Bpifrance launches €75M fund for non-deeptech industrial startups
What's the deal? Bpifrance has launched Bpifrance Amorçage Industriel 2 (BAI 2), a €75 million venture fund targeting French industrial startups that want to produce in France without relying on breakthrough technology. It succeeds a first €50 million vehicle launched in April 2023, bringing the public bank's commitment to the segment to €125 million.
Why now? So-called "non-deeptech" industrial startups make up about two-thirds of France's industrial startups — more than 2,300 active companies — yet captured just 15% of the funds raised by the sector between 2022 and 2025. Over the same period, they accounted for 59% of startup factory openings.
What's the endgame? BAI 2 keeps the first fund's strategy with more firepower, backing startups that have finished early R&D and hold prototypes or first production runs, as they enter industrialisation and commercial scale-up. It will take minority stakes via equity and quasi-equity, with initial tickets of €500,000 to €2 million in rounds of roughly €1.5 million to €15 million.
The team aims for 20 to 25 new holdings over four to five years. The first fund took 15 stakes, including Elixir Aircraft, YumgoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and EngoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, after identifying more than 1,000 projects and meeting over 400.
What could go wrong? Not every bet pays off. Angell, the first fund's debut investment, entered receivership in January 2025 after a defect on its early bikes' frames, before being partly taken over by the Rebirth groupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
"As in any venture investment, you have to accept a failure rate. Not all projects will go the distance, unfortunately," said Raphaël Didier, director of Bpifrance's industrial seed division (translated from French).
The signal: French industrial startups raised €1.94 billion in the first half of 2026, up 42% year on year, but the gains were driven by large rounds while seed-stage funding slowed. By targeting non-deeptech firms, BAI 2 addresses a blind spot: equity suited to the hard-to-fund jump from prototype to production, rather than capital for breakthrough technology.
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Image credit: Generated with Gemini
