White Star Capital - French Venture Capital Landscape

1. FRENCH VENTURE CAPITAL
LANDSCAPE

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. What’s new in 2019? Page 4-7
2. 2018 in a Snapshot Page 8-11
3. Overview: Why We Are Excited About France Page 12-20
4. The French Ecosystem: Stronger Than Ever Page 21-26
5. Public Sector is Pushing Hard to Support the Tech Ecosystem Page 27-31
6. Diversity & Talent in France Page 32-36
7. Deep Dive on French VCs Page 37-46
2

3. A WORD FROM OUR TEAM
3
Eric Martineau-Fortin
Managing Partner
In this first edition of our report, we aim to share our enthusiasm on the French Tech and Venture Capital ecosystem as well as
touch upon a few additional topics.
We wish to share our excitement about France and dive into a few data points that show the country’s explosive growth in tech and
VC investments over the last four years. We look at the role that the public sector has had on catalysing this growth. We also look at
the diversity and talent which makes up this ecosystem and end by diving into the main VC’s and investors that have been injecting
capital into France.
At White Star Capital, we started investing in France in 2016 and have made two landmark investments in the country into Klaxoon
and Meero. We established a permanent office in Paris in 2017 and since formally set up a regulated fund in France in the second
half of 2018.
We also recruited a few weeks ago an international investment professional to join us in France as a Principal towards the middle of
the year with the intention to strengthen our continental European team. We are much looking forward to continuing investing in
the fast growing French market!
Matthieu Lattes
General Partner
Over the past few years, we’ve been fortunate to witness of the fast acceleration of the French tech ecosystem. We are now building
global champions out of France in technology, as we’ve seen decades ago with a number of our local international champions in
what have now become traditional industries. Our French entrepreneurs are as ambitious as others, fearless and do think global well
from Day 1. We succeeded in creating over the last few years an environment of trust, bringing top-tier French and international
investors to support growth stories in technologies to a large scale.
We are engaged since mid 2018 to build in Paris a solid team of professionals with strong complementary international
backgrounds, supported by our colleagues out of New York, London, Tokyo, Hong-Kong and Montreal. We will keep doing so in the
coming months with the recruitment of more international talents in Continental Europe out of our French office.
We are much looking forward to announcing shortly our new French portfolio company after Klaxoon and Meero and to keep meeting
the most promising start-ups that will join them in the coming months.
External data sources:
Sanjay Zimmermann
Associate (Montreal)
“The French market
has seen an
incredible boom and
explosion in Startup
and VC activity in the
last 3 years – vive la
French Tech! ”
Pauline Studer
Associate (Paris)
“The ambition of
French Entrepreneurs
is increasingly global
and matches with
their world-class
technical skills and
creativity: the perfect
French touch!”
Alex Wilson
Associate (London)
“France has
developed all the
necessary assets to
turn its new
generation of
startuppers into
global leaders”
Jean de Lencquesaing
Associate (New York)
“The vitality of the
French startup
ecosystem is
remarkable and very
promising as the
businesses further
mature and scale”

4. WHAT’S NEW IN 2019?

5. 5
WHAT’S NEW IN THE ECO-SYSTEM?
Overview of France’s activity early 2019
Strong 2019 start for French start-ups with significant funding rounds
Alongside high funds dynamism
Source: news run
Bridgestone EMEA et
Iris Capital announce a
corporate venture
partnership:
Bridgestone joins Iris
Next alongside Orange,
Publicis and Valeo
Axa Venture Partners
held a $150m first close
for its AVP Early Stage II
fund ($180m hard cap),
focusing on high-growth
technology companies
Partech doubled its
Africa VC fund to $143m
and opened a Nairobi
office in addition to its
Dakar practice
AngelSquare launches
AngelSquare Impact, its
second investment
structure, dedicated to
“impactful” start-ups –
having a positive impact
on society or the
environment
Seventure Partners
announced a first close
for its €100m fund
Health for Life Capital II
Series C
$125m
2011
Upgrades biomass into
high quality compounds
for nutrition thanks to
insect properties
Paris
Series F
$92m
2013
Digitalises points of sale
worldwide
Paris
Series C
$62m
2012
Provides the
technology to
launch a marketplace
Paris
Series C
$60m
2012
Optimizes Web and
mobile sites
Paris
Series E
$170m
2013
Offers a booking
platform to help find
doctors
Paris

6. 6
MonBuilding
Structured Seed players
SaaS Companies remain of high interest
Glance at some of the hot sectors
RECENT SEED TRENDS
Overview of France’s activity early 2019
Source: news run. Note: Reflects notable investments under €3m since 01-Jan-2019.
FoodTech HRTech
Dark Kitchen
PropTech
Wizbii

