The ambition of the French Tech Health20 program is to support high-potential start-ups that meet a common objective of accelerating innovation in the service of our technological, industrial and health sovereignty, in order to help them develop and deploy their initiatives on a large scale.
01
OVERVIEW
According to the Panorama France HealthTech 2023, France has more than 2,600 HealthTech start-ups. The HealthTech sector includes companies that develop new products or new technologies in human health.
It is divided into three sectors: biotechnologies (Biotechs), medical devices (Medtechs) and digital health. The French HealthTech sector is very diversified; it covers all therapeutic areas with a significant proportion of applications in oncology, neurology, ophthalmology and infectious diseases.
The State’s support for these sectors is largely reflected in the deployment of the France 2030 health plan “Innovation Santé 2030”, steered by the Agence de l’innovation en santé, which is structured around four acceleration strategies, among others:
- the biotherapies-bioproduction strategy aims to position France as a leader in biotherapies and the bioproduction of innovative therapies through the development of new therapeutic innovations and a strengthening of the industrial fabric;
- the emerging infectious diseases and nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical threats strategy aims to enable the government to understand, prevent and control emerging or re-emerging health crises. To do this, support will be directed towards the development of countermeasures that can be used to diagnose, protect or treat human beings in preparation for future emergencies to limit their impact;
- the digital health strategy launched in 2021 aims to prepare the future and make France a leader in digital health. To achieve this, the main objective of this strategy is to create a major ecosystem in this sector, capable of competing in a competitive global market;
- the innovative medical devices component seeks to facilitate access to innovative medical devices for healthcare institutions, support industrialization projects and reduce time to market.
02
PROCESS
The first edition of the French Tech Health20 program was designed to support start-ups developing particularly promising disruptive innovations in the “Innovation Santé 2030” priority areas, in close collaboration with the French Health Innovation Agency.
A selection based on criteria of economic and technological potential
The selection of the 21 winners was carried out in three main stages:
First stage – Preliminary analysis of the eligibility of the candidate companies with regard to the following elements:
- The territorial anchorage of the company in France and its innovative character;
- A minimum threshold of economic maturity;
- Alignment with the priority themes targeted by the France 2030 plan, in particular: biotherapies-bioproduction, emerging infectious diseases, digital health and medical devices.
Second stage – Pre-selection by ministerial experts in conjunction with the French Tech Mission of projects incorporating disruptive technologies that are riskier but have a high potential for large-scale deployment, have a significant impact on accelerating the transformation of our economy, create value, and are profoundly useful for industrial, technological, and health sovereignty.
Third stage – Hearing and selection of the winners by a jury composed of qualified personalities, after a phase of hearings.
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LAUREATES
The 21 start-ups selected to join the French Tech Health20 program represent:
Solutions at the heart of the main health, technological and industrial sovereignty issues, in particular: digital health (7), biotherapies and bioproduction (4), innovative medical devices (6), emerging infectious diseases (4).
7 French regions represented: Île-de-France (12), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (3), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (2), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (1), Grand Est (1), Haut-de-France (1), Pays de Loire (1)
30% of CEOs and co-founders are women.
Technological solutions that meet the major challenges of health, industrial and technological sovereignty
The ability of companies to meet the major challenges of health, industrial and technological sovereignty was analyzed in terms of their ability to develop new activities that could become future areas of excellence. Moreover, the solutions they develop are also likely to make a significant contribution to the government’s objective of creating 100 new industrial sites per year by 2025, since a significant proportion of them are industrial in nature.
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SUPPORT
The 21 selected start-ups will benefit from the support of the Mission French Tech for one year, i.e. access to the network of French Tech correspondents in more than 60 public services and enhanced visibility in France and internationally.
This system has proven its worth in supporting the development of French Tech Next40/120 start-ups. In addition, in order to provide the best possible support for the 2023 French Tech Health20 promotion, Mission French Tech will continue to work closely with government departments, in particular the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, to which it is attached (General Directorate of Companies), the Ministry of Health and Prevention, and the Agency for Innovation in Health.
Enhanced visibility in France and internationally
The visibility provided to companies will aim to promote the solutions of the French Tech ecosystem to the economic fabric (SMEs, ETIs, especially industrial), public actors or internationally, and accelerate the deployment of their solutions. Companies will be able to benefit from the following actions:
- Participation in events of the French Tech ecosystem, in France and abroad;
- Participation in actions dedicated to the promotion of the HealthTech ecosystem (actions financed by the French Tech Community Fund, call for projects deployed by the Mission French Tech);
- Integration into economic diplomacy initiatives with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Treasury.
State support for business development
Based on the model of the support offered to French Tech Next40/120 companies, the French Tech Health20 start-ups will benefit from daily support tailored to their needs for a period of one year.
The objective of the program is to provide individual and collective support on strategic issues such as international development, financing, recruitment, territorial establishment, intellectual property and regulatory issues. This support is divided into four parts.
A dedicated start-up manager, who supports the companies in his or her portfolio on their priority issues and acts as a link with the network of “French Tech Correspondents”. This network brings together 60 government agencies and public services that are partners of the Mission French Tech, and that have mobilized to contribute to the success of start-ups supported by the Mission. These partners, including Business France, the French Customs and Excise Department, INPI, AFNOR, the Bank of France, and URSSAF, provide support for start-ups in their international development, intellectual property protection, financing, and human resources issues.
Enhanced visibility, via influence and communication operations, a presence in official delegations in France and abroad, in connection with the French Tech Capitals and Communities in France and abroad, and the French Tech Correspondents.
Specific support on regulatory issues, with the aim of continuing to ensure a legal framework in France that is favorable to the development of start-ups. It allows for both individual monitoring of the specific problems of French Tech Health20 start-ups, and for the entire promotion to benefit from the work of the French Tech Mission on priority legal issues. In addition, the French Agency for Innovation in Health offers them personalized support, specialized in health.
Events for sharing experiences and providing expertise on various issues: financing, recruitment, parity, inclusion and diversity, regulatory issues, international, ecological transition, external growth.
