News

Verkor named one of the Next 40

February 20, 2023

Press release

One year after integrating the French Tech 120, Verkor joins the circle of the 40 most promising French companies in 2023. This new edition is even more selective than in previous years.

A year after joining FT 120, Verkor becomes part of the Next 40 programme.
The French Tech Next 40 brings together the 40 most successful start-ups in the ecosystem to reward their status as spearheads of the French economy. This selection brings together the 26 French unicorns not yet listed on the stock exchange or companies that have raised at least 100 million euros between 2020 and 2022.
This announcement rewards Verkor and recognises its importance in the growth of the electric battery sector, a key driver for French and European sovereignty and competitiveness.

Verkor, the European pioneer of low-carbon batteries for electric vehicles and stationary storage, is part of the 2023 Next 40 programme, which specifically supports the French start-ups with the potential to become worldwide technology leaders.

This announcement crowns an incredible year for Verkor and marks an important milestone in its growth. The company raised more than 250 million euros in 2022 and is currently raising more than a billion euros in 2023. The Next 40 announcement is testament to the strength of Verkor’s project and its ability to realise its ambition: to build European sovereignty in low-carbon battery manufacture for electric vehicles and stationary storage.

Verkor’s inclusion in the Next 40 programme comes a year after choosing Dunkirk as the location for its first Gigafactory. The Gigafactory is scheduled to start operations by 2025 and will create around 1,200 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs in the short term. Verkor has the capacity to triple its production capacity in Dunkirk in less than 10 years. Verkor is ready to become the partner of all mobility and stationary storage players to facilitate their energy transition thanks to European low-carbon batteries.

Benoit Lemaignan, Co-founder and CEO of Verkor, states: “The Next 40 class of 2023 illustrates the acceleration of the French Tech. This year’s edition focuses on industrial and energy transition projects. As a young, committed company, we are working every day to reindustrialise our country in order to address the challenges of today’s transition that will only intensify in the coming years. I firmly believe that 2023 will be decisive and that our inclusion in the Next 40 programme is a real asset to succeed.”

About the Mission French Tech:

The French Tech Mission is a team of civil servants responsible for helping the ecosystem of French start-ups form and flourish, in France and abroad. As part of the Directorate-General for Enterprise within the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, the Mission coordinates and oversees the French Tech ecosystem with its network of 16 Capitals and 99 Communities, in France and abroad. It also supports start-ups by making it easier for them to interact with the administration via a network of more than 60 French Tech contacts. The French Tech Mission supports the most mature start-ups through the French Tech Next40/120 programme, as well as start-ups operating in sectors identified as strategic as part of the France 2030 plan with its first sector-dedicated programmes: Green20, Agri20, Health20 and DeepNum20. Finally, through the French Tech Tremplin program, the French Tech Mission enables people without an entrepreneurial background to create their own start-up anywhere in France.

Find all the information on the French Tech Next40/120 on the Mission French Tech website: www.lafrenchtech.com/en