Two start-ups founded by graduates in the French Tech Next40 club, and two more in the 120!

Two start-ups founded by graduates in the French Tech Next40 club, and two more in the 120!

Launched in 2019 by Mission French Tech, French Tech Next40/120 is a government support programme dedicated to the 120 most successful French start-ups with the potential to become world-class leaders. For one year, they will receive support tailored to their development challenges in France and abroad. 

Start-ups are selected on the basis of objective economic performance criteria (hypergrowth in revenues or fund-raising). The programme gives France's leading start-ups a high profile both nationally and internationally. It promotes products and services that have become essential to our daily lives, as well as disruptive innovations that meet the major challenges of ecological transition, re-industrialisation and technological sovereignty.  

The French Secretary of State for the Digital Economy, Marina Ferrari, revealed the new winners of the programme at VIVATECH in Paris in May 2024. This 5th promotion of the French Tech Next40/120 is distinguished above all by the very strong growth in revenues generated by the winning companies and by the ever-increasing presence of GreenTech companies.

Selection criteria for Next 40 start-ups

• Have achieved net sales of at least €100 million in the last financial year, and at least 15% annual growth over 3 years (20 places, awarded in descending order of sales).
• Have raised the most funds between January 2021 and April 2024 (20 places, awarded in descending order of amounts raised).

This ‘club’ includes 2 start-ups founded by EDHEC graduates:

- ManoMano, founded by the duo Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson (EDHEC Masters 2003 and 1994): This is of course the largest marketplace for products and services in the DIY, gardening and home sectors in Europe. Its mission is to invent a sustainable future with its users and to commit to building it now.  ManoMano has been in the Next 40 since the programme was created.

- Malt, founded in 2013 by Vincent Huguet, Master GE 98: an online marketplace that connects businesses and freelance digital workers belonging to Malt Community.  Malt was back in the Next 40 after entering in 2022 and exiting in 2023.

Selection criteria for the French Tech 120, the 80 high-potential start-ups 

• Have achieved sales of at least €10 million and average annual growth of 15% over 3 years (40 places, allocated in descending order of sales).
• Have raised the most funds between January 2021 and April 2024 (40 places, in descending order of amount raised).

Here you will find :

- HelloCSE, born from the imagination in 2017 of Laurent Lefebvre, Master GE 2004. In just a few years, HelloCSE has become the benchmark 100% digital solution for elected representatives and their works councils.  HelloCSE was already in the FT120 in 2023.

- DriiveMe, with Geoffroy Lambert, MSc 2011, at the helm since 2012. DriiveMe is a platform that puts rental companies and other car professionals looking to recover a vehicle in touch with private individuals looking for a car to drive themselves.  DriiveMe is a newcomer to the programme.

It should be noted that the EDHECs have a strong presence in most of the start-ups, such as :

Guislain Wallon, Vice President, Global Customer Success at EcoVadis

Jean-François Rochet, VP, International Development at Ledger

Louis de Lillers, Managing Director of CorWave

Congratulations to all the EDHEC graduates in the class of 2024!

Find out more about the Next40/FT120