding into French startups over a three-year period by encouraging financial […]
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France’s new record for VC investment
January 16, 2020In 2019, 736 French startups raised over $5 billion in venture capital financing, a new record. This figure compares favorably to Germany ($3.5 billion raised in VC) and the UK (about $8 billion). The full study from EY can be found here. Notably, France’s top five on this list include Ynsect, an innovative insect-based animal […]
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Moving beyond adaptability
June 27, 2019Our French president is in Japan this week and addressed a small group of the French community in Tokyo yesterday at the ambassador’s residence. It was a refreshingly honest discussion, relatively devoid of the airy platitudes to which we’ve become accustomed to hearing from our political leaders. I won’t focus on the politics of it, […]
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AI Frameworks infographic
November 14, 2018Although I am the proud investor in one promising AI startup in Japan already, most of my deal flow involving innovation in AI is still coming from Europe nowadays, most predominantly from France. France’s prowess in AI might be one of the best kept secrets in innovation these days globally. As I find myself explaining […]
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Post-election wish list to help France’s startups
May 8, 2017. Now that the French Presidential election is complete, it feels like we can all get on with our lives in thinking about Europe’s startup ecosystem. In proportion to the triumvirate of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, here are three regulatory reforms I’d like to see to support startups. Admittedly, the ability for France’s new Président, Emmanuel […]
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French VC sector brain vastly under-illuminated
September 7, 2016Remember International Women’s Day back in March ? Oh, so you’ve forgotten already… Since apparently women in France are only slightly less attracted to entrepreneurship than men (and by slightly, I mean 0.1%), it feels like the French VC industry stands at a mere fraction of total brain capacity. What do YOU think? [graphic credit: […]
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My personal crib sheet for equity incentive instruments in French startups
June 2, 2016As venture investors, we favor equity compensation in our portfolio companies for two primary reasons: i) improved alignment between employees and shareholders toward company success; and ii) the affordability of employing strong, driven people without an unwieldy up-front cash outlay. For investors unfamiliar with the intricacies of French regulation, granting equity in a French startup […]
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The France Japan Year of Innovation is more than mere words
March 1, 2016Government-sponsored initiatives involving startups and innovation often meet skepticism. I understand because I often tend to be one of the skeptics. It’s a familiar drill. A group of politicians announce with great fanfare some theme of cross-border collaboration, accompanied by numerous platitudes extolling the virtues of entrepreneurship, job creation, etc. The official framework here dates […]