Bpifrance is launching Bpifrance Amorçage Industriel 2 (BAI 2), a €75 million fund reserved for industrial startups that manufacture in France without relying on breakthrough technology. Presented on 5 November by Maddyness, it takes over from a first €50 million vehicle. The goal: 20 to 25 new investments within four to five years, with initial tickets of €500,000 to €2 million.
A fund for “non-deeptech” manufacturers
The French public investment bank is targeting a category often overlooked by investors: young industrial companies whose innovation is incremental. They improve a product or process for an already identified market, without relying on a major scientific breakthrough. According to Maddyness, they account for about two thirds of France’s industrial startups, with more than 2,300 active companies.
Their financial situation is paradoxical. From 2022 to 2025, their share of the amounts raised by industrial startups capped at 15%, even though they were behind 59% of the sector’s factory openings. In other words, they are often the ones actually building production sites, while venture capital money goes first to the most spectacular technology projects. Raphaël Didier, who heads Bpifrance’s industrial seed unit, sums up the difficulty: in his view, this is a type of company “that remains difficult to support”.
What the fund finances, and how
BAI 2 takes minority stakes, in equity or quasi-equity. The initial ticket ranges from €500,000 to €2 million, in funding rounds of roughly €1.5 million to €15 million. The fund does not invest alone: it co-invests with institutional and private players. According to Bpifrance, each euro invested by the first fund attracted an average of €4 of private capital.
The target profile is specific: a differentiating product or process, manufacturing in France, a completed first phase of research and development, prototypes or initial production runs, and a company approaching industrialisation and the take-off of its sales. The investment thesis remains that of the first fund. “What changes is the size of the fund,” explains Raphaël Didier. This larger size leaves room to reinvest in subsequent rounds. The first fund, for its part, retains reserves to support its existing portfolio companies, while BAI 2 is reserved for new investments.
The first fund’s track record, failures included
Launched in April 2023 with €50 million, the first BAI now has around fifteen portfolio companies, compared with eight in February 2025. They include Battri, Elixir Aircraft, Isybot, Engo, Bluenav, Yumgo, K Motors and Maash. A team of six people reviewed more than a thousand projects, more than 400 of which led to a meeting. Yumgo opened its production site in Moissy-Cramayel in 2025; Elixir Aircraft, for its part, closed a €45 million round in July 2026 led by SPI, a Bpifrance fund.
The journey has not been without setbacks. Angell, the fund’s very first investment, entered receivership in January 2025: the frames of its first bikes had a defect. The Rebirth group subsequently took over part of the business. Raphaël Didier owns up to it: in venture capital, “you have to accept a failure rate”. In total, Bpifrance now devotes €125 million to this segment through its two funds.
A growing industrial ecosystem
This launch is part of a broader movement. According to Dealroom, French industrial startups raised €1.94 billion in the first half of 2026, up 42% year on year, growth driven by large rounds while seed funding was slowing. It is precisely this upstream segment that BAI 2 intends to support.
Five days later, on 10 November, the government announced 13 new winners of France 2030’s “Première Usine” (First Factory) call for projects, operated by Bpifrance. This scheme, launched in 2022, grants subsidies and repayable advances to move into production. According to the press release, France has more than 3,500 industrially oriented startups, twice as many as in 2021, whose combined sales exceeded €6.4 billion in 2025.
What this changes for entrepreneurs
For a founder manufacturing an improved rather than revolutionary product in France, BAI 2 opens an additional door at the most delicate moment: the move from prototype to series production. Two limitations should nevertheless be kept in mind. The fund remains a minority investor and expects other investors alongside it, which means also convincing private players. And with 20 to 25 investments planned over several years, selection will be tight given more than 2,300 potential candidates.
Frequently asked questions
Which companies can be financed by BAI 2?
Industrial startups that manufacture in France, with incremental innovation rather than breakthrough technology, that have completed their first R&D phase and have prototypes or initial production runs.
How much can be obtained?
The first investment is between €500,000 and €2 million, in a funding round of around €1.5 million to €15 million, with the possibility of reinvesting later.
How does it differ from the “Première Usine” call for projects?
BAI 2 takes minority stakes in a company’s capital. “Première Usine”, funded by France 2030, provides subsidies and repayable advances to support the opening of a first production site.
Sources
- Bpifrance lance un nouveau fonds de 75 millions d'euros pour les startups industrielles non deeptech — Maddyness, 2026-11-05
- Bpifrance launches €75M fund for non-deeptech industrial startups — Dealroom News, 2026-11-05
- France 2030 : avec l'appel à projets « Première Usine », le Gouvernement soutient 13 nouveaux projets industriels — Bpifrance (press release), 2026-11-10