7. May
16-18
Paris
7
WORLD CLASS TECH AND VC EVENTS
Notable events to come in 2019
July
18-19
Brest
September
24
Paris
June
11-12
October
10
Paris Paris
Number of participants
Number of start-ups
50,000
1,800
1,000
100+
4,300
2,000
5,000
110
43,000
400

8. 2018 IN A SNAPSHOT

9. “PARIS BECAME THE MOST
ATTRACTIVE EUROPEAN CITY
FOR FOREIGN DECISION-
MAKERS” *
This performance is mainly
explained by the uncertainties
related to Brexit – EY report
“IDINVEST LAUNCHES A
$829M PRIVATE DEBT FUND
AT 60% COLLECTED FROM
FOREIGN INVESTORS”
Exceeded target of 600M and will
target the European “lower mid-
market” - Fusacq, Les Echos
“BPIFRANCE WILL PROVIDE
€10 BILLION TO FUND
FRENCH COMPANIES” *
This concerns companies at key
stages in their development –
Business France
“ULTIME SOFTWARE
ACQUIRED PEOPLEDOC FOR
$300M”
Thanks to this acquisition,
Ultimate Software will expand its
activities in Europe and distribute
PeopleDoc’s services to its own
customers – TechCrunch
“DEEZER RAISED A $185M
SERIES F”
The on-demand music platform
raised the biggest round of the year
from Orange, LBO France, Saudi-
based Rotana and other investors. –
Tracxn and CBInsights
“BPIFRANCE ORGANIZED THE
4TH EDITION OF BPIFRANCE
INNO GÉNÉRATION”
With 43,000 entrepreneurs, 1,000
speakers and 300 thematic
workshops, this event is one of the
largest gathering of entrepreneurs
in Europe – Bpifrance
“FRANCE HAS A VERY ACTIVE
PUBLIC AND INCREASINGLY
PRIVATE AI RESEARCH” *
In 2018, four important companies
including Google and Fujitsu
launched an AI Research Center in
Paris – FranceIsAI
“THE FRENCH GOV’T WILL
WIDEN AND SOFTEN THE
TALENT VISA LAUNCHED IN
2017 FOR FOREIGNERS” *
This Visa program targets now any
innovative company (not only
digital) – La Tribune, Maddyness
“THE FRENCH GOV’T
ANNOUNCED THE CREATION
OF A €400 MILLION FRENCH
TECH SEED FUND” *
This new fund will be operated by
Bpifrance and focused on deep
tech – L’Usine Digitale
*Additional details provided in the report
9
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Superb last 12 months for the French Tech

10. Stage:
Sector:
Legend
Stage Sector
Seed AI CleanTech
Series A Fintech Ecommerce
Series B Smart City Food
Series C Mobile Software
Stage:
Sector:
Stage:
Sector:
Stage:
Sector:
Stage:
Sector:
Growth Fund
$210M
$70M
Stage:
Sector:
$163M
$174M
$151M
10Source: Tracxn (based on French domiciled funds – with the exception of White Star Capital) and *Pitchbook – European Venture Report, 3Q 2018
NEW FUND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN 2018
Over $1B in new capital raised by French VC funds this year
French VC’s closed four funds in 3Q, the most of any European country*
$180M Stage:
Sector:
Stage:
Sector:
$192M
$104M

11. ●
1st European
city in terms
of
knowledge
spillover1
Europe’s 2nd
talent pool
for IT
developers
The city was
ranked 2nd
in Europe
for its access
to capital
2nd European
city for
Artificial
Intelligence
talent
All quotes come from Business France Tech Book, 2017
1 Knowledge spillover: Stimulating technological improvements in a neighbor through one’s own innovation.
11
PARIS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Paris: A major European city for tech and startups
Europe’s 2nd
city by
number of
LinkedIn
members
with AI skills

12. OVERVIEW: WHY WE ARE
EXCITED ABOUT FRANCE

13. VC funding in France (2013-2018)
VC FUNDING IN FRANCE
Funding has almost quadrupled in the last 4 years with a significant rising deal size
Average VC-backed funding
Total funding allocated to top 10 deals
Source: CBInsights 13
2 2
4.7x
$ 0m
$ 2m
$ 4m
$ 6m
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Average Deal Value ($m) Median Deal Value ($m)
$ 0.6B
$ 0.7B
$ 1.4B
$ 1.8B
$ 2.4B
$ 3.3B
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
42% 44%
48%
33%
22%
28%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

