France mobilises €13 billion for tech sovereignty funding push

PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - France has mobilised €13 billion ($14.89 billion) in additional institutional investor funding under the third phase of its Tibi initiative to finance French and European technology companies, the finance ministry said on Friday.

The new phase aims to bring the envelope to €15 billion by the end of 2030, taking total funding mobilised under the initiative since 2020 to nearly €31 billion, the ministry said in a statement released during the VivaTech conference in Paris.

• The ministry said 50% of investments under the new phase would be directed towards deeptech companies.

• New participants include mutual insurer Carac, rail operator SNCF, Paris transport group RATP, defence groups Naval Group and MBDA, and satellite operator Eutelsat.

• The government said the move was intended to support French IPOs and help small and mid-sized firms scale up while remaining anchored in France and Europe.

• The new phase also has a stronger European focus, to support pan-European funds able to finance technology companies through larger funding rounds.

($1 = 0.8728 euros)

(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet; Editing by Makini Brice)