5 French startups to look out for in 2015

Startups are springing up everywhere in Europe at an increasing rate. At the beginning of this year, we took a look at the largest European countries and tried to come up with a list of 5 startups for each country to look out for in 2015.

Especially in the case of France, it has been hard to narrow this list down, but we’ve decided to just go with just 5 promising French startups from different sectors. All of them entered the market within the last two years and each of the listed startups has something special to add to the web experience in 2015.

1. Breaz: Founded in 2014, breaz is a marketplace that aims to connect the best talent to the best companies in the tech industry. The Paris-based startup could be described as an auction-house where companies are able to bid for talented programmers, designers, sales managers and other tech related professionals. Breaz is a nice alternative to the existing headhunting models. In case you find your next rockstar employee through Breaz, the startup takes a monthly payment of about 0.8% of the annual salary over 18 months.

2. Teezily: This startup offers a fast-growing crowdfunding platform for custom apparel, and is based in Paris. Teezily provides a platform that allows individuals to create campaigns to sell custom products. Campaign creators are expected to design and market the product themselves, leveraging social media to make money. Teezily fulfills the orders on campaigns that reach their sales goal, then shipping the items to buyers. Launched in January 2014, the company reported in June a 600% month-over-month growth rate. Teezily is already available in 7 languages.

3. happn: This location-based mobile dating app enables its users to build connections based on real-time interactions. Founded in 2013, happn helps its users to discover people they’ve crossed paths with, or as the startup describes it: “happn is the app that saves us from missed connections”. The app is available on iOS and Android. In December of 2014, the Paris-based startup secured $8 million in a Series A funding round.

4. Smokio: This French startup develops and sells connected electronic cigarettes and innovative apps for them. Smokio’s easy-to-use products enable their users to track and reduce their consumption, follow their progress, monitor their health and check their financial savings. The young company is based in Paris and was founded in 2013 (Update – May 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website, and we therefore deactivated the original link).

5. Cryptosense: Founded in 2013, Cryptosense offers an innovative security analysis software with a particular focus on cryptographic systems. The Paris-based startup provides its solutions to an international customer base, in particular in the financial, industrial and government sectors. In September 2014, Cryptosense secured a seed investment of €700K by Elaia Partners.

By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

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