French startups raised between €614.7 million and €700 million in October 2026, depending on which tracker you consult. Maddyness counts 44 deals, Journal du Net 36. Yet both reports tell the same story: a month back to normal after September’s record, and hanging on Pigment’s Series E.
Two totals for a single month
On 3 November, two newsrooms published their monthly tallies. In his analysis for Maddyness, Pierre Berthoux arrives at €614.7 million spread across 44 funding rounds. Raphael Hazan, for Journal du Net, settles on around €700 million (€700.2 million in his sector table) for 36 deals.
A gap of some €85 million does not mean that one of the two figures is wrong. Maddyness spells out its rule: it only counts equity raises, i.e. those that dilute founders, carried out by startups under ten years old whose main headquarters is in France. The Journal du Net article specifies neither what it includes nor where its data comes from. One visible consequence: cargo airship maker Flying Whales, credited by JDN with €90 million and with CMA CGM and Air Liquide among its investors, does not appear in the ranking of the ten biggest deals published by Maddyness.
The sector classification also differs. Pigment is filed under IT by Maddyness but under fintech by JDN, which is enough to put finance at the top of the second ranking with €318 million across four deals, or 45.4% of the total by our calculation.
Pigment, a third of the month on its own
On one point, the two sources agree: October largely comes down to a single raise. Pigment closed a $250 million Series E, which Maddyness converts to €222.5 million and JDN to €223 million. Nvidia, EQT Ventures, Greenoaks and ICONIQ are among the investors cited. According to Maddyness, the company’s valuation doubled to reach $2.3 billion.
This deal accounts for 36.2% of the amount calculated by Maddyness. Without it, the month drops to €392.2 million across 43 rounds, with an average ticket of €9.1 million. Adding Spiko (€80.5 million, cash investments and tokenised money market funds) and Elax Énergie (€30 million), three companies capture 54.2% of the funds. They are followed by WhiteLab Genomics (€23.2 million), Rivercell (€22.4 million), Vocca (€17.9 million) and VoltR (€16 million).
Fewer rounds, bigger cheques
Compared with September, boosted by Mistral AI’s giant raise, the decline is spectacular: down 81.3% according to Maddyness. JDN puts September’s record at €3.78 billion and ranks October as the fourth most active month of 2026.
The year-on-year comparison is more telling. For Maddyness, the total is up 4.3% year on year, but the number of deals falls from 62 to 44: nearly a third of transactions have disappeared. The average ticket consequently climbs to nearly €14 million, from €9.5 million in October 2025. JDN, which puts October 2025 at €458 million, shows a much sharper rise, above 50% by our calculation.
The breakdown by stage, provided by Maddyness, confirms the concentration. Seed accounts for 28 rounds totalling just €151.6 million, i.e. 24.7% of the total. The two late-stage growth rounds, Pigment and Elax Énergie, weigh €252.5 million on their own, or 41.1%.
AI everywhere, Île-de-France dominant
The place of artificial intelligence also depends on how you count. Maddyness treats it as a cross-cutting characteristic: 30 of the 44 companies funded use it, totalling €434.1 million, i.e. 70.6% of the amounts. Excluding Pigment, the share remains 54%. JDN, which treats it as one sector among others, attributes only €24.8 million across six deals to it, level in volume with medtech and biotech.
Geographically, the imbalance is widening. Île-de-France, including Paris, brings together 28 deals for €534.3 million, i.e. 86.9% of the total according to Maddyness. The sixteen deals carried out elsewhere add up to only €80.4 million, including €21.7 million in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and €18.7 million in Pays de la Loire.
What a founder should take away
For a young company preparing a funding round, the useful data point is not the monthly total but the growing scarcity of deals. A third fewer transactions year on year means more competition for each cheque, especially outside the Paris region. Conversely, the projects deemed solid raise larger amounts than in 2025.
Finally, these discrepancies are a reminder that a tracker must be read alongside its method. Before citing a figure in an investor pitch or an economic note, it is best to check the scope used: age of the companies, nature of the funds, sector classification.
Frequently asked questions
How much did French Tech raise in October 2026?
Between €614.7 million (44 deals, according to Maddyness) and around €700 million (36 deals, according to Journal du Net). Both reports were published on 3 November 2026.
Why do the amounts differ from one outlet to another?
Each tracker applies its own scope. Maddyness only includes equity raises by startups under ten years old based in France; Journal du Net does not publish its method, and some deals such as Flying Whales only appear in its count.
Is October 2026 a good month for startup funding?
Amounts are stable or up year on year, but the number of deals is falling sharply and a single raise, Pigment’s, accounts for more than a third of the total. The market is concentrating more than it is broadening.
Sources
- Portée par Pigment, la French Tech lève 614,7 millions d'euros en octobre — Maddyness, 2026-11-03
- Les start-up françaises ont levé 700 millions d'euros en octobre — Journal du Net, 2026-11-03