In 2017, when newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron said, "I want France to be a startup nation,” his detractors used his words to mock him.

If anything, France was struggling to attract venture capital — with the annual number of investments into startups falling in 2016, lagging both the U.K. and Germany, according to data from Pitchbook.

Now fledgling French companies are raking in investor funds. On a record-setting day in September, two French technology startups — Sorare and Mirakl — together raised more than $1 billion.