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For the first time, France was one of the top represented countries in Y Combinator’s Summer 22 batch. Three of the eight French startups selected by YC are former residents of the Station F campus in Paris, so we chatted with director Roxanne Varza to understand how it came about and what others can learn from it. Let’s dive in – Anna
Meet the French
France was one of the top five countries represented in the YC S22 batch, with eight of its starters joining the pacesetter’s latest group. That was less than the US, India, UK and Israel. But it was more than Germany, which sent six startups to the YC this year — a record close for the country, but no less impressive given France’s large population.
In absolute terms, France only holds its own S21 record, but that team had 390 participants. As TechCrunch reported last month, the YC S22 batch was very small, with 240 teams. This means that France’s representation is growing proportionately, which bodes well for France’s stated goal of becoming home to 100 unicorns by 2030.
Let’s add a caveat here that while we use “French” loosely, we’re following YC – almost every one of these eight groups has a remote component, and some are located in the US or other countries. However, this is not limited to France, according to YC, among recent startups, 35% are remote and 37% remote-friendly.
