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France’s public investment bank announced that it plans to invest as much as €10 billion (around $10.3 billion at current exchange rates) in the artificial intelligence ecosystem in France. This announcement comes a few days before heads of state and global tech leaders gather for the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris.
Bpifrance has been a key investor in the tech ecosystem for the past decade, handing out small grants to early-stage startups, participating in big funding rounds in exchange for some equity, and also investing in VC firms directly with its “fund of funds” strategy.
“[France] already boasts 750 world-renowned AI startups. It has a solid ecosystem with the talent and skills needed to make a difference. Thanks to our investments and ongoing support, we are strengthening France’s position as a global player in this strategic field,” Bpifrance CEO Nicolas Dufourcq (pictured above) said in a statement.
Bpifrance is already a shareholder in some of France’s biggest AI startups, such as Mistral, H, and Poolside (Poolside is technically based in the U.S., though). It has also invested in smaller startups, such as Ekimetrics, Artefact, Braincube, and Chapsvision.
It plans to double down with more massive rounds in the coming years. The investment firm names foundation models, AI infrastructure companies, and hardware companies working on AI chips as key areas of interest going forward.
The investment firm also expects to invest in other investment firms — namely VC firms that plan to focus on AI investments. For this strategy in particular, Bpifrance doesn’t restrict itself to French investment firms. It is willing to invest in both French and foreign entities. Bpifrance names Elaia and Frst as two VC firms that have raised money from Bpifrance and participated in several AI-focused investment rounds.
This investment commitment comes just a few hours after the United Arab Emirates and France announced that they plan to invest as much as €50 billion ($52 billion) to build a massive AI data center in France with a capacity of up to 1 GW.
There will likely be more announcements in the coming days as the AI Action Summit unfolds in Paris.
Romain Dillet is a Senior Reporter at TechCrunch. He has written over 3,000 articles on technology and tech startups and has established himself as an influential voice on the European tech scene. He has a deep background in startups, privacy, security, fintech, blockchain, mobile, social and media. With twelve years of experience at TechCrunch, he’s one of the familiar faces of the tech publication that obsessively covers Silicon Valley and the tech industry. In fact, his career started at TechCrunch when he was 21. Based in Paris, many people in the tech ecosystem consider him as the most knowledgeable tech journalist in town. Romain likes to spot important startups before anyone else. He was the first person to cover N26, Revolut and DigitalOcean. He has written scoops on large acquisitions from Apple, Microsoft and Snap. When he’s not writing, Romain is also a developer — he understands how the tech behind the tech works. He also has a deep historical knowledge of the computer industry for the past 50 years. He knows how to connect the dots between innovations and the effect on the fabric of our society. Romain graduated from Emlyon Business School, a leading French business school specialized in entrepreneurship. He has helped several non-profit organizations, such as StartHer, an organization that promotes education and empowerment of women in technology, and Techfugees, an organization that empowers displaced people with technology.
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