How the Fall of Finance Led to French Tech's Rise

France is emerging as a major European tech hub: La French Tech, as it is known, is improbably beating out Germany and rivaling London for funding levels and company valuations. A significant portion of France’s most talented young people now want to work in an innovation ecosystem rather than in secure jobs in government or traditional industries. The reason for the shift is not Emmanuel Macron, the reformer who has become French president. It long predates his rise.

Instead, it has its roots in the 2008 financial crisis. In most countries, the dot-com bubble, for all the waste, at least left behind infrastructure and a generation of battle-hardened entrepreneurs; in France, however, the adoption of the internet was delayed by the French government’s home-grown substitute, the Minitel. The belief that the internet was a fad remained after the dot-com bubble burst, hurting investment and entrepreneurship.