Good morning Sifted reader,

A quantum computing startup founder once told me that his biggest challenge persuading investors to part with their money was that the field he is in “could be everything, or it could be nothing."

But governments don’t want to miss out if (or when) it does change the world. From the US and Europe to China, states are pouring money into quantum and, as Chris O’Brien unpicks below, France is well in the mix.

President Emmanuel Macron — like many world leaders — sees the industry as a national priority, and many other nations agree. A quantum industry insider told me recently that the British founders he knows have come to expect visits from MI5, with the security services keen to find out just how far along the nation’s brightest and best are to cracking quantum.

Today, we also look at which French VCs are best at spotting unicorns — even in an increasingly difficult funding environment.

Enjoy, and bon courage.

— Orlando Crowcroft, commissioning editor

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**France wants to be the quantum nation**

It can often feel like barely a day goes by without Emmanuel Macron ‘unveiling an ambitious plan’ for X, Y or Z sector of French tech.

And while the French president is an unabashed evangelist for France’s digital ambitions, there are those that fear that Macron’s pledges are often a case of ça ne pisse pas loin (all mouth and no trousers, as we say on this side of the channel).

But when it comes to quantum computing, France has matched its rhetoric with cold hard cash.

In 2023, total funding for French quantum ($140m) is expected to come close to the UK’s ($145m) for the first time. France also backed quantum before its European rivals, with Macron unveiling the country’s strategy back in 2021, two years before the UK and Germany.

“It’s pretty amazing what’s been happening,” Christophe Jurczak, cofounder of the Paris-based Quantonation VC fund, tells Sifted.

Industry observers have also been buoyed by the fact that, unlike other French-tech-first pledges, the push into quantum has not struck a nationalist tone. French researchers have been forming consortiums across Europe, and France even signed an agreement with US officials to collaborate on quantum research in 2023.

“No one country is able to do it by itself,” Quobly CEO and cofounder Maud Vinet tells Sifted.

Chris O'Brien finds out more.

💬 OpenAI is in talks with investors over a stock sale that could see the ChatGPT parent valued at $86bn. It would make the AI giant roughly three times what it was worth just six months ago, when it raised money from Thrive Capital and Microsoft, and one of the world's most valuable private companies. As part of the tender offer, as much as $1bn in employee shares could be sold, the Financial Times reported.

🥖 Meet the nine best 'unicorn hunter' investors in France.

The new Dealroom ranking takes into account both portfolio companies that have already hit a $1bn valuation and those that are likely to soon.
Jean de La Rochebrochard and his team at Kima Ventures top the list, alongside Partech, Eurazeo and Alven.

🛍️ Struggling to promote your startup? Maybe reality TV is the answer. Several Polish founders joined a new series of reality TV show The Real Housewives earlier this year in a bid to promote their businesses. Genius marketing move — or fundraising suicide?

⚡️ The solar energy breakthrough that could make European households self-sufficient.

Norwegian startup Photoncycle has designed a chair-sized copper cylinder that it thinks could transform the way we store solar power.
The cylinder contains a patented solution of solid hydrogen, which has more efficient storage capabilities than batteries or liquid hydrogen. It could be used to save abundant energy in the summer months, and heat homes through the winter.
The startup says it could bring its solution to market in the next couple of years — and that neighbouring Denmark, where energy prices are among the highest in Europe, is a "suitable launch market".

🎤 Lining up a tech event? Here's how to create a stellar agenda — courtesy of Sifted's event portfolio lead, Fiona Craib.

🩺 What went wrong at UK healthtech Babylon? Find out on the latest episode of the Sifted pod.

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Things are not looking rosy in consumer tech. Inflation has consumers less willing to open their wallets, which is hitting valuations and crimping funding too. LPs are having to wait longer for returns, making life harder for VCs. Deals fell 50% in 2022, and 2023 isn't looking much better, according to Sifted's latest Pro briefing.

There are some bright spots — namely B2C climate tech:

Three of Europe's biggest raises this year have come from climate tech startups.
Last week, Aira, which supplies heat pumps and home energy tech to reduce reliance on gas — and is backed by Harald Mix, who is also behind climate infrastructure giants H2 Green Steel and Northvolt — raised €87m.

Subscribe to Sifted Pro — designed to help investors source vital market intelligence, track hot-topic trends and connect with industry rising stars.

Team Sifted are on the road.

Climate tech reporter Freya Pratty is hanging out in Malmö for a month. Let her know if you fancy a fika.
Warsaw-based reporter Zosia Wanat is heading to Web Summit mid-November.

We also have some talks coming up... Sign up, they're free!

🇺🇸 Mimi Billing will be moderating a panel on how to succeed in the US on Wednesday October 25 at 2pm BST.
🏦 Kai Nicol-Schwarz will be moderating a panel on the evolution of a startup CFO on Thursday November 16 at 12pm GMT.

🔥🔥

Overstory, a Dutch startup that uses satellites to monitor vegetation and prevent wildfires, has raised $14m in Series A funding from B Capital, Convective Capital, Semapa Next, Bentley iTwin Ventures, Pale Blue Dot, CapitalT, Moxxie Ventures, and Overwater Ventures.

🔥

Cthings.co, a Polish startup that works with mobile operators and cloud infrastructure providers on IoT and 5G applications, has raised €4.5m from investors including Orlen VC, PKO VC, Freya Capital and Level2 Ventures. It plans to use the funding to expand internationally.
Munich-based FarmInsect raised a €8m Series A.
German health platform Lillian Care has closed a €2.4m pre-seed round led by healthcare specialised VC Nina Capital.
Nortech AI raised a €2.5m seed round from investors Indico Capital Partners and Earlybird-X to expand is plug and play data solutions in the maritime industry.
Amatera, a French agritech startup that develops non-GMO strands of vegetables and other crops, has raised €1.5m in pre-seed funding from PINC, Exceptional Ventures, Mudcake, Joyance Partners, Agfunder and angel investors including Nicolas Morin-Forest from Gourmey.

'Deep tech' or 'deeptech'? It depends who you ask.

An analysis of Google trends by Hello Tomorrow CEO Arnaud de la Tour suggests that the French prefer it as a single word, while the two word option is preferred by literally everybody else in the world. (Or at least everybody else in countries where the data exists.)

For what it's worth, here at Sifted we agree with the French: like the words startup and cofounder, we're not big fans of hyphenated identifiers. As for the world's guardians of style, the Associated Press, it appears that the jury is out: neither 'deeptech' nor 'deep tech' get a mention in the AP Style Guide.

There are plenty of ways to get your fix.

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