France Sees 300 Fintechs Every Year

France has a unique ecosystem for fintechs - government support, regulatory ease and easy funding opportunities:

France, known for its creativity in arts, literature, culinary science, popular movements and building iconic monuments, has never lagged behind in things relating to technology. True to that spirit, the country has several unique fintech startups - in fact it has seen the emergence of the highest number of startups annually, the number being around 300 and almost all of these bringing out a product or a solution or a system for banking related technologies. The fintechs also receive ample assistance from government and private enterprises. There are indeed some constraints that impact the healthy growth of these fintechs, the notable among these being some of the tax policies of the government.

AMPLE FUNDING FROM GOVT

The first significant move on the part of the French government to promote fintechs came in 2013 when it set up French Tech and provided €200 million in funding for accelerators and €15 million for any startup with plans to franchise. The government said the move was ‘to capitalize on initiatives developed by French Tech members and build on existing ideas to create a snowball effect’. The initiative received support from major French technology firms and financial institutions. The move led to the creation of accelerators and tech hubs in various cities of the country and funding from major investment houses.

France’s first fintech incubator was set up by Truffle Capital, an early stage venture capital firm that focused on digital innovation. Other efforts included the establishment of a campus for fintechs on the ruins of Halle Freyssinet by billionaire entrepreneur Xavier Niel, who is the founder of telecom company Iliad, and the setting up of France Fintech by Societe Generale banker Alain Clot with the aim of supporting finance-orientated startups to develop innovative problem-solving models.

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