14. Top European cities by Total Deal Amount
(2018)
PARIS: EUROPE’S SECOND LARGEST TECH HUB
Both in terms of deal volume and deal amount
While Paris is still half the amount of funding and deal volume of London, it is over 1.5x larger than Berlin
Top European cities by Total Deal Volume
(2018)
Source: CBInsightsSource: CBInsights
14
465
206
143
113
80
London Paris Berlin Stockholm Barcelona
$ 3.2B
$ 1.7B
$ 1.1B
$ 0.4B $ 0.4B
London Paris Berlin Stockholm Barcelona
1.9x
1.5x

15. Top European cities by Total
Deal Amount in Seed funding (2018)
Top European cities by Total
Deal Volume in Seed funding (2018)
Source: CBInsightsSource: CBInsights
15
$ 218m
$ 104m
$ 42m
$ 23m
$ 12m
London Paris Berlin Stockholm Barcelona
106
49
37 37
18
London Paris Berlin Stockholm Barcelona
2.1x
2.5x
PARIS: EUROPE’S SECOND LARGEST TECH HUB
Even clearer when looking at Seed funding only
When looking at Seed funding only, Paris’s scale ahead of other cities becomes even more apparent, which is setting this market up
for several more years of funding and deal volume growth as the seed companies funded today begin to mature

16. % of French deal volume
per stage, per year
As seen earlier, seed funding represents the largest share of total
funding in France. Indeed, Seed-stage funding increased by 230% of
the percentage of total deal volume captured over the last 10 years.
However, later stage of venture funding still need to improve in the
years to come.
The total number of exits rising year over year since 2010 is another
encouraging sign as it suggests healthy levels of M&A activity in the
country. The # of VC-backed exits has grown as well albeit not at the
same pace, as later stage funding still remains low. We do believe the
increase seen across Europe at the VC funding level contributes to
accelerate the number of exits.
The number of French exits has been
steadily rising year-over-year since 2010
Source: CBInsights 16
FUNDING STAGES & EXITS
In the last decade, seed stage deals as a % of French deal volume increased by 230% and exits grew steadily
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Seed Series A Series B Series C Series D+
14 10 15 16 24 30 41 37 5154
103 100
133
178
259
403
725
653
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Number of exits in France (VC Backed)
Number of exits in France (Total)

17. U.K.
Canada
Germany
France
Israel
$7.1bn
$3.7bn
$3.3bn
$2.4bn
Region Total Deal Amount (FY 2018)
Source: CBInsights
CAGR Deal Volume
(2016-2018)
+6.8%
+15.8%
+11.0%
+12.5%
*Western Hemisphere only, VC deals Angel round through Series E+
U.S $98.8bn +5.6%
17
$2.8bn +5.1%
SIZING UP FRANCE IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
France sits with top regions for venture deals and has recently become one of the fastest growing markets
547
1,139
690
300
Total Deal Volume (FY 2018)
7,658
528

18. Series B
share of deals
Series C
share of deals
Series E
share of deals
Seed/Angel
share of deals
Series A
share of deals
Series D
share of deals
Source: CBInsights
49%
A higher % of investments in the seed stages indicates a
younger ecosystem. France, having experienced record
growth, especially at the seed stage with startup renaissance
in the last few years has in relative terms one of
the youngest ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere with
over 71% of deals at the Seed stage. This means in the coming
years we should expect to see a trickle down effect into the A,
B and C stages as the ecosystem matures.
24%
13%
7%
3%
3%
49%
24%
13%
7%
3%
3%
49%
28%
11%
6%
3%
2%
62%
22%
10%
4%
1%
1%
69%
18%
8%
3%
1%
1%
71%
19%
6%
2%
1%
1%
18
DEAL SHARE BY STAGE; PAST 3 YEARS
France’s Startup ecosystem is young and froth with potential

19. INCREASING # OF $50M+ ROUNDS
Signs of a growing ecosystem of later stage investors betting on the development of France-born global
champions
Source: CBInsights
• With growth rounds exceeding $100m, we can say that the market is buying exits comprised
between $300m and $500m
• Hence, this leads to the creation of genuine global leaders
• In France, the ecosystem as well as the macro-environment (social, education, taxes,
infrastructure…) became attractive for international investors
Source: CBInsights
19
# of $50M+ rounds-since 2015 International funds
Domestic funds
$ 315m
$ 375m
$ 279m
$ 826m2
3
4
9
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
-$ 100m
$ 100m
$ 300m
$ 500m
$ 700m
$ 900m
$1 100m
$1 300m
2015 2016 2017 2018
Deal Amount Deal Volume

