The barometer of the consulting firm In Extenso of fundraising for this first quarter shows that health remains the most dynamic sector in Occitanie.
The year 2022 got off to a flying start for French Tech! Indeed, in its first quarter alone, start-ups have chained record fundraising, accumulating a total of €5 billion raised, thus beating the total sums raised in 2020 (€4.7 billion), and already reaching nearly half of the historic total for 2021 (€11.57 billion).
Figures partly due to the creation of four new unicorns (companies valued at more than one billion euros) in this first quarter of 2022 alone, which enabled France to overtake Germany in the sector in Europe, ranking second behind the United Kingdom.
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An economic situation applauded by all observers, including the consulting firm In Extenso, which publishes its traditional “Fundraising Barometer”for this first quarter of 2022. It thus notes that the average amount of sums raised by French start-ups stands at €21.3 million, up 171% compared to the first quarter of 2021.
A situation which makes it possible to be very optimistic for the final total of the year, even if the months to come announce a temporary break in this period of prosperity. “We should see a slight slowdown in lifting, predicts Rodolphe Lilamand, consultant at In Extenso. The phenomenon is currently observed in the United States, and should slowly spread to Europe.
Regional fundraising up 30%
In this context, the Occitanie region however observes an air pocket in its situation compared to last year, marked by very large liftings, including that of Swile, which has become the first regional unicorn. Thus, Occitania comes out of the Top 5 of French regions. With a total of €35.4 million raised this first quarter, there is nevertheless a 30% increase compared to the total raised last year over a similar period (€27 million).
This total combines six operations, dominated by the big fundraising (€20 million) carried out last January by the Montpellier genomic analysis start-up SeqOne. Supplemented by the raisings of Ciloa (5 M€) and Holivia (2 M€), it allows the Hérault to total nearly three-quarters of the total (with nearly 28 M€ raised), the remainder (around 8 M €) being made in Haute-Garonne.
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“The Health division is again this year as the ‘goodwill’ of start-ups in Occitania” observes Rodolphe Lilamand, who notes that energy is also one of the key sectors in the region, with in particular the raising of 5 M€, carried out by the Toulousaine Water Horizon.
Occitania still retains assets that allow it to remain optimistic for the months and years to come. “The economic fabric, the infrastructures, and the presence of large start-ups like Swile, confirm the potential of the Occitanie region compared to Paris and other European countries, Spain in particular” reassures Rodolphe Lilamand.
So many assets that allow the region to“attract talent”, a commodity that is currently more than rare for innovation structures. A context that also shows “very favorable to the creation of new companies” and, over the years, “attract funding to give a large area to these start-ups”concludes Rodolphe Lilamand.
It should be noted that fundraising by the start-ups Sweep ($73m) and Bricks (€20m), carried out at the beginning of April, are not included in the study.
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