The DefInvest fund, managed by Bpi on behalf of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, and with an annual budget of €50 million, is entered into the capital of the French start-up Kalray, specialized in the design of “intelligent” processors. This is the first investment from the fund launched last fall, with the aim of keeping start-ups of strategic significance for France in France.
Start-ups like Kalray have indeed a strategic importance for the French defense industry, by reducing dependence on the United States (but also on Japan or Germany) for semiconductors. However, as shown in the current file concerning the signing of a new order for Rafale Egyptians conditioned by an American authorization concerning the SCALP EG missile, the American ITAR legislation is very likely to harm French freedom of export.
The ministerial initiative is all the more essential as many companies classified as Defense claim to face difficulties in finding investors or financial partners in France.
It will most likely be necessary for the French Defense ecosystem to evolve its communication strategy, and in particular towards the general public, so as to better highlight the economic and strategic potential of Defense investment in the population, and to twist the blow to preconceived ideas which greatly harm the country's capacity for innovation in this area.