20. Mobility / Transportation
EdTech/HRTech
Activity Examples
Activity Examples
Source: CBInsights; * White Star Capital portfolio companies;
*
20
HOT FRENCH SUBSECTORS
A snapshot of France’s strongest subsectors over the past 3 years
Funds that invested in the below-mentioned sectors
$ 108m
$ 69m $ 81m
22 18
7
-45
-25
-5
15
$ 0m
$ 50m
$ 100m
$ 150m
$ 200m
$ 250m
2016A 2017A 2018
Deal Amount Deal Volume
$ 36m
$ 169m $ 154m
11
22 22
-20
-10
0
10
20
-$ 20m
$ 80m
$ 180m
$ 280m
2016A 2017A 2018
Deal Amount Deal Volume
DeepTech/AI
Activity Examples
*
$ 84m
$ 143m
$ 345m
21
33 36
-20
0
20
40
-$ 40m
$ 160m
$ 360m
$ 560m
2016A 2017A 2018
Deal Amount Deal Volume
FoodTech/AgTech
Activity Examples
$ 127m
$ 280m
$ 182m
34 33 29
-20
0
20
40
$ 0m
$ 200m
$ 400m
$ 600m
2016A 2017A 2018
Deal Amount Deal Volume

21. THE FRENCH ECOSYSTEM:
STRONGER THAN EVER

22. US Giants are expanding their R&D and
Operations teams into France
22
TECH GIANTS’ IMPACT ON FRANCE
Giants are developing AI/Research Labs in France but are still focusing mainly on Paris
Source: FranceisAI by France Digitale
Cloud Computing
Has a Cloud Managed Services (CMS) center
located in Montpellier and a data center
located in Paris
Has a cluster of data centers, three in Paris
and one near Marseille
Artificial Intelligence
Launched its first AI Lab ever in Paris at
the end of June 2018
Has opened an AI Lab in Paris in March
2018
Has a Parisian AI Center since 2015
Has one AI center in Paris since March
2018
Has an AI Center in Paris since January
2018
Has two AI Centers near Nice since 2011
Acquired Xerox’s AI Research Center in
Grenoble in June 2017
Has a Parisian R&D Center since 2014
Built its third largest AI R&D Center in
Paris in March 2018
Source: CBInsights
The location of giants’ AI/Research Labs in
France
*
*IBM is the giant developing the most its CMS and data centers in different regions of France

23. acquired by for an undisclosed amount
Compte Nickel
Founded in 2012
Fintech
Paris
Zenly
Founded in 2011
Real-time location sharing
Paris
Chauffeur Privé
Founded in 2012
Booking transporting platform
Levallois-Perret
Teads
F Founded in 2011
Video advertising
Montpellier
Cedexis
Founded in 2009
Traffic monitoring platform
Paris
Optis
Founded in 1989
Design & Software
La Farlède
$100m
$300m
$307m
$236m
$295m
2017 2018
Source: Tracxn
1 €306m converted to USD
Metrologic Group
Founded in 1980
Advanced 3D measurement software
solutions
Meylan
$417m1
$300m
$300m
PeopleDoc
Founded in 2007
Cloud-based HR management systems
Paris
23
CONTINUED LARGE TRANSACTIONS IN 2018
Significant # of >$200m exits in last 2 years

24. Note: Excludes funds raised during an IPO
Source: CBInsights as of Mar-2019
White Star Capital portfolio companies
Total funding $m
24
TOP 30 MOST FUNDED FRENCH STARTUPS
Companies which received funding over the last 10 years
449442
311
268
161 147 147
131 122 122 113 108 105 104 99 93 90 87 86 83 71 71 70 68 66 59 57 56 56 55

25. French VC-Backed IPOs have seen continuous activity over the
last few years, with a peak in 2015 and 2018 gearing up to be
another record year. There seems to be an increasing number
of recent IPO’s coming out of the ICT sector as some of the
more mature French startups are starting to exit. Most of the
domestic IPO’s are not as large as typical NASDAQ IPO’s
however with the median IPO proceeds being $35m and the
average proceeds being $47m in the last 5 years.
Legend: Domestic Stock Exchange Foreign Stock Exchange Number of IPO’s
$54m
$46m
$260m
$13m
$17m
$12m
$9m
$8m
2015 20162014 2017
$10m
$10m
French VC-Backed IPOs from 2014 to 2018
2018
25
STILL NON-EXISTENT IPO MARKET
VC-Backed IPO’s in the French market primarily exit on domestic stock exchanges
$69m $15m
$35m
$51m
$59m
6 8 3 4 9
Source: CBInsights

