France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, outlined an ambitious plan for the European Union to create its own tech giants worth over 100 billion euros (over $120 billion) in valuation. The plan is to create ten of them to compete with the U.S. companies that dominate the tech industry across the globe.
The goals mirror a bloc-wide initiative that France is trying to steer, to fund startups in Europe better, especially when they are just starting. Using this plan, the startups can find their way to the big leagues and attract even more money from investors.
Macron’s startup push
Since coming into power in 2017, Macron has been trying to make France a startup nation, which would in turn attract foreign money. He’s been doing this through labor reforms and other methods. France has been trying to create unicorns (startups with a valuation of more than $1 billion).
However, the numbers are still heavily skewed in favour of the Americans. Macron said last year that he expected France to have at least 25 unicorns by 2025. The latest plan to help the bloc’s startups is using funding schemes and bloc-wide finances to encourage venture capitalists to commit money.
An effort that could succeed
The manifesto that is enabling this push to be competitive in the world of tech was signed by about 200 businesses, including startup associations and a variety of companies.
The recommendations to make this happen even faster and better include the modernization of regulations in Europe, as well as the creation of a competitive stock options scheme. With these implemented as part of the initiatives to help Europe’s tech startups grow, there is a good chance that the EU could stop relying on American tech companies for everything.
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