Bpifrance plays a crucial role in strengthening the French defence industry by supporting innovation by start-ups and SMEs in the sector, increasing production capacity and facilitating export sales. Through schemes such as the Definvest fund, which finances strategic companies in the Defence Industrial and Technological Base (DITB), and the Defence Innovation Fund, which supports the scaling-up of tomorrow’s technological champions with commercial outlets in the civil and defence sectors, as well as various financing, investment, export insurance and business advisory solutions such as the Defence Accelerator, Bpifrance is actively helping to build an autonomous, high-performance defence industry, thereby meeting the investment needs highlighted by Mario Draghi’s report.

A strong need for investment in the European defence industry:

Mario Draghi’s report on European competitiveness highlighted a number of weaknesses in the European economy, underlining the need for investment and reform, particularly in the defence industry. Faced with the Russian threat, the spectre of American disengagement and increased international competition, the Old Continent must step up its efforts to build an autonomous, high-performance defence industry. To meet these needs, the European Commission has estimated that €500 billion of additional investment is required over the next decade.

Bpifrance, a long-standing partner of the French defence industry :

Bpifrance plays a crucial role in supporting start-ups and SMEs in the defence sector. Dedicated tools have been developed in partnership with the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) and the French government to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the French defence industry. In terms of equity financing, two major schemes stand out: Definvest, which finances strategic companies in the Defence Industrial and Technological Base (DITB), and the Defence Innovation Fund, which supports start-ups in their defence-related technological developments.

The Defence Accelerator, an initiative welcomed by the sector :

To help strengthen and secure supply chains, Bpifrance, in partnership with the Direction Générale de l’Armement, launched an accelerator dedicated to the defence sector in March 2024, comprising 30 key subcontractors in the sector. This 12-month programme aims to increase their production capacity and reduce bottlenecks in the sector. Although only recently set up, the success of this scheme is reflected in the very positive feedback received from managers and contractors.

Bpifrance, a key partner of the French defence industry :

Bpifrance has supported a large number of companies in the sector, including successful French start-ups such as U-Space, which creates nanosatellites and has raised €7 million in 2022 thanks to Definvest and obtained a €1 million investment seed loan, to be topped up by €10 million in 2023. Bpifrance has also supported the development of players such as MC2 Technologies, which specialises in anti-drone systems, with the aim of creating French champions in these strategic sectors.