26. 26
LARGEST FUNDING ROUNDS OVER LAST 4 YEARS
France experienced record VC funding in 2017 and the momentum continued in 2018 and 2019
2015
Series D
$200m
2006
Long Distance Ride
Sharing
Paris
Series D
$115m
2009
Cellular Network
Operator
Labege
2016
Series C
$35m
2010
Peer-to-peer car rental
marketplace
Paris
Series A
$32m
2007
Rating platform for
global supply chain
Paris
Series E
$160m
2009
Cellular Network
Operator
Labege
Series E
$109m
2006
On-Demand Music
Streaming
Paris
Series C
$72m
2013
Online marketplace for
craft and gardening
products
Paris
Series D
$75m
2010
Platform for IOT
deployments
Paris
Series A
$70m
2000
Cloud-based file
management system
Paris
Series E
$62m
2009
Luxury Resale
Marketplace
Paris
2017
Source: CBInsights
Series B
$75m
2014
Bitcoin Security
Paris
2018
Series F
$185m
2006
On-Demand Music
Streaming
Paris
Series D
$80m
2009
Marketplace for
personalized holiday
packages
Paris
Series C
$101m
2012
End to end machine
learning based data
science platform
Paris
Series C
$62m
2012
Provide technology to
launch marketplace
Paris
2019
Series F
$92m
2013
Digitalization for points
of sale worldwide
Paris
<$100m
>$100m
LEGEND
Series C
$125m
2011
Innovative products
operating in the agrofood
Paris
Series E
$170m
2013
Booking platform to help
find doctors
Paris

27. PUBLIC SECTOR IS PUSHING HARD
TO SUPPORT THE TECH ECOSYSTEM

28. • A 20% innovation tax credit has been created for startups and will apply to innovation expenses up to
€400,000 per year and per company
• President Macron announced the removal of the highest 20% rate of the salaries’ social charges and
that compensation and bonus schemes would no longer be included in the severance pay’s
calculations
• France took measures to enhance the link between fundamental research and business application
• The 2018 budget for the ministry of higher education, research and innovation rose by more than 6%,
to $9.9B (with an extra $2.8B to research over the next 5 years)
• French National Research Agency, which funds individual projects on a competitive basis, rose its
budget by 5% to $818m. France is Europe’s second country by gross R&D expenditure ($63bn) (2018)
• France has a huge pool of skilled talent with 100,000 engineers and 70,000 PhD students every year
• France’s universities offer high-quality cross-disciplinary programs, resulting in more complete future
workers in terms of skills
• Bpifrance will invest €4B for the Energy and Ecological Transition (TEE), a law enhancing energy savings
and the development of renewable energies. In this context, Bpifrance has already supported 1,400
energy companies for a total amount of €1.4B
• In July 2017, Bpifrance launched France Investissement Energie Environnement (FIEE), a €100m fund
that will strengthen its offer dedicated to the TEE
Environment-focused innovation
Creating Talent
Promoting a Friendlier Tax Environment for Startups
Innovation Funding
28
FRENCH PROGRAMS UNIQUE TO FRANCE
More than €80bn spent to promote innovation and attract & develop talent

29. 29
Macron is willing to transform France into a “startup nation” and
wants entrepreneurship to be well on the up - Business France,
2018. Before launching all the new projects as a President,
Macron was already initiating this change in mindset back at the
time when he used to be Minister of Economy. Indeed, he
launched the Growth, Economic Activity and Equal Economic
Opportunity Act (aka the “Macron Law”) promoting liberalization,
investment and labor market reform - Business France, 2017.
Since Macron’s elections, 60% of CEO’s from foreign companies
say that the country is more attractive. According to Brice
Teinturier, Executive Director at polling studies firm IPSOS,
“international investors view France positively for the first time”.
Interesting fact: the French Digital Agency managed by the
Minsitry of Economy and Finance, and stimulating and supporting
actions preparing the French society for digital revolutions has an
average team age of 31 years old -Business France, 2018.
Half a million companies are created every year in France. It is
quicker to create a business in France (3.5 days on average) than
in the UK (4.5 days) or in Germany (10.5 days). Between 2012 and
2015, the number of startups created in France increased by 30%.
Also, more than 300 private accelerators are present in the
country. As far as business is concerned, France’s future has rarely
looked brighter -Business France, 2018.
The French Government Investment Fund (CDC) plans to support
the Arc of Innovation project by creating over 150,000 sq. m. of
tertiary real estate (for incubators, co-working spaces…) in Paris
and neighboring municipalities. €600m were already invested for
Paris alone – Business France Tech Book, 2017.
In the 2017 Top 100 Global Innovators ranking (Derwent World
Patents Index, 2017) by Clarivate Analytics, France is ranked third
behind Japan and the US. Still in the same report, France accounts
for 37% of all European Innovations (Germany: 21%, Switzerland:
16%). In the Bloomberg 2018 Innovation Index, France is ranked
second for high-tech intensity, calculated with the number of
domestically domiciled high-tech public companies.
52% of French People would be interested in creating startups.
Moreover, 68% of the French population say that the government
adds new momentum to entrepreneurship and enterprise
creation -Business France, 2018. According to a EY report about
France’s attractiveness, it is shown that 56% of people find the
support policies for startups effective . Finally, since end 2016, the
media mentioning the words “France” and “startup” altogether
skyrocket - EY, 2018.
CHANGE IN MINDSET TOWARDS FRENCH TECH
Select quotes from the news and media in France that embody the country’s change in mindset

