Like a lot of politicians, France’s Emmanuel Macron idolizes tech startups.
They are seen to provide jobs, opportunity and entrepreneurship in a country needing all three and they’re a benign counterweight to the establishment titans on the blue-chip CAC 40 stock index.
Hence the online celebrations from Macron’s government this week as France added a 24th "unicorn” to its list of home-grown billion-dollar startups: Fintech firm Qonto was valued at $5.5 billion after raising funds. There’s been debate over whether France has 23, 24 or 25 unicorns; either way it’s highly likely that Macron will soon announce he’s hit his 2025 target of 25 unicorns about three years ahead of schedule.