La French Tech — 2026-05-18

French Tech Funding Wire

Dealinka — €6.5 million, Seed/Early Stage

• What they do: Dealinka is a Paris-based startup specialising in the redistribution of non-food surplus inventory for large enterprises, helping prevent the destruction of unsold goods.
• Round details: Raised €6.5 million. Each year in France alone, nearly €690 million of non-food unsold goods are still destroyed; Dealinka targets this fragmented market.
• Use of funds / why it matters: The round will be used to industrialise and scale operations. The circular economy angle is increasingly strategic as French regulation tightens around waste destruction for non-food goods — positioning Dealinka at the intersection of ESG compliance and B2B logistics.

Cigno — €1.5 million, Pre-Seed

• What they do: Cigno is developing an AI platform specifically for management consulting firms, automating internal methodologies into workflows capable of generating deliverables in minutes.
• Round details: Raised €1.5 million. Details on lead investor were not disclosed in available sources.
• Use of funds / why it matters: The funds will support platform development. Cigno targets a niche but high-value consulting vertical, where AI-driven workflow automation can dramatically compress the time-to-deliverable — a significant competitive advantage in an industry billing by the hour.

OpsMill — €11.9 million, Series A

• What they do: OpsMill is a Paris-based infrastructure data management company building data-centric AIOps solutions that help enterprises prepare infrastructure data for AI and automation workloads.
• Round details: Raised €11.9 million ($14 million) in Series A funding. Specific lead investor details were not disclosed in available sources.
• Use of funds / why it matters: Funds are earmarked for growing engineering and product teams. OpsMill occupies a critical position in the enterprise AI stack — the "data readiness" layer that determines whether AI deployments actually work at scale. As French enterprises accelerate AI adoption, infrastructure data management is fast becoming a high-priority spend category.

1 sources

eu-startups.com

eu-startups.com

Fakto — €3.6 million, Seed (Stealth Exit)

• What they do: Fakto automates supplier invoice verification using AI, analysing contracts, pricing grids, and invoices to detect contractual deviations invisible to large procurement teams.
• Round details: Raised €3.6 million, emerging from stealth mode. On a first €40 million procurement perimeter analysed, Fakto claims to have identified up to 14% in contractual deviations.
• Use of funds / why it matters: This is an exclusive reveal from Maddyness. The procurement fraud/error detection space is large and underpenetrated in France; the 14% deviation claim on a €40M base — potentially €5.6 million in recoverable spend — offers a compelling ROI story for enterprise sales.

Product & Launch Watch

Harvey — Paris Office Opening & French Market Expansion

• What launched: Harvey, the $11 billion-valued American legal AI unicorn, officially opened a Paris office and deployed its platform at French law firm August Debouzy. Harvey already counts Bredin Prat and CMS Francis Lefebvre as French clients, and has secured a partnership with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
• Why it matters: A US legal AI unicorn choosing Paris as its European beachhead — rather than London — signals growing confidence in French legal tech demand. The PSG partnership is an unusual brand-awareness play in a sector not typically associated with sports sponsorships. French law firms now face a credible, well-funded AI competitor pushing into their workflow.

Superprof — 19th Acquisition: Italian Rival

• What launched: French edtech marketplace Superprof acquired its Italian competitor, its 19th acquisition in 13 years of operation. The company is targeting €100 million in revenue for 2026.
• Why it matters: Superprof is executing a textbook consolidation strategy in the global private tutoring market. Thirteen years, 19 acquisitions, and a €100M revenue target make it one of the more systematic M&A machines in the French startup ecosystem — a model that rarely gets the attention of larger, faster-growing VC darlings but reflects durable unit economics.

Deals, Moves & Exits

• Voodoo / Alexandre Yazdi acquires Konbini & Le Gorafi: Voodoo CEO and co-founder Alexandre Yazdi has officially taken control of DC Company, the media group that owns both cultural media brand Konbini and satirical publication Le Gorafi. The deal marks Voodoo's significant pivot into French digital media beyond mobile gaming.

• The Bitcoin Society (Éric Larchevêque) winds down bitcoin treasury activity: Only six months after co-founder of Ledger Éric Larchevêque called it "the most important project of his life," The Bitcoin Society has abandoned its bitcoin treasury core activity, citing unfavourable market conditions and difficulty raising funds. The startup had attracted attention for involving basketball star Tony Parker as an associate.

• ChapsVision beats Palantir for German intelligence contract: French AI firm ChapsVision was chosen over US-based Palantir by German intelligence services to process security data, in a decision explicitly framed around European digital sovereignty. This is a major commercial and symbolic win for the French sovereign AI narrative — a French company displacing a US intelligence-tech incumbent in a sensitive government contract.

Ecosystem & Policy Pulse

• French Tech Next40/120 — 2026 rule changes, candidature deadline May 18: The 7th cohort of the prestigious Next40/120 programme, run by Mission French Tech, closed its applications window on Monday May 18, 2026 — today. This year's selection criteria shift to emphasise "concrete innovation," according to Julie Huguet, director of Mission French Tech. For the 120 scaleups aiming for the list, this signals that raw revenue growth will be weighted alongside genuine product innovation. The Next40/120 label carries significant access to public procurement, international visibility, and priority Bpifrance financing.

• SoftBank reportedly eyes $100 billion France AI infrastructure push: Masayoshi Son is reportedly considering a major AI infrastructure investment in France, according to reporting cited by Gurufocus (published approximately one week ago). If confirmed at even a fraction of the reported scale, this would dwarf all existing sovereign AI commitments and reshape compute availability for French AI startups — a critical bottleneck today. The report follows France's ongoing "Choose France" investment summits and the existing Bpifrance €10 billion AI deployment commitment. No official announcement has been made.

What to Watch Next

• French Tech Next40/120 — 7th cohort announcement: With today's May 18 application deadline now passed, watch for Mission French Tech to reveal shortlisted and winning scaleups in the coming weeks. AI, deeptech, and climate categories are expected to dominate. The "concrete innovation" criterion shift could surprise: some high-growth but product-thin companies may not make the cut.

• SoftBank France AI announcement: Masayoshi Son's reported €100 billion France AI infrastructure interest has yet to produce a formal "Choose France" summit announcement. Watch for any Élysée or Ministry of Economy communiqué — a deal at even 10% of the rumoured scale would be transformative for French GPU/cloud availability.

• VivaTech 2026 (Paris, June): France's largest tech conference is approaching. Expect a parade of funding announcements timed to coincide with the event — historically a peak moment for French Tech visibility. Founders should have pitches and press materials ready; investors should clear calendars for June.

Reader Action Items

• For founders: The French Tech Next40/120 application deadline was today (May 18). If you missed it, use the next weeks to review the new "concrete innovation" criteria so you're fully prepared for the 8th cohort. The label delivers outsized access to public procurement and Bpifrance priority financing.

• For investors / corporate dev: The ChapsVision win over Palantir in Germany is a proof point that French sovereign AI is commercially exportable — not just a domestic narrative. Identify other French AI/cybersecurity companies with cross-border government contract potential before valuations reprice on sovereign-tech premium.

• For operators and job-seekers: OpsMill (Series A, €11.9M, Paris) and Cigno (pre-seed, €1.5M) are both in active hiring mode post-raise. AIOps, infrastructure data engineering, and AI-for-consulting roles are among the fastest-growing openings in the French ecosystem right now — both companies represent early-stage opportunities with fresh capital.