Financing the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Tibi Initiative
The Directorate General of the Treasury provides support for investment in technology companies. At the beginning of 2020, under the auspices of President Macron, institutional investors pledged to invest €6 billion over the ensuing three years. The French Treasury is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this initiative, coordinating the technical committees where applications from funds are examined and ensuring that the funds selected are relevant to the project's specifications.
The goal of the Tibi Initiative is to bridge a gap in the funding market by leveraging investment from institutional stakeholders
On 17 July 2019, Bruno Le Maire, Minister for the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, and Cédric O, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, received the report entitled “Financing the Fourth Industrial Revolution - Unlocking Funding for Technology Companies”. It was written by Philippe Tibi, President of Pergamon Campus and professor of economics at École Polytechnique. The Tibi Report flagged up the insufficient financing resources that are available to French technology companies as they ramp up their industrial and commercial phases.
To bridge this gap in the market, on 17 September 2019, under the auspices of President Macron, French institutional investors pledged to allocate more than €5 billion in funding to technology companies by 31 December 2022.
On 13 January 2020, Bruno Le Maire and Cédric O brought these investors together at Bercy (French finance ministry) to formalise their pledges and mark the starting point for their tangible implementation. The group signed a document of commitment; in addition, a set of specifications and a governance charter providing a structure for the initiative were issued. During the meeting, the investors also announced that they would contribute an additional €1 billion, bringing their total commitment to over €6 billion.
The results of phase 1 of the Tibi initiative are very positive. France is now the leading ecosystem for financing new technologies in the European Union.
Against a backdrop of massive financing needs for the ecological, digital and industrial transitions, a new phase to mobilize funds from institutional investors was launched last February at Bercy by ministers Bruno Le Maire and Jean-Noël Barrot.
In the light of an initial market review, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the launch of phase 2 of the Tibi initiative on June 14, 2023, in the presence of Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications. This new phase will already mobilize €7 billion in private funding to develop the technology companies of tomorrow.
The French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, under the chairmanship of Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications, has brought together all the institutional investors who have already committed to financing technology companies to the tune of €7 billion by 2026. This commitment has been formalized through the signature of a commitment document.
The aim of the Tibi Initiative is to encourage the emergence of financial players who can fast-track the growth of innovative companies and turn them into regional or global leaders, and to expand France’s technological community through the development of specific skillsets.
As part of this process, technical committees made up of partner investors meet on a regular basis to validate applications from the funds that will invest the amounts pledged. During these committee meetings, fund management companies are asked to demonstrate the relevance of their funding proposal with regard to the initiative’s specifications.
List of approved funds under the Tibi Initiative
The following funds have satisfied the criteria set out in the specifications and the partner investors have validated their eligibility for the initiative.
This list will be updated as the committees meet.
|
For investments in non-listed companies (53 funds): |
For investments in listed companies (25 funds): |
|
|
List as of 8 September 2023
List of partner investors
- Aéma Groupe
- AG2R La Mondiale
- Allianz
- Assurances du Crédit Mutuel
- AXA
- BNP Cardif
- BPCE Assurances
- Bpifrance
- CDC
- CNP Assurances
- Covea
- Crédit Agricole Assurances
- EDF
- ERAFP
- FRR
- Generali
- Groupama
- HSBC
- Le Conservateur
- Maif
- Matmut
- Mutuelle de Poitiers
- Orano
- Secrétariat Général Pour l'Investissement
- SMA BTP
- Sogécap
- Suravenir
- Swiss Life
- UMR
List as of 30 June 2023