![]() Plus, there is more time to have fun after work and there are mountains. “It’s a mix of intellectual stamina and entrepreneurship. ![]() “It’s like California,” says Verkor cofounder and CEO Benoit Lemaignan. But with VCs and French policymakers hyper-focused on backing deeptech champions, there are signs that Grenoble is the right place, at the right time. The one asset Grenoble has been missing is venture capital. The technological breadth of those startups speaks to the wide range of scientific expertise that can be found in a city where research and industry collaborate across its constellation of universities such as CEA-Leti and Université Grenoble Alpes, public-private innovation hubs like the MINATEC micro and nanotechnology innovation campus, and scientific talent. Grenoble ranks fourth (tied with Munich) for deeptech funding among European cities in 2023, behind Stockholm, Paris and London, according to Dealroom. But beyond that, it’s been a big year for Grenoble startups: Aledia raised $120m for its microscreen tech GreenWaves $20m for its fabless semiconductor Quobly $19m for its quantum computing tech and Renaissance Fusion raised $19m for nuclear fusion. The most eye-catching deal was the €2bn in financing - including €850m in equity - raised in September by low-carbon battery startup Verkor to build a gigafactory for mass production in 2025. But a series of massive fundraisings has turned the international spotlight on a city that French media has long called “France’s Silicon Valley”. Nestled in the foothills of the Alps, Grenoble has long been France’s deeptech secret weapon. ![]()
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