French Tech 2030 programme: supporting innovation in strategic sectors

The French Tech 2030 programme was created to supporting the emergence of innovations in key strategic sectors. It is driven by the General Secretary for Investment, the French Tech Mission and Bpi France (public bank of investment). In practical terms, this programme should choose about a hundred innovative companies to grant them specific support from all French services and territories.

Very high potential companies

In February, “in a context of particularly sharp international competition”, as the ministry of economy underlines, French president Macron re-established “the sovereignty ambition of the French State to support about a hundred innovative emerging players in the various subjects of France 2030”. This is why the French Tech 2030 programme aims at identifying the emerging players, companies and start-ups with the highest potentials in three fields:

• high growth potential: having European, or international size;
• high impact potential: presenting “massified impacts”, including regarding the environmental, social or societal aspects;
• high audacity potential: being able to join “highly audacious structures with strong risk-taking” with the objective to disrupt the field.

Precise selection criteria

To participate in the French Tech 2030 programme, emerging companies must have already initiated an activity using their innovation or just about to. And as the French ministry of economy explains, they must prove a certain level of “technologic and economic maturity to prove the relevance of a governmental follow-up”.

To benefit from the programme, emerging companies must answer precise criteria such as:

• Having their headquarters in a French territory;
• Register in at least one of the France 2030 plan objectives;
• Be an independent company;
• Have received over the last 3 years subsidies of at least 5 M€.

Tailor-made support

At the end of the selection process, the Ministry of the Economy specifies that the support provided to the selected companies will combine the expertise of Bpifrance and all the government’s operators, the dedicated innovation agencies, the network of French Tech correspondents, the prefectures and decentralised departments as well as the consular chambers.

In order to define the most effective support methods, the selected companies will first be given a diagnosis of their needs and the levers available to accelerate their development. An action plan will then be developed, led by Mission French Tech, “experts in supporting start-ups and innovative companies”. The selected companies will thus have access to dedicated support in areas such as regulatory, customs or industrial property issues, cyber security, administrative authorisations, etc. Similarly, a tailor-made path will be set up within the France 2030 mechanisms that meet their needs, as well as opportunities to meet private investors.

The 10 major objectives of the France 2030 plan

The France 2030 plan, with a budget of €54 billion deployed over five years, aims to develop France’s industrial competitiveness and future technologies.

The plan sets 10 very concrete objectives based on three challenges: better production, better living and better understanding of our world. To achieve this, it is necessary to:

• develop small, innovative nuclear reactors in France with better waste management;
• become the leader in green hydrogen;
• decarbonise industry;
• manufacture millions of electric and hybrid vehicles;
• manufacture the first low-carbon aircraft;
• invest in healthy, sustainable and traceable food;
• produce “biomedicines” to fight cancer or age-related diseases and create the “medical devices of tomorrow”;
• place France at the forefront of cultural and creative content production;
• participate in the new space adventure;
• invest in the field of the sea bed.

More information

• On the French Tech 2030 programme 
• On the France 2030 plan