Like a lot of politicians, France¡¯s Emmanuel Macron idolizes tech startups.
They are seen to provide jobs, opportunity and entrepreneurship in a country needing all three and they¡¯re a benign counterweight to the establishment titans on the blue-chip CAC 40 stock index.
Hence the online celebrations from Macron¡¯s government this week as France added a 24th ¡°unicorn¡± to its list of home-grown billion-dollar startups: Fintech firm Qonto was valued at $5.5 billion after raising funds. There¡¯s been debate over whether France has 23, 24 or 25 unicorns; either way it¡¯s highly likely that Macron will soon announce he¡¯s hit his 2025 target of 25 unicorns about three years ahead of schedule.
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