The Financial Situation of Start-ups in 2025 (Banque de France)

Summary

• Revenue of the analysed start-ups rose 11.6% compared with 2024 to reach €29.7 billion.p.1
• The operating deficit narrowed by 9.2% in 2025, after an already marked decrease of 17% the previous year.p.1
• Cash fell 3.9% to €11.1 billion, while headcount rose 2.2% to nearly 120,900 jobs.p.1
• Cumulative equity stands at €17.9 billion, up slightly by 0.9%.p.1
• Fundraising fell 5% in 2025, with French start-ups raising €7.4 billion versus €7.8 billion in 2024 across 618 deals.p.1
• The study analyses 2,640 start-ups with complete tax filings, out of 6,300 innovative companies identified by the Banque de France.p.2
• Aggregate operating losses fell to €3.29 billion from €3.62 billion, and 39.8% of start-ups were profitable at operating level versus 37.5% in 2024.p.4

Key insights

1. Start-up revenue growth of 11.6% is well above the 1.5% growth recorded for small and medium-sized enterprises.p.2
2. Fintechs export 33.6% of their revenue, compared with 31.0% in 2024.p.3
3. 17.9% of start-ups (472 out of 2,640) have negative equity.p.3
4. 86.6% of start-ups use bank debt, with an outstanding amount of €5.9 billion.p.3
5. Median cash represents 57 days of revenue, versus 69 days in 2024, still above other SMEs (50 days) and mid-caps (52 days).p.4
6. Fintech headcount grew by 9.0%, the strongest increase among sectors.p.5
7. The 271 deeptech start-ups generate cumulative revenue of €2.36 billion, up 8.4%.p.7
8. Of the 271 deeptech companies, 200 (73.8%) have a negative operating result.p.8
9. No insolvency proceedings were recorded among fintechs in 2025.p.10
10. The France 2030 plan is endowed with €54 billion over five years.p.15