FFT x Bpifrance: fundraising in the first half of 2022 by French fintechs

July 1, 2022 | News, Barometers, Press Releases

At the crossroads

Paris, July 1, 2022,

France FinTech, the professional association of French fintech, insurtech and regtech and Bpifrance, publish the biannual barometer of fundraising in the ecosystem.

1 – A half-year that confirms sustained growth in fundraising despite a general context that seems to be getting tougher

They totaled nearly €2 billion in 73 operations, i.e. a growth of 27% compared to the first half of 2021. From a sector point of view, the fundraising primarily concerned:

  • The category of neo-banks (27% of the total amount) with a major operation (Qonto, €486m)
  • So-called “operational” services (23%)
  • Insurance services (20%)

2 – Transaction analysis confirms access to ecosystem maturity

  • The average ticket is growing sharply, from €22 million in 2021 to €27 million

  • Growth is even more marked on series B transactions, the average ticket of which is greater than €40 million (€30 million in 2021)
  • Nearly twice as many transactions greater than or equal to €2 million are recorded in 50 than in 2022 (2021 vs. 13)
  • There has been a notable increase in the financing of “scale-ups”, a segment still limited until now in France

3 new fintech unicorns have appeared (PayFit, Qonto and Spendesk), bringing their total number to 11 (i.e. 40% of French unicorns)

NB: seed fund raisings are not decreasing, their number representing more than half of the operations of the semester (53%).

3 – The raisings are mainly intended to finance the acceleration  

  • The models are becoming international: 25% of French fintechs are now present abroad and 1 in 2 is aiming to set up abroad by 2026

  • Recruitment is intensifying and should bring the workforce of the ecosystem to nearly 40 employees by the end of 000 in France

  • The number of fintech acquisitions is increasing: already 10 operations in 2022 (8 in 2021 and 3 in 2020)

4 – France is the second largest ecosystem in Europe and one of the fastest growing

  • In the first half of 2022, France is positioned as the second fintech ecosystem in Europe (17% of fundraising) ahead of Germany (12%). The United Kingdom retains its first place with more than 50% of fundraising.
  • France has 11 fintech unicorns (Alan, Ivalua, Ledger, Lydia, PayFit, Qonto, Shift Technology, Spendesk and Swile) of which 2 are headquartered in the United States (Dataiku and Kyriba) compared to 24 in the United Kingdom and 5 in Germany.

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Overall, the first half of 2022 is in line with the strong acceleration trend of previous years, intense commercial and international development. The ecosystem, the leading French tech sector, now has a dense fabric of fintech, with a group of unicorns and European and international champions in many sectors (neo-bank TPE, payments, crowdfunding, consumption, crypto, insurtech, bill economy, etc.). The current hardening of the macro-economic environment makes it impossible to estimate the trend for the second half. We cannot rule out a period of procrastination among investors and entrepreneurs in the event of a significant deterioration in the global economy. Such an eventuality should not however compromise the progress of our fintechs towards international critical size and the viability of their models.

All of these topics will be covered at our big annual event, FinTech R:Evolution, whose central theme will be Crossroads and which will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2022 on the roof of the Grande Arche in La Défense.

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