30. Date Program Name Amount Purpose
June-18 French Tech Seed Fund €400m
• This fund will be operated by Bpifrance, through a network
of business finders made of incubator and laboratories.
• Focus on deep tech startups coming from laboratories or
incubators/accelerators
June-17 PSIM Fund €200m
• Bpifrance manages this Major Innovation Program fund
• It intervenes exclusively with the 12 winners of the Global
Innovation Competition (CMI) (Snips, Wandercraft…) by
investing check sizes between €2 and €20 million
June-17
Innovation and Industry
Fund (FII)
€10,000m
• Managed by Bpifrance, it invests in the key stages of
startup growth
• The fund is evergreen, investing the returns (≈€250m) of
its €10bn in assets on an annual basis
• €150m will finance big technological challenges
• €70m will support deep tech companies
• €25m will be dedicated to nanotechnologies
Dec-15
French Tech
Acceleration Fund
€200m
• Managed by Bpifrance, it invests (check sizes between
€1m and €20m) in French accelerators and investment
funds providing acceleration programs to startups
Dec-13 Large Venture Fund €1,000m
• Managed by Bpifrance, it is investing in fast-growing
innovative startups with high capital requirements (check
sizes between €10m and €30m)
• The fund size increased to €1bn in 2017, with an
estimated €500m in dry powder
RECENT GOVERNMENT EQUITY PROGRAMS
The French state invests more than €10B in equity programs
30

31. 31
REGIONAL PROGRAMS
Promoting Startup initiatives beyond Paris
DeepTech Aids
Up to €8K in financial
aids for robotic
projects
Breizh’up
€10M investment
fund to support
innovative startups
Prime Création
A €5K to €20K grant
for startups
Startup Investment
Up to €3M in
financial aid or loan
for startups
Start’Oc
From €5K to €2M in
financial aids for
startups
JEREMIE Provence-
Alpes-Côte d’Azur
€121M fund for the
development of
startups
The Honor Loan
From €2K to €25K
loan facilitating
startups’ access to
bank loans
Regional loans
From €20K to €200K
in regional loans for
startups
Regional loans
Up to €30K for the
startup’s birth and
up to to €100K for
R&D development
French Tech Loire
Valley
From €150K to €500K
in financial aids for
startups
Provides European
loans only
Hauts-
de-
France
Normandie
Grand Est
Centre-Val
de Loire
Bretagne Pays
de la
Loire Bourgogne-
Franche-
Comté
Nouvelle-
Aquitaine
Auvergne-
Rhône-Alpes
Occitanie PACA

32. DIVERSITY & TALENT IN FRANCE

33. Masters in Management5 Masters in Finance6
France’s World Class Universities
1
EUROPEAN COUNTRY IN TERMS OF
THE NUMBER OF UNIVERSITIES
OFFERING AN EXECUTIVE MBA1
EUROPEAN COUNTRY IN TERMS OF THE
NUMBER OF UNIVERSITIES OFFERING A
MASTER IN MANAGEMENT3
#1
#1
1 Financial Times, 2 Ecole 42, 3 Financial Times, 4 International Journal of Science,5 QS World University Rankings, 6 QS World University Rankings
The budget for education rose in 2018 but it is
expected to rise in 2019 as well.4
33
EDUCATION IN FRANCE
9
44 9
2
2
12
500 admitted students out of the 53 848
students preparing entrance program
Education of the Future: Ecole 42 was
founded in 2013 by Xaviel Niel in order to
provide a 3-year top-notch zero tuition
fee program to learn coding.2
Second largest
mathematics
institution in the
world after
Princeton
First MBA
program in
Europe
France is the second country
with the highest number of
Fields medals after the USA.
Founding school of:

34. 34
ATTRACTING FOREIGN TALENT
The attraction of foreign talent now constitutes a key to create France-born global champions
• An innovative public initiative led by the Ministry of
the Economy which aims to boost a collective
dynamic in order to place France among the greatest
startup nations.
• The French Tech Visa established in June 2017 in order
to facilitate the reception and set up of tech
international talents, gives access to a 4-year
residence and work permit
• In October 2018, this Visa was softened and widened
by targeting any innovative company but not only
digital companies anymore
• This program offers a 12-month accelerator program for
international entrepreneurs who want to build up in
France
• The startups joining this program have access to a fast-
track procedure to obtain a residence permit. Also,
each team receives €45K and will be part of one of the
41 selected partner incubators.
• The program Reviens Léon (“Come back, Léon”)
initiated by iconic startups (BlaBlaCar, Chauffeur Privé,
showroomprivé.com, Sigfox…)
• First launched to attract French expatriates is now
called “WONDERLEON” and is being opened up to
international talent as well.
41%
of the PhD’s in France come from outside France
30%
Target % of foreign startups aimed for Paris Based
Incubators by 2020

