MAP. New factories are emerging in France, here’s how… and their location in the West

This is one of the keystones of French reindustrialization: bringing out promising industrial ideas and the factories that go with them. Their leaders are currently at the show Global Industry in Paris.

An industrial start-up plan with 2.3 billion euros was launched in 2022 via Bpifrance. In 2021, there were only 1,500 industrial start-ups, or 10% to 12% of the total young companies. The figure increased to 1,900 in 2022. There were 2,523, according to the observatory unveiled by Bpifrance. Including 24% in health, 11% in energy, agro-industry and electronics (11%).

At the same time, for more than a year, at the request of the Minister of Industry and Energy Roland Lescure, the State has been working on the creation of a barometer to measure the country’s industrial development. The creation of this indicator represents unprecedented work mobilizing State services at the national, regional and departmental level, under the aegis of the General Directorate of Enterprises (DGE), he said while visiting the Global Industrie show.

7,600 new jobs

In 2023, France saw 201 new industrial sites emerge, excluding warehouses, compared to 176 in 2022. If we restrict ourselves only to openings and closures, that is to say by removing significant reductions and extensions (new line production for example), the 2023 balance is 57 additional sites compared to 49 in 2022, an increase of 16%.

The agri-food industry had the most net openings (47) and green industries and the circular economy (29), transport, before health (22). From a territorial point of view, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (73 sites) and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (30 sites) alone concentrate 50% of net openings, as in 2022, followed by Normandy (with 24 sites ).

These figures should be compared to the Bpifrance innovative companies observatory, published on March 20, 2024. The latter is more precise in the jobs created and the amounts invested.

For Paul François Fournier, executive director of innovation at Bpifrance, these results show “a real dynamic with sites responsible for the creation of 7,600 jobs” , And in a market which remains tense in terms of investments, “France is strengthening its leading position within the European Union thanks to 11% growth in industrial fundraising in 2023, which represents half of French Tech fundraising. That is 235 industrial fundraisings for an amount of 4.18 billion euros. Including 10 to more than 10 million euros: Verkor (850 million euros in September), Ynsect (175 million euros in April) or Carbios, 141 million euros in July.

View full screen

57 new industrial factories in 2023

Among the 118 inaugurations noted by Bpifrance, 60 come from start-ups, with an increase of 71% in one year, including 38 new factories and 13 pilot or demonstrator lines. These innovations aim to respond to the challenges of ecological transition such as sustainable construction, waste recovery, green mobility or sustainable food. On the other hand, 58 inaugurations come from industrial SMEs or ETIs, 41% more in one year, including 29 new factories and 13 moves.

And for 2024, the trend is positive with already respectively 95 and 63 inaugurations of industrial start-ups and industrial SMEs or ETIs announced.

The observatory also draws up the typical profile of these first industrial factories: They are on average supported by start-ups aged 6 years, for an average investment of 12 million euros, allowing the creation of a 4,000 m² factory creating 35 jobs. In half of the cases the factory rehabilitates existing industrial land.

Among the first factories (see our map), we can cite, in the West, Circul’egg in Brittany, the VoltR lithium battery reconditioning plant near Angers, the low carbon cement unit of Hoffmann Green Cement in Vendée, but also the Depestele flax factory in Normandy or Isigny Saint-Mère.

But also the first French ACC battery gigafactory, the Symbio hydrogen fuel cell factory (2,600 employees to come between them)… Or even the quantum start-up Quandela in Massy.