Initiatives by CAC40 companies to accelerate their digitization

Below is a list of incubators, accelerators and labs launched internally by major French groups. Innovation or transformation programs can take many forms. We have reviewed the structures created by the most “digital” companies.

Air Liquide

The mission of the i-Lab, the Group’s innovation laboratory, is to explore new markets by adopting a user-centric approach in order to identify, test and accelerate new growth opportunities. Acting as both a think-tank and experimental space, the i-Lab designs new offerings in collaboration with the Group’s innovation, operations and global business units, while spreading new ways of working.

AXA

The AXA Group has launched AXA Next, an entity dedicated to creating new services and business models that go beyond insurance coverage. AXA invests €200 million per year in this innovation vehicle.

• Kamet: creates innovative, disruptive projects led by entrepreneurs in insurance, protection and assistance.
  
  
• AXA Venture Partners: invests in enterprise software, fintech, consumer tech and e-health, as well as other technologies related to insurance and asset management. With €600 million under management, the fund currently holds a portfolio of about 40 start-ups.
  
  

Atos

Atos does not (yet) have a clearly identified support program, but it regularly collaborates with start-ups in France, either within client projects or on breakthrough innovation projects. Atos contributes its expertise in scaling digital solutions and managing international projects, while partner start-ups provide their innovation capacity and associated business opportunities.

BNP Paribas

Among the bank’s many entities, three pillars stand out:

• WAI: the Group’s accelerator.
  
  
• L’Atelier BNP Paribas: currently being revamped for a new project.
  
  
• L’Échangeur by BNP Paribas Personal Finance: a reference point for any company wishing to innovate by drawing inspiration from best distribution practices and new user behaviors. Experts develop a “best-in-class” vision through immersive analysis of feedback, best practices and emerging trends.
  
  

Bpifrance

As the spearhead of French companies’ digital transformation, Bpifrance oversees two complementary structures:

1. The DeepTech Accelerator: built around the NEO program, it provides intensive coaching, leverages an internal network of 15,000 experts and deploys financing tickets from pre-seed to Series A to propel industrial start-ups toward market launch of data- and AI-based solutions while consolidating sustainable growth.
   
   
2. The French-Bavarian Accelerator, launched on 29 April 2025 in partnership with BayStartUP and the Ministry of the Economy, offers a 12-month binational journey combining “Industry 4.0” seminars, site visits, intercultural sessions and up to eight tailored B2B meetings to speed up the development and internationalization of high-impact SMEs and start-ups.
   
   

These schemes are part of DeepTech Week 2025 (10-14 March, Paris), where thirty-six companies were certified and large groups, investors and researchers met around key issues such as “clean energy”, autonomous systems and generative AI confirming France’s central role in the digital economy of the future.

By combining digital expertise, investments of several hundred million euros and the opening of new markets, Bpifrance strengthens industrial growth, professionalizes data management and reinforces its mission as an innovation catalyst for clients, from large groups to SMEs.

Carrefour

At the heart of Carrefour’s digital transformation, the Digital Retail University, designed with Google Cloud, now trains 100,000 employees per year in digital professions from data analytics to generative AI, cybersecurity and omnichannel marketing. This internal structure is part of a strategic partnership backed by an investment plan of €3 billion (2022–2026) aimed at boosting the retailer’s sustainable growth and positioning Carrefour as a next-generation retail leader in France and Europe.

Training modules, hosted on Google Cloud Skills Boost and enriched with use cases from Carrefour Links (the Group’s data platform), accelerate real-time solution development for 14,000 stores and 80 million customers in the Carrefour ecosystem.

The program, labeled “Digital Inclusion for All,” addresses major employability and resilience challenges for French companies facing a changing market, while strengthening innovation culture and team capabilities on cloud-native and AI technologies—a major asset for the future of mass retail.

Crédit Agricole

The Group has two complementary structures:

• Le Village by CA: a network of accelerators created in 2014, relying on innovation ecosystems to support business transformation across the regions.
  
  
• La Fabrique by CA: an internal start-up studio with an independent multidisciplinary team to support start-ups.
  
  

Danone

Within Danone, a CAC 40 stalwart, Danone Manifesto Ventures positions itself as a vehicle for sustainable innovation and digital transformation in the agri-food economy. With 34 food-tech investments as of end-2024, this corporate-venture supports start-ups and SMEs reinventing the value chain, from precision fermentation to AI-powered nutritional data.

The most striking illustration is its 2022-2024 equity stake in Symbrosia, an independent Hawaiian start-up developing SeaGraze™, a red-seaweed additive capable of reducing bovine methane emissions by over 80 %.

Funded to the tune of €7 million, this strategic partnership fuels a low-carbon sector and strengthens Danone’s “One Planet. One Health” mission, while preparing the future of regenerative agriculture through data and large-scale algal-culture technologies.

By mobilizing internal teams, open-innovation networks and patient capital, Danone Manifesto Ventures demonstrates the concrete impact of corporate investment on the competitiveness of French companies and the sustainable transition of the global dairy sector.