35. 35
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
A few of France’s most inspiring women
Source: News run
Clara
Gaymard
Co-founder
of Raise
Ventures
Julie
Chapon
Co-founder
of Yuka
Marie
Ekeland
Co-founder
of Daphni
Co-founder of
Bime and Co-
President at
France Digital
Rachel
Delacour
Fleur
Pellerin
Founder
of Korelya
Founder
of One
Ragtime
Stéphanie
Hospital
Mathilde
Lacombe
Co-founder
of Aime
Co-founder
of Educapital
Marie-Christine
Levet
Co-founder
of Seasonly,
Agathe
Wautier
Co-founder
of the Galion
Project
Founder of
The Family
Alice
Zagury
Roxanne
Varza
Director of
Station F
Director of
42
Sophie
Viger
Fany
Péchiodat
Partner at
Portag3
Ventures
Hélène
Falchier
Founding
Partner and
GP Fund I of
The Refiners
Géraldine
Le Meur

36. Women Equity
”We are the first
European research,
promotional, financial,
operational and
supportive program for
women-led growth
companies.”2
AFIC avec ELLES
“The French Association
of Investors for Growth
aims to promote the
importance of women’s
role in private equity
and venture capital.” 6
Femmes Business
Angels
“We are a network of
female business angels
financing with an
average check size of
€10K innovative
startups run by both
men and women.” 1
ESG strategy by
Bpifrance
“Our ESG investment
strategy is based on the
quality of governance
and management by
promoting the
integration of women.”3
Funds Accelerators/Programs
Girls in Tech
“With the launch of
three offices (Paris,
Marseille and La
Reunion) in our French
regional chapter, we
want to help eradicate
the gender disparity in
French high-tech
industries.” 4
Initiative France
engage with
Femmes Chefs
d’Entreprises
“By signing a national
convention (Feb 2018)
we reaffirm our mutual
desire to support
female entrepreneurs.”
8
Fédérations
Pionnières
“We represent all the
Pionnières incubators
supporting female tech
entrepreneurs in France
and abroad.”5
Social Builder
“We are a social startup
that builds gender
diversity and equality in
the digital business and
entrepreneurship. We
do so by providing
support and training for
women, networks and
businesses.” 7
1 Femmes Business Angels, 2 Women Equity , 3 Bpifrance, 4 Girls in Tech, 5 Fédérations Pionnières, 6 AFIC avec ELLES, 7 Social Builder, 8 IF & FCE
36
WOMEN-LED TECH INITIATIVES
On top of the respective 20% and 30% of the French startups and companies founded by women, several funds
and incubators are taking a meaningful stance on tackling gender diversity

37. DEEP DIVE ON FRENCH VCS

38. 38
LARGEST SEED FUNDS
Throughout the years, top seed funds have emerged in France
Source: CBInsights, Serena Capital; 1 Dealroom Report , Traxcn and Crunchbase
Most active seed funds per number of direct seed investments over the last 2 years
Recently featured as
top quartile Seed VC
fund by Dealroom1
59
25
22
12 12 11 10 10 9
7 6 5 4 4

39. 39
FRENCH INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS
Most incubators / accelerators that are running today were started in the last 5 to 10 years
Incubators/Accelerators Description
Founded
Year
Location
Total number of
portfolio companies
Portfolio Companies
Public incubator facilitating start-up creation
in the field of public research.
2012 Paris 290
Service infrastructure for start-ups in Europe.
Takes 5% equity for free in exchange of long-
term support.
2013
Paris, Berlin,
London
200+
Provides start-ups with mentoring, financing,
and office space.
2012 Paris 41
Supports start-ups, entrepreneurs and
innovative projects of companies through
various programs.
2005
Paris, San
Francisco
450
Start-up studio located in Paris and Brussels,
focusing on enterprise software startups. 2011 Paris, Bruxelles 16
Full service innovation hub for the digital age
that operates worldwide and builds future-
proof organizations and tech start-ups.
2015
8 cities including
Berlin, Moscow,
NYC and Paris
134
Economic development and innovation
agency of Paris 2015 Paris 1000+
Start-up campus designed for tech
companies from all over the world. 2014 Paris -
Start-up studio focused on companies based
on technologies, research and deeptech
work.
2014 Paris -
The American incubator opened a structure
in Paris partnering with Partech shaker. Start-
ups give 6% in equity in exchange of
$120,000.
2017 Paris 21
International talent investor, which supports
individuals to build globally technology
companies. First Paris-based edition
launched in October 2018
2018
London, Paris,
Berlin,
Singapour, HK,
Bangalore
230+
1 Companies from the London-based edition as the Paris-based one launched in October 2018
11

