One year after our first French FoodTech Top25 (2020’s top25 here), we have decided to update it following the fall and rise of 2021.

We selected the top startups using the following method:

• Money: we look at the startups that have raised the more money in the past 24 months
• Hype: we add companies that have had a lot of press coverage about their activity in 2021
• Representativeness: our goal is to produce a mapping that a picture of the ecosystem it represents (a lot of French startups work around insects, hence we want to see that in the mapping)
• Potential: we use our discussions with entrepreneurs, investors and corporations to select the startups with the highest potential

In a word (and that is something very important for us), this “top 25” is subjective. It shows what we think is the best snapshot of the ecosystem and its highest potential companies.

Below is the mapping, by category, of our French FoodTech Top 25, with some comments on the startup category by category (this list is not in order). For category definitions, see our FoodTech definition here.

If you have any questions or comments, let us know. Also, we are planning a lot of private talks and conferences with our clients to help them discover what is happening in the FoodTech ecosystem (broadly or on any specific topic). This is a first step to spread some knowledge about innovation internally and also a great way to start collaborating. If that could be relevant for you, contact us here!

AGTECH

AgTech has been the first or second category for investments for the last six years. It is then fitting that the most well-funded startups and the most well-regarded internationally can be found there.

French AgTech leaders are:

• AgTech startups with a strong focus on animal-feeding using insects: Ynsect, InnovaFeed and [New in 2021] Agronutris.
• [New in 2021] Farmitoo, a marketplace for farm equipment.
• [New in 2021] Vitibot, a farming robot startup that produces electric vineyards robots.
• Agriconomie, the B2B marketplace for agriculture supplies such as fertilizers, seeds, spare parts, workshop equipment, and crop protection products. Agriconomie’s goal is to help farmers to buy more easily, more quickly and at a better price.
• [New in 2021] Jungle, a vertical farming and hydroponics startup.

FOODSERVICE

Tiller, which was in the Top25 last year, got acquired by SumUp. Also, Swile, mentioned last year, can not be considered as FoodTech anymore, due to its move into employee engagement.
In 2021, French Foodservice leaders are:

• Innovorder, in the payment services segment, which works to make the restaurant experience more digital.
• [New in 2021] Sunday, a solution for restaurants, bars, and hotels customers to pay for their food via a QR code.
• Foodles which describes itself as the “canteen of the future” is both a smart fridge provider and a workplace meal caterer. Employees can order food in advance and retrieve it from its connected fridges.
• Taster is a dark kitchen startup that operates six food brands exclusively on delivery platforms. It is already active in London, Paris, Madrid & Dubai.

DELIVERY

Much less developed in France than in other European countries, the delivery category has some relevant startups to look at. From last year’s mapping, Epicery has been acquired the French national postal service.

• La Belle Vie is France’s leading online supermarket startup. It has grown exponentially before and during the lockdown period.
• [New in 2021] Frichti, a platform that offers ready-to-eat meals, beverages, meal kits and groceries online and delivers them to your door
• [New in 2021] Cajoo, a delivery service in just 15 minutes.

FOODSCIENCE

in 2021, French foodscience leaders are:

• Feed is the leading French meal replacement startup. Its products range from ready to ready to drink (pre-mixed drinks with all the nutrients to substitute a meal) to bars (both snack and meal-sized).
• Gourmey is France’s figurehead when talking about cellular agriculture. The startup aims at replicating foie gras from duck cells and hence help to avoid force-feeding.
• [New in 2021] Les Miraculeux, a food supplement brand, that sells gummies made of plants and vitamins.
• [New in 2021] HappyVore (ex Les Nouveaux Fermiers), the leading plant-based meat brand in France.
• [New in 2021] Umiami, which has developed a proprietary technology to produce better-tasting, more clean-label plant-based meats, and fish.

SUPPLY CHAIN

The supply chain category (new category from our 2021’s classification) had an acquisition this year, with Alkemics acquired by Salsify:

• Connecting Food works on the issue of product compliance (according to gluten-free, organic claims, etc.) using blockchain.
• Phénix, which aims at ending food waste with a set of solutions for the whole food value chain ranging from giving unsold goods to charities to putting a discount price on nearly-expired products.
• [New in 2021] Pyxo, the leading French player in the returnable food container ecosystem, that targets snacks, fast food, mobile catering…
• [New in 2021] Smartway (ex Zéro-Gâchis), a startup that helps large-scale distribution in the management of their breakages and in the revaluation of their products short in date.

CONSUMER TECH

Consumer Tech is also a new category from our 2021’s new definition of FoodTech. Thus, it highlights new leaders in the French FoodTech:

• [New in 2021] Jow, an app that does your grocery shopping for you, according to what you like to eat.
• [New in 2021] Chefclub, a cooking channel that shows and broadcasts cooking recipes on television and the internet.