Paris will be the center of innovation and technology this week.
The 2024 edition of VivaTech in Paris is set to be a great success with more than 150,000 in-person visitors. It has become the largest technology and innovation event in Europe with CEOs, C-leaders, VCs, and startups attending from all over the world. The line-up of speakers is quite impressive with Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, X), Robin Li (Baidu), Erick Smidt (former CEO Google), John Keery (68th US Secretary of State), Charles Michel (European Council President), Marc Pritchard (P&G – Chief Brand Officer), Yoshua Bengio (Université de Montreal, Professor), Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO), Yann LeCun (Meta Chief AI Scientist), Dr. Werner Vogels (Amazon CTO), and many more!
There is no doubt that Paris will be the place to be to get a glimpse of the future and discover the latest Deeptech, Climate Tech and mobility innovations. Viva Tech will be a unique opportunity to anticipate the profound and radical changes that both artificial intelligence and the Green Market Revolution will have on our economies and societies. Whether we want it or not, they are deeply intertwined and will inevitably and radically transform societies and economies and become invisibly embedded in everything we do in our daily lives.
To succeed in AI, you need 1) data, 2) massive investment in the infrastructure, and 3) cutting-edge algorithms. I am not sure France can really compete with the US or China on 1 and 2 but if it were to choose its AI battles, it should focus on algorithms and expertise at the crossroads of AI and environmental sustainability. Thanks to its AI expertise and its advance in sustainability, I strongly believe France as a key role to play at the crossroads of AI and environmental issues, thanks to:
- The quality of French AI research is well-known with many AI leaders and data scientists at global companies originating from France. Many global firms have opened their AI and R&D centers in France over the past few years. Some firms like Ekimetrics are well positioned at the intersection of AI and environmental issues. Mistral AI was recently listed by Forrester as one of the main AI foundation models for language.
- Investment in AI training is accelerating. President Macron announced yesterday a 400M€ incremental budget for AI training and the aim to have 100.000 AI experts by 2030.
- Awareness of climate and sustainability issues is higher than in many countries thanks in particular to initiatives like the Climate Fresk
- Electricity is more decarbonized in France than in other countries due to the importance of nuclear in the energy mix. “You have no idea how energy-hungry AI will become. Few states will be able to enable AI because you can’t make it work in the long run without massive investment in nuclear technology” said to me an AI expert during an interview
- Large energy, electricity, and environmental services firms operate globally but are headquarted in France such as EDF, Engie, Legrand, Rexel, Saur, Schneider Electric, Sonepar, Suez, Veolia, Vinci…
- The startup ecosystem is full of innovative GreenTech players as highlighted by the new French Tech Next 40/120 released today.
The New French Tech Next 40/120
The French government just released today the 2024 version of the French Tech Next 40/120 – an index based on startups’ ability to generate revenues (threshold is now at least 40M€) and to raise money.
Couple of facts on the French Tech Next 40/120:
- €8.3 billion raised in 2023 (-38,5% vs 2022) but still #1 in the European Union according to EY
- €10.4 billion cumulated revenues (+30%) among which 36% from abroad
- 40.000 direct jobs
- GreenTech and AgriTech now #1 category ahead of FinTech/AssurTech, Retail, HealthTech, HR Tech that includes well-known players such as Contentsqure, Exotec, Ledger, Mirakl, Qonto, Pigment or Voodoo
- Among the Top 10 firms that have raised the most money since 2021, it is interesting to see 4 players with a sustainable play: Verkor (industrial green batteries; €1200M), Backmarket (circular economy; €820M), Electra (EV infrastructure; €480M), Ecovadis (Business sustainability ratings; €455M)
- Other firms to watch in the GreenTech/AgriTech/DeepTech space include: Blablacar, Flying Whales, NW, Waat, Zeplug, Certideal, Vestiaire Collective, Ekwateur, Ilek, Mylight150, Qair, Agriconomie, HappyVore, Innovafeed, La Fourche, Umiami, Ynsect, Deepki, Greenly, Sweep, Umiami.
Don’t get me wrong: financing innovation matters, but it is not the panacea.
There is still too much hype and fascination for unicorns. And technology innovation alone will certainly not be enough to live within the nine planet boundaries. Low tech solutions and frugal innovation, regulation and new business models, evolving consumer behaviors and mindset change among C-Leaders are even more critical, but let’s not dismiss GreenTech can also help.
For more information, clients can contact me to schedule a conversation.
