French Tech international network: 69 communities in 52 countries

Created in 2013, Mission French Tech is a public body, attached to the Ministry of the Economy, responsible for supporting the structuring and growth of the French startup ecosystem, in France and abroad. Having once been a label awarded to French cities with a significant number of innovative companies, the Mission is now responsible for broader actions, such as support for development abroad. With over 25,000 startups, French Tech forms a "dynamic ecosystem, supported by a wide network of players": investors, support structures, incubators, gas pedals, associations, major groups and public institutions.

All the French Tech Capitals and Communities are part of this dynamic ecosystem, and are real gateways for French startups into the French Tech ecosystem. Mission French Tech supports and coordinates a network of 114 French Tech-labeled structures in France and abroad, which will be consolidated in 2023. Present throughout France and the world, "they federate the innovation players in their territory and mobilize them on joint initiatives, in line with the Mission French Tech challenges and according to the local priorities of their ecosystem".

The network is structured around three types of Capitales and Communities:

• French Tech Capitals, 17 in number, are the relays of the Mission French Tech on the national territory. They are made up of teams who develop the technological and digital ecosystem in their region and roll out the Mission French Tech programs;
• the French Tech Communities in France are a network of 31 groups of volunteer entrepreneurs who "federate and promote their ecosystems throughout France". These French Tech Communities in France are groupings which, "in addition to the actions carried out by the French Tech Capitals, animate the ecosystem of innovation players on a local scale and intensify their collaboration". They are made up of founders, investors, employees and tech players, and "any other stakeholder involved in promoting French Tech in their geographical area";
• International French Tech Communities are groups of volunteer French or Francophile entrepreneurs who represent the Mission French Tech abroad. Today, there are no fewer than 69 such communities in 52 countries.

International French Tech Communities are therefore made up of volunteer French or Francophile entrepreneurs who represent the Mission French Tech internationally. Their actions, says the Mission, "promote the French tech ecosystem alongside the players in the French institutional network in each country". This network, at the heart of the French Tech initiative, now comprises 69 communities in 52 countries on five continents.

The international network has spread across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Oceania. The communities are located in some 100 cities around the world. They give "a boost to their local ecosystem, they get involved and they increase the mobility of French startups by welcoming them to their city and their country".

The network of French Tech Communities abroad was strengthened in 2024 by the addition of new accredited structures: in Germany, the United States, Spain, Greece, Indonesia, New Zealand, Poland... All these communities organize events to exchange and share information on technological entrepreneurship throughout the year. Conferences, job dating and business meetings are all on the agenda, enabling French startups abroad "to be put in touch with the entrepreneurial communities established in the countries and cities where they plan to expand".

According to the French Ministry of the Economy, French Tech communities abroad are designed to implement the Mission's priorities. Their main objective is to "support the expansion of startups domiciled in France and create a French tech network".

At the heart of the international business network, the actions carried out by the International Communities fall into three main categories:

• federate and animate the local, French and international community, by "building bridges between ecosystems";
• deploy actions that contribute to French Tech's historic missions abroad: promoting France, supporting the internationalization of French startups and attracting talent and investors;
• organize thematic events in line with the Mission French Tech's strategic priorities: ecological transition, gender and diversity, DeepTech, HealthTech...

To carry out these missions, the Communities are in contact with the entire local French and foreign ecosystem. Cooperation with Business France and international French Chambers of Commerce and Industry is numerous.

• The French Tech mission
• French Tech Capitals and Communities