EDF Pulse Croissance

EDF Pulse Croissance is both the Group’s investment fund and the incubator that supports start-ups and innovative projects.

Engie

ENGIE has set up several mechanisms fostering collaboration with start-ups and innovative companies: equity stakes, acquisitions (e.g., MesDepanneurs.fr) and calls for projects.

L’Oréal

Within the L’Oréal Group, the “Beauty Tech Atelier,” located at Station F in the heart of Paris, plays a driving role in the company’s digital transformation and sustainable growth.

Every six months, the program selects 10 early-stage start-ups and offers an intensive six-month support package: tailored mentoring, access to anonymized consumer data, product testing across 35 global brands and coaching from the HEC Paris network (700+ experts) and Google-powered Modiface.

Since 2018, 98 start-ups have already been accelerated 52 % international, 54 % female-co-founded and 23 % impact-oriented demonstrating the importance placed on sustainability and social issues.

Key verticals include data & generative AI technologies, social e-commerce, augmented-reality systems for personalized beauty and eco-innovation in packaging. This open-innovation incubator brings together a partnership ecosystem of large groups, SMEs, VCs and academic institutions to turn prototypes into commercial services, thus accelerating the development of high-value digital solutions for customers.

By betting on AI, data and an international co-creation model, L’Oréal cements France’s position at the forefront of the future digital economy while consolidating its place in the CAC 40.

LVMH

La Maison des Startups LVMH, located at Station F, illustrates the Group’s digital transformation by hosting two six-month cohorts each year with 50 international start-ups.

A true strategic incubator, this structure offers 89 workstations, a network of 200+ alumni and direct access to the Group’s 75 Maisons to co-develop data-driven solutions: sustainable supply-chain optimization, new personalized marketing services, immersive experiences based on AI and customer data.

In 2024, the “LVMH Innovation Award” honored FancyTech, an independent deep-tech firm specializing in AI-generated 3D video creation, confirming the growing impact of generative technologies on French corporate growth and development.

This trophy, now titled the “Generative AI Innovation Award,” is part of a broader mission: positioning LVMH as a key player in tomorrow’s digital economy while strengthening its partnership ecosystem with SMEs, start-ups and universities to build a more sustainable future for luxury.

Orange

Orange Lab is a program for exchanging and sharing ideas around innovation and new technologies. The operator leads many initiatives, notably Orange Start-up, which identifies, supports and promotes start-ups worldwide, regardless of their maturity level.

Renault

Within the Renault Group, the Software République incubator has become a strategic structure for digital transformation in smart mobility, energy management and cybersecurity.

Founded in 2022 by Atos, Dassault Systèmes, Orange, Renault Group, STMicroelectronics and Thales, it offers “tailor-made” support lasting 6 to 18 months: each start-up must co-create a project with at least two founding members, gaining access to 15,000 experts, extensive technical data and digital prototyping platforms ensuring rapid development and accelerated go-to-market.

In 2024, the ecosystem expanded with the arrival of JCDecaux, becoming “6 become 7,” and unveiled the H1st Vision concept car, showcasing 20 innovations created in six months demonstrating the impact of its partnerships on French and European business growth.

Its 2025 roadmap sets a goal of incubating 50+ start-ups, with a stronger focus on generative AI, sovereign data and embedded security systems, to meet major challenges in technological sovereignty and sustainable mobility in France.

Saint-Gobain

Innovation is driven by NOVA, External Ventures of Saint-Gobain, which strengthens ties with start-ups. NOVA identifies innovative young companies focused, like Saint-Gobain, on well-being and sustainable development, then helps them turn their ideas into reality and grow their business.

Société Générale

#LePlateau was created to foster collaboration between internal teams, external partners and the FrenchTech ecosystem. It hosts, supports and provides resources to both internal and external start-ups.

Schneider Electric

In addition to an investment structure, Schneider Electric runs a Business Incubation Program dedicated to the “building, energy and industry” sectors.

Stellantis

The Stellantis Ventures unit the Group’s digital and innovation arm has an initial fund of €300 million to finance start-ups reinventing smart mobility, “factory” AI and data-driven customer experience.

Created in 2022 to support Stellantis’ digital transformation and aligned with the Dare Forward 2030 plan, it has already invested in ten start-ups from predictive driving (Nauto) to adaptive batteries (Electra Vehicles) while fostering partnerships with French and international SMEs to accelerate their development and sustainable growth.

Each year, the Venture Awards honor seven winners in the CARE, TECH and VALUE categories; the 2024 edition recognized Glanceable (AI-powered customer data analysis) and two embedded cybersecurity solutions, underscoring the concrete impact of new technologies on the automotive value chain.

By mobilizing its internal ecosystem (15,000 R&D experts) and its 14 global brands, Stellantis positions itself as a pilot organization for the digital economy of the future, capable of turning prototypes into large-scale industrial services and strengthening the French industry’s presence in the CAC 40.

Total

Total Innovation EU supports entrepreneurs by offering a wide range of online and digital-related services: end-to-end project management, monitoring, analysis and continuous optimization recognizing that an online project is never truly finished and must constantly evolve.