VivaTech 2024 in Paris is expected to be a huge success, welcoming more than 150,000 visitors. It has become Europe's largest technology and innovation event, with CEOs, C-leaders, VCs and startups from all over the world. The lineup of speakers is very impressive, including Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, X), Robin Li (Baidu), Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO), John Kerry (68th US Secretary of State), Charles Michel (President of the European Council), Marc Pritchard (Chief Brand Officer of P&G), Yoshua Bengio (Professor at the University of Montreal), Dario Amodei (CEO of Antropic), Yann LeCun (Chief AI Scientist at Meta), and Dr. Werner Vogels (CTO of Amazon).
Paris is undoubtedly the perfect place to get a glimpse into the future and discover the latest deep tech, climate tech and mobility innovations. VivaTech offers a unique opportunity to anticipate the profound and fundamental changes that AI and the green market revolution will bring to our economy and society. Whether we like it or not, they are deeply intertwined and will inevitably fundamentally transform our societies and economies, becoming invisibly embedded in every action of our daily lives.
To succeed in AI, you need 1) data, 2) massive investments in infrastructure, and 3) cutting-edge algorithms. I'm not sure if France can truly compete with the US or China on 1 and 2, but if it picks its AI battles, it should focus on algorithms and expertise at the intersection of AI and environmental sustainability. I strongly believe that with its AI expertise and advances in sustainability, France can play a key role at the intersection of AI and environmental issues. Here's why:
French AI research is highly regarded among AI leaders of global companies originating from France. Over the past few years, many global companies have opened AI and R&D centers in France. Some companies, such as Ekimetrics, are well-positioned at the intersection of AI and environmental issues. Mistral AI was recently listed by Forrester as one of the leading AI foundation models in the language. Investment in AI training is accelerating. President Macron announced an additional budget of 400 million euros for AI training earlier this week, aiming to have 100,000 AI experts by 2030. Awareness of climate and sustainability issues is higher than in many countries. Initiatives such as Climate Fresk help to raise public awareness about climate change. France is decarbonizing its electricity. This is due to the importance of nuclear power in the energy mix. An AI expert we interviewed said, “It is hard to imagine how much energy AI consumes. Few countries will be able to enable AI because it cannot be made to work in the long term without major investments in nuclear technology.” Global energy, power and environmental services companies are headquartered in France, including EDF, Engie, Legrand, Rexel, Saur, Schneider Electric, Sonepar, Suez, Veolia and Vinci. The startup ecosystem is home to many innovative green tech companies, as highlighted in the new French Tech Next40/120 released this week.
French new technology Next40/120
Earlier this week, the French government published the 2024 edition of the French Tech Next40/120, an index based on startups' revenue-generating capacity (the threshold is currently more than €40 million) and their ability to raise capital.
Some facts about the French Tech Next40/120:
According to EY, with €8.3bn in funding in 2023 (-38.5% compared to 2022), it remains number one in the European Union Cumulative revenue of €10.4bn (+30%), of which 36% will come from abroad 40,000 direct jobs Greentech/Agritech is now the number one category ahead of Fintech/Assurtech, Retail, Healthtech and HRtech, with big names such as Contentsquare, Exotec, Ledger, Mirakl, Qonto, Pigment and Voodoo It is interesting to note that of the top 10 companies with the most funding since 2021, 4 are companies with sustainable initiatives. Verkor (Industrial green batteries, €1.2bn), Backmarket (Circular economy, €820m), Electra (EV infrastructure, €480m), Ecovadis (Business sustainability assessment, €455m) The Tech/Agritech/Deeptech sector includes Blablacar, Flying Whales, NW, Waat, Zeplug, Certideal, Vestiaire Collective, Ekwateur, Ilek, Mylight150, Qair, Agriconomie, HappyVore, Innovafeed, La Fourche, Umiami, Ynsect, Deepki, Greenly, Sweep and Umiami.
Don't get me wrong: funding innovation is important, but it's not a panacea.
The hype and interest in unicorns is still excessive. And technological innovation alone is certainly not enough to survive within the boundaries of the nine planets. Low-tech solutions and frugal innovation, regulations and new business models, evolving consumer behavior, and a shift in the mindset of C-leaders are even more important. But don't ignore the fact that green technology can help, too.
This post was written by Thomas Husson, VP and Principal Analyst, and originally appeared here.
