A recent report from VC Accel and Dealroom reveals that French-founded GenAI startups are leading in the generative AI funding landscape, having raised $2.29 billion to date more than any country in Europe.
In France, recent AI investment rounds include Mistral Al raising $640 million earlier this month, atop more than 5500 million, and “H” raising a $220 million seed round a few weeks ago. Also, new foundational AI player Poolside AI, a startup that wants to create a ChatGPT-like tool that can write software code, is reportedly raising a huge round.
Other notable Al startup funding activity in France includes Hugging Face, the open-source repository for machine learning models, which raised $235 million in August 2023, and a new research-focused organization called Kyutai, which itself is armed with hundreds of millions of euros to make some waves in open-source Al models.
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Altogether, France’s $2.29 billion is nearly as much as the next three countries have raised combined. The report further reveals that Europe and Israel, which typically account for 45% of all venture funding, are lagging in the AI sector with their share dropping to less than half in this field.
The UK has seen $1.15 billion in generative Al startup funding (Stable Diffusion maker Stability At, Synthesia, and PolyAl are among the bigger players in the region). London is reported to have generated the most generative AI startups, with nearly one-third of 221 startups analyzed. Israel has reported $1.04 billion in funding, owing to startups including Al21 and Run: ai, which Nvidia recently acquired.
It is worth noting that France’s domination of AI funding in Europe isn’t coming as a surprise, after the government in 2023 embarked on a state-driven AI program, with a projection of half a billion euros by 2030 dedicated to AI research. In 2023, President Emmanuel Macron made a pitch for France to become a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) after he spoke at one of Europe’s biggest technology trade shows.
Macron announced €500 million in new funding to create AI “champions” and praised projects targeting French speakers as concern grows about Silicon Valley firms fuelling English-language domination of AI systems. He also talked about boosting the training level in AI to create centers of excellence A few months later.
This includes the launch of the “Al for Humanity” strategy, which aims to position France as a global leader in Al by promoting research, development, and industrial deployment of Al technologies.
Fast forward to May 2024, the French government announced foreign investment projects worth €15 billion in fields including technology, artificial intelligence, and pharmaceutical.
Over the recent months, France has been particularly focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. In a major investor gathering in Paris, Microsoft made headlines by committing to a new data center and advancements in AI, totaling investments of around four billion euros by 2027.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, indicated that with the planned data center which stands to be one of the largest in Europe France positions itself at the forefront of data storage and AI progression
Investing in AI can drive economic growth, improve efficiency in various sectors, and lead to significant technological advancements. Therefore, France is investing in AI to bolster its economic growth, enhance its technological infrastructure, and remain competitive globally. Additionally, through advancements in AI, France can strengthen its defense capabilities and cybersecurity, amongst others.