You want an example : here is one : http://owlient.eu/ http://owlient.eu/ They got venture capital by Innovacom (not a government agency) and then just got bou

You want an example : here is one : http://owlient.eu/ http://owlient.eu/ They got venture capital by Innovacom (not a government agency) and then just got bought by Ubisoft (not a government company). As for big startups known in France (and not necessarily internationally), well, Meetic is one of them for instance. Or vente-privee.com. I guess you could even put OVH in there.