Here is the third edition of our TOP French FoodTech startups. The French FoodTech ecosystem is booming (see our report here), with €875M raised in 2021, 40% more than in 2020. To highlight this, we have selected 30 startups this year, up from 25 in the two previous years (2021’s top25 here).

We selected the top startups using the following method:

• Money: we look at the startups that have raised the most 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
• 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 30” 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 Top30, 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 think we missed a startup or want to share your thoughts about the list, send us an email.

AGTECH

When we talk about French leaders, AgTech is over-represented, with 10 startups among the Top30. We find the same leaders as last year, minus Vitibot (a farming robot startup that produces electric vineyards robots), which got acquired by SDF, and three new companies.

French AgTech leaders are:

• AgTech startups with a strong focus on animal-feeding using insects: Ynsect, InnovaFeed, Agronutris.
• Farmitoo, a marketplace for farm equipment.
• 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.
• Sencrop enables farmers to connect their farms to have access to ultra-local weather conditions and make the best choices.
• Two vertical farming companies: Jungle and Futura Gaïa [New in 2022]
• Aisprid [New in 2022], a robotic company, building autonomous robots for soft fruit picking
• Micropep [New in 2022], which develops biological crop protection solutions based on micropeptides.

FOODSERVICE

This year, we have selected two new companies, in the foodservice robotics area, a trend we think will transform the foodservice industry.

• 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.
• Bolk [New in 2022], a smart vending machine aiming to become the new canteen.
• Cook-e [New in 2022], a connected kiosk that could be deployed in restaurants, canteens or food courts.

DELIVERY

Of the 3 Delivery leaders in our Top25 last year, two got acquired: Fricthi by Gorillas, and Cajoo by Flink.

• La Belle Vie is France’s leading online supermarket startup. It has grown exponentially before and during the lockdown period.
• Hors Normes [New in 2022], a meal kit startup, focused on anti-waste.
• Boxy [New in 2022], an autonomous supermarkets company

FOODSCIENCE

The French Food science ecosystem continued to grow in 2021. Here are the leaders for 2022:

• Gourmey, the French cellular agriculture startup, which aims at replicating foie gras.
• Les Miraculeux, a food supplement brand, that sells gummies made of plants and vitamins.
• HappyVore (ex Les Nouveaux Fermiers), a plant-based meat brand.
• Umiami, which has developed a proprietary technology to produce better-tasting, more clean-label plant-based meats, and fish.
• Protera [New in 2022], an ingredient specialist startup, working on new protein-based ingredients
• La Vie [New in 2022], a plant-based brand selling mainly veggie bacon.
• Standing Ovation [New in 2022], which works on precision fermentation applied to cheese.

SUUPLY CHAIN

Just for once, this category is the same as last year:

• 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.
• Pyxo, the leading French player in the returnable food container ecosystem, that targets snacks, fast food, mobile catering…
• Smartway, 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

This category doesn’t see the emergence of a new leader recently.

• Jow, an app that does your grocery shopping for you, according to what you like to eat.
• Chefclub, a cooking channel that shows and broadcasts cooking recipes on television and the internet.
• Yuka, an app wich helps consumers analyze the health impact of food products.