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Hi there, I'm Azim Azar and you're listening to Exponential View.

It's the place where I come together with a brilliant mind to explore how exponential technologies are shaping on near future.

Now this week I'm going to dive into the European tech scene and specifically what the French government is doing to foster its innovation ecosystem.

How much government is enough? And how much is too much?

Now before I get started, I need one favor. Please visit your podcast platform.

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Now I am delighted to welcome Cat Bolonion to Exponential View.

Since 2018, Cat has been the director of LaFrench Tech, the government's unit specifically dedicated to fostering its local startup ecosystem.

Now if there are skeptics out there who believe that the French don't have a word for entrepreneur,

take note that France is in the midst of a startup boom.

Of Europe's three major economies, France is the only country expected to report a growth in startups in 2020,

contributing some 20% to new employment across the country.

Even so compared to the US, investment levels in Europe remain low, attracting just a quarter of America's $140 billion of capital that poured into technology last year.

France's tech startups will have received around $5.2 billion across the same period,

which makes President Macron's goal of producing 25 French unicorns by 2025 commendably ambitious.

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