I am glad to share our annual report on the French FoodTech ecosystem with you. This report has been made possible with the support of FoodPATHs.
This report focuses on investments in French FoodTech startups from 2014 to the third quarter of 2024 and includes our projections for the end of the year. Let’s look at some of the main learnings for the report.
⬇️ You can download the full report here ⬇️
The report is available in both French and English
French FoodTech startups raised €260M in 2024 (up to Q3) and we project they will raise about €350M by the end of the year. That would be 51% less than in 2023 and 68% less than in 2022 when the ecosystem reached its peak.
Compared with the rest of the world (see our latest report on global investments here), the French FoodTech ecosystem seems to have a « lag » of about one year. Indeed, most ecosystems reached a high in funding in 2021, then saw a decline and a stabilisation. French FoodTech’s high point was reached in 2022. It may have reached its low point in the second quarter of this year. From there, we could expect a stabilisation and an eventual increase in funding in 2025 or 2026 if the bounce back observed elsewhere is confirmed.
The current decline is somehow unexpected as the French ecosystem is highly focused on B2B startups, notably in AgTech and Food Science, two areas that are doing quite well globally. It can be explained by the absence of « mega deals » (€100M) over the past 18 months.
Indeed, as you can see in the top 10 deals for 2024 (up to Q3), there are mostly B2B startups, mainly in AgTech. In terms of categories (see the full report for the breakdown), the only part of the ecosystem that is doing well is delivery. All of the other FoodTech categories are suffering, with a special mention for Foodservice, once a leading force in France’s food ecosystem (notably virtual restaurants and payment services). Now, the funding has totally dried up, while it remains quite active in other geographies.
Also, the strong decline in seed and Series A deals (in younger startups), as well as the overall decline in the number of deals, are worrying signs. They give the image of investors lacking confidence in the longer-term potential of French startups to deliver results (and attract acquirers). However, beyond investments, we also currently observe a surge in partnerships announced between startups and leading companies, notably for AgTech and Food Science startups.