40. 40
STATION F: THE LARGEST STARTUP CAMPUS IN THE WORLD
Based in Paris and Inaugurated in June 2017, The 34,000 square meters incubator was created by mogul Xavier
Niel who invested €250M in the project
Some of the 30 startup programs available at Station F
Open to early-stage startups which will get full-time desk in Station F
campus and join the community of entrepreneurs.
Facebook Startup Garage: 6-month acceleration program targeting
all startups involved in personal data.
Microsoft France launches its first worldwide program focused on
artificial intelligence in partnership with INRIA at Station F.
Accelerator Fashion / Tech / Retail, which aims to generate growth
for its start-ups for 9 months by testing their solution on vente-
privee and by linking them to partner brands.
The Gaming & Entertainment program is designed by Ubisoft to
foster the creation of original contents.
• A hub with more than 3,000 desk stations, housing 1,000 startups and
offering 30 startup programs.
• Director: Roxanne Varza (ex-Microsoft and ex-Editor in Chief of
TechCrunch).
Some VCs Partners:

41. Percentage of total investments per region in 2017
Top 5 Angel Groups by:
3
4
5
Dollar Amount # of deals
Total Deal Amount Total Deal Volume
Source: France Angels
1
2
41
ANGEL INVESTOR LANDSCAPE
Ile-de-France, Bretagne and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as the top 3 regions for angel activity
2.4%
0.8%
6.6%26.1%
4.2%
3.8%
9.6%
13.2%
7.6%
4.8%
12.6%
8.3%
€ 36.5M
€ 41.2M € 42.7M
€ 48.0M
2014 2015 2016 2017
+12.9%
+3.6%
+12.4%
356
386
415
509
2014 2015 2016 2017
+8.4%
+8%
+23%

42. 42
SOME OF THE MOST ACTIVE FRENCH BUSINESS
ANGELS
In 2017, individual business angels invested over €15M
+12.9%
+12.4%
+8%
+23%
Denis
Fayolle
Co-founder of
La Fourchette
Thierry
Petit
Co-founder of
showroomprive.com
Frédéric
Montagnon
Co-founder of
Teads.tv
Thibault
Elzière
Founder of
eFounders
Michaël
Benabou
Co-founder
of Vente-
Privee
Fabrice
Grinda
CEO of
OLX
Thierry
Vandewalle
CEO of Wind
Capital
Jacques-Antoine
Granjon
CEO of
Vente-
Privee
Founder of
Meetic and
Sensee
Marc
Simoncini
Founder of
Iliad
Xavier
Niel
Source: Challenges, Franceangels

43. Investor Country
Source: CBInsights
43
INTERNATIONAL VCS INVESTING IN FRANCE
VCs with Foreign Head Quarters which participated in the most VC deals in France over the last 10 years
Investor State
Investor State
Investor Country
1: CA; 2:NY; 3:NJ
1
2
3

44. Source: CBInsights
Public institutions
Number of investments
44
FRENCH INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS
Most Active French Financial institutions; per direct VC investments over the last 2 years
Private institutions
38
29
17
15 14 13
10
7 6 6 5 4 3 3
192

45. Corporate VC Sectors
Direct Investment
Investment in
VC funds Select French Investments
Enterprise software, Fintech,
Consumer Tech and Digital Health
x x
Mobility, Robotics, Smart Cities,
and IoT
x x
Smart Cities, Distributed Energy
and Green Mobility
x
Collaborative Economy, Mobile Apps,
Insurtech and Fintech
x x
Mobility, Data, IoT, and
Smart Cities
x x
Electronics, Software and
Telecommunications
x
New Mobility and Smart Cities x x
New Mobility, Autonomous Driving
and Connected Services
x
IoT, Robotics, Smart Cities, New
Energies
x x
Mobility, E-Services, Data, Saas, Paas
and IoT
x
Water Management, Recycling and
Recovery of Waste
x
Source: CBInsights & CFNews
45
MOST ACTIVE CORPORATE VCS
Most Active Corporate venture capital groups in France in the last 18 months

46. GLOBAL PRESENCE AND PORTFOLIO
INTRODUCTION TO WHITE STAR CAPITAL
White Star Capital
We invest in ambitious entrepreneurs on both sides of the Atlantic. We have founded, scaled and sold
many successful technology businesses. We leverage our collective experience, expertise and global
network to help our startups succeed.
www.whitestarvc.com