Happn CEO Didier Rappaport. Its recent Sao Paulo launch attracted 150,000 users in its first week Dan Burn-Forti

This article was first published in the September 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content bysubscribing online

In June 2014, ride-sharing startup BlaBlaCar raised more than €100 million (£60m) in one of Europe's largest-ever investment rounds. It now has more than 20 million members across the world, but it's not the only Parisian startup to make a global splash: France is the most represented European country in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 with 86 companies (the UK is second with 67). Many Parisian startups have already achieved the kind of success that fuels a digital ecosystem: ad-tech company Criteo was valued at £1.7 billion at its 2013 IPO on Nasdaq; marketing tech startup Neolane was acquired by Adobe for £394 million; and restaurant reservation service LaFourchette was bought by TripAdvisor in 2014 for $140 million (£88m). "The Paris ecosystem is getting better and better each year," says Frédéric Mazzella, CEO of BlaBlaCar. "We now have a host of good incubators, investors and tech coverage."


Dataiku

2 Rue Jean Lantier, Paris 75001

Founded in February 2013, by CEO Florian Douetteau, Marc Batty, Thomas Cabrol and Clément Stenac, Dataiku's Data Science Studio is a software platform that allows data scientists to run statistical models and build their own predictive algorithms. Among its high-profile clients are local giants Vente-privee.com and BlaBlaCar. In 2014, it made €1 million in profit, and it is experiencing 5.5 per cent user growth week on week. It completed a €3.2 million investment round led by Alven Capital and Serena Capital in January 2015.

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Drivy

7 Impasse Charles Petit, Paris 75011

Drivy lets its 600,000 registered users rent their cars to each other. It recently merged with its competitor Buzzcar and is currently active in France and Germany, representing more than 37,000 cars. Drivy recently raised €8.6 million from Via-ID, Index Ventures, Alven Capital and investment bank Bpifrance, following an €8.3 million round in 2014.


happn

8 Rue du Sentier, Paris 75002

Over the past year, dating app happn has been heralded by UK media as the new Tinder. Launched in February 2014 by Didier Rappaport, the co-founder of Dailymotion, happn presents a personalised news feed of potential dates within a 250-metre radius. The app has more than two million active monthly users and has been downloaded four million times. It is available in most European capitals and major US cities; London is its most popular customer base with 310,000 users, followed by Paris with 280,000. In December 2014, it raised $8 million in a series A round. "Our vision is to bring reality into the dating world," says Rappaport. "We want to reconnect dating with the people around you, the people you encounter throughout the day."

tinyclues

1 Rue du Mail, Paris 75002

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Mathematician David Bessis founded tinyclues after noticing that certain mainstream approaches to data-mining were mathematically incorrect. An expert in machine learning and digital marketing, Bessis spent ten years as an algebra researcher at Yale University and at universities in Moscow and Kyoto. His startup has raised $1.9 million from ISAI and Elaia Partners since launching in 2013 and provides web-based software to predict marketing trends to customers such as Fnac and PriceMinister.


Selectionnist

54 Rue de Ponthieu, Paris 75008

Selectionnist monetises the editorial curation of fashion magazines including Vogue, Elle and Glamour (WIRED is published by Condé Nast International , which also publishes Vogue and Glamour). It allows readers to select a product from a magazine and, via its app, purchase it on an e-commerce website. It raised $2.1 million in seed funding in March 2014.

OpenClassrooms

7 Cité Paradis, Paris 75010

OpenClassrooms offers more than 1,000 massive open online courses to its three million monthly users. It has partnered with France's top engineering school, the École Polytechnique, and now offers courses such as Decode the Entrepreneur's DNA, taught by Bruno Martinaud, head of technology at the university's Technology Venture Master programme.

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La Ruche Qui Dit Oui

208 Rue Saint-Maur, Paris 75010

La Ruche Qui Dit Oui provides a way for farmers to sell their produce online and directly to the public. In 2014 it organised 700 assemblies in France and Belgium, connecting more than 4,000 producers to 100,000 customers. It launched last year in the UK as The Food Assembly and is also established in Belgium, Germany and Spain.

Capitaine Train

9 Rue Ambroise Thomas, Paris 75009

Founded in 2009 by Jean-Daniel Guyot, Martin Ottenwaelter and Valentine Surrel, Capitaine Train has streamlined rail travel -- its 800,000 customers can buy train tickets for 19 European countries via its app. It recently raised €6.3 million in an investment round led by Alven Capital. Former Deutsche Bahn president Daniel Beutler recently joined as COO.

Lydia

84 Boulevard Raspail, Paris 75006


Lydia's app lets its customers send and receive money for free and pay at stores and e-commerce websites. Processing is cheap -- it charges just 1.5 per cent and €0.06 per transaction. The app was downloaded more than 50,000 times in 2014, with 85 per cent of its users in the coveted millennials (18 to 30) bracket.

Algolia

53 Rue de Turbigo, Paris 75003

Y Combinator alumnus Algolia was founded in 2012 by Nicolas Dessaigne and Julien Lemoine. It provides a real-time search API it that claims can retrieve results up to 200 times faster than its competitors, a feat that has attracted customers such as CrunchBase, Genius, Periscope and the Etsy-owned A Little Market. It has more than 600 clients in